New worlds, imaginary spaces and contingent reality: Columbus and astrology

In this week when it seems the whole world is either mourning or celebrating the arrival of Columbus in the Bahamas some 500 years ago, I have taken some pains to devise a paper which attempts to negotiate, the Atlantic squalls which the Columbus quincentenary has been so successful in generating. Last Wednesday, which was 12 October, Quincentenary Day, the Australian carried a story with the headline, 'Ideology hijacks Columbus anniversary', lamenting the attacks on Columbus, the 'Renaissance man' and a 'weaver's son from Genoa' by the liberal establishment and aggrieved native Americans.