Sanctuary and Scars: Salt as a Landscape Element in the Novels and Non-Fiction of Tim Winton

Abstract

This article argues that salt functions as a transformative marking and shaping agent in Tim Winton’s work. Salt scars both people and place (externally and internally, physically and spiritually) while also signifying sanctuary (both a refuge and a holy space). Salt leaves both subtle and obvious imprints on the landscape, the built environment, and on minor and major characters in Winton’s novels and non-fiction. Winton scripts material and psychological salt scars that result from discomfort and danger, and which foster healing and/or peace for his characters. Landscape salt in Winton’s works also generates spaces that are protective for his characters, whose situations tend to be so precarious and so isolated. Most remarkably, however, landscape salt amplifies the sacredness of these ‘thin and bitter’ places. The suggestion of sacredness is complemented by Winton’s erudite and flawed mentor characters whose conversations gesture eloquently toward the numinous in these salt landscapes.