This is the fourth volume in the series of Australian–Asian Association publications and  carries on the interdisciplinary and international tradition of the same. The intensely provocative theme of ‘change’ is traced through motifs of convergence or conflict across a multiplicity of disciplines. The volume has attracted contributions from some of the best-known authorities in their  different fields. The papers cover subjects ranging from Sri Lankan cricket to diplomacy on the world scene; from literary ‘blogging’ to trade performance; from Bollywood audiences to  aboriginal rights in Australia and  the development of Australian studies in Spain; from a nineteenth-century Shakespeare production  in Sri Lanka  to a performance of Bizet’s ‘The Pearl Fishers’ in Sydney. They cover the phenomenon of change as it manifests itself in a range of disciplines and highlight shared commonalities as well as contrasted experiences and perspectives. The book is a record of the richness of the dialogue between disparate groups connected by scholarly interest and intellectual curiosity, in fact, a global academic community.

Ian vanden Driesen completed undergraduate studies at the University of Ceylon and doctoral studies at the London School of Economics. He has taught at universities in Sri Lanka, West Africa and Western Australia and was a Visiting Fellow at Yale University. His research interests are in the area of economics, particularly aspects of the economic history and development economics of Sri Lanka, West Africa and  Australia. He is currently Senior Honorary Research Fellow at the Business School of the University of Western Australia.

Cynthia vanden Driesen completed undergraduate studies at the University of Ceylon and doctoral studies at the University of Western Australia. She has taught at universities in Sri Lanka, India, South Korea and Nigeria and currently teaches at the School of Communication and Arts at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia. She has researched widely in the area of postcolonial literatures and Australian literature in particular.

1. CHANGE:  THE AUSTRALIAN CONTEXT
1. The Rudd Apology: An Indigenous View : Keith Truscott
2. ‘Sorry’ or a Motif of Change: Aboriginal People and Reconciliation in Australia: Isabelle Auguste
3. Aboriginal Australians in Asia: Travel Experiences of Three Men from the Kimberley Region of Western Australia: Pat Lowe
4. Strange Way To Grow Up: Uncertain Identities and Traumatic Childhood in Roberta Syke's ‘Snake Cradle’ : Suneetha Rani
2. WHITHER AUSTRALIA?
1. Australian Identity and Belonging at the Crossroads: Baden Offord
2. How Are We Looking?: Australia from the Outside : Greg Battye
3. Postcolonial Legacies and the ‘Small Country Syndrome’: Stephen Alomes
4. Australian Literature and Alternative Modernities: Bill Ashcroft
5. Australia's Trade Performance in the Asia–Pacific: Abu Siddique
6. Australian Literary Blogs and Bloggers:  A Review of the Converged Environment : Julia Gross
3. AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE
1. Locating Voss within Change, Conflict and Convergence: Carol Leon
2. Change, Conflict and Convergence in Pursuit of Identity: Yasmine Gooneratne's A Change of Skies: Tara Senanayake
3. When the Last Leaf Falls: Glen Phillips
4. You Are Out of Time : Adrian Mitchell
5. The Search for Doma (Home) in Richard Flanagan's ‘The Sound of One Hand Clapping’ : Jane Fernandez

Section 2:  CHANGE IN THE SRI LANKAN CONTEXT: SOME REFLECTIONS

1. The Deterritorialisation of Lankan English: Careema Jayaweera
2. Contemporary Sri Lankan Art: Tradition and Modernity, Historical Moment/Ahistorical Space? Ashley Halpé 
3.  Shakespeare in Ceylon: The Native Body in Performance: Changing Interpretations: Kanchana Warnapala
4. Cricket as Text: Some Reflections on Sri Lanka’s Most Popular Game: Liyanage Amarakeerthi
5.  The Challenge of an Ageing Population: Nimal Sanderatne
6. Kattankudy in Eastern Sri Lanka: A Mullah–Merchant Urban Complex Caught Between Islamist Factionalism and Ethnonationalism:  Ameer Ali

Section 3: CHANGES IN THE INDIAN SCENE

1. Changing Bollywood Audiences and the Possibilities of an ‘Interdiscourse’: Anjali Roy
2. Critiquing the Nation: The Case of Salman Rushdie: Vijayasree Chaganti
3. Change and Conflict in Cyberspace: Bangalore, Pune and the Rise of the Indian Cyberproletariat: Serge Walberg

Section 4:  THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE

1. Change, Conflict, Challenge, Convergence: Some Reflections on the Current International Scene: Nihal Rodrigo
2. The Asian Safe House and the Trojan Horse: Alison Broinowski 
3. ‘A Tale of Two Islands’: Violent Relatedness and the Struggle over Geography: Suvendrini Perera  
4. Conflict Case Studies: Rajeewa Jayasinghe

Section 5:  CULTURAL CHANGE: EUROPEAN AND CANADIAN PERSPECTIVES

1.  The Past as Definer of the Present: The History of the Australian Studies Centre at the University of Barcelona: Sue  Ballyn
2. Tracing Hybridity in Sri Lankan Writing: Yasmine Gooneratne's ‘A Change of Skies’ : Isabel Alonso- Breto
3. Disciplining Difference: Post-Coloniality and Aesthetics: Chelva Kanaganayakam
4. Ondaatje's Impertinent Voices: Tracking Family Ties to Remember History: Julie Mehta  
5. Postcolonial Iceland: Haldor Kiljan Laxness (1902–1998) and the Change in the Socio-cultural Landscape: Arny Hinrikkson