Roadside Memorials: Interpreting New Deathscapes in Newcastle, New South Wales

Authors: Hartig, Kate V.¹; Dunn, Kevin M.²

Source: Australian Geographical Studies, Volume 36, Number 1, March 1998 , pp. 5-20(16)

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Abstract:

Over recent years, roadside memorials to commemorate people killed in motor vehicle accidents have become increasingly noticeable in parts of the Australian landscape. In Newcastle, New South Wales, roadside memorials are placed for young people. The age/gender group most at risk of road death, and those most memorialised, are young men. This is linked to spatially specific constructions of masculinity which circulate within youth milieux of Newcastle. Like other memorials and monuments these `deathscapes' have multiple meanings, differing between those who build, maintain and interpret them. They function as conservative memorials of youth machismo; of heroic aggression, disregard for safety and egocentrism. Roadside memorials need to be re-read as symbolic of societal flaws; of a wasteful road toll, and a testament to dominant and problematic strains of masculinity.

Document Type: Original article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8470.00036

Affiliations: 1: Lecturer in the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Newcastle, Universtity Drive, Callaghan, New South Wales 2308, Australia, 2: Lecturer in the School of Geography, The University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales 2052, Australia

Publication date: 1998-03-01