AustLit

The author describes Astley's Drylands as personally, politically and culturally fin-de-siecle. She sees it interrogating the constructions of Australian nationalism which have persisted since the 1890s; mateship, prescribed roles for men and women, and myths of the bush. In the ending of Drylands, though, despite Janet's abandoning her search for the ultimate Eden, Kossew sees finality undermined, and an ongoing affirmation of reading and of books.

Butterss sees Blackfellas breaking with common depictions of Aboriginal men in Australian film, in that it proposes a hybrid model of Aboriginal masculinity, nourished by indigenous traditions, while succeeding within the context of the dominant Anglo culture and economic system. He believes that the film's central slogan, "You're your own boss" helps the film become a comforting narrative for non-indigenous audiences.

The author interprets Tsiolkas's character Ari as presenting a new model of belonging which rejects traditional notions of the nation, but still demonstrates a masterful participation, a "being in, but not of" society. She sees this as a model of belonging for nations which, having moved beyond post-colonial, are now hybrid, multiculrural and pluralised.