Year: 2011
Type: dissertation
Abstract: memory, work to question the position of Kelly the famous bushranger as a relevant cultural figure in contemporary Australia.In the second chapter, I explore the way in which Irishness and Australianness are represented in True History.Carey does not rely on the politicised Irishness that is common in Ned Kelly narratives.Instead, the novel allows for a more fluid representation of national identity that moves away from the insular nationalism often associated with Kelly, in favour of a more transnational identity.The third chapter examines Australian heroism and how this is defined and illustrated by the traditional Kelly myth.I will focus on the ideas of hetero-masculinity, mateship and failure as key components of the Australian heroic ideal.I will then go on to examine that way that Carey's Kelly both adheres to and diverges from the Australian heroic ideal.Carey's most striking divergence comes from his unsettling of gender and sexual codes, which remain an unresolved undercurrent throughout the novel.I will first outline the facts that are known about Kelly's life and recount the traditional Kelly myth.I will then go on to discuss the difficulties inherent in writing about the past and how True History plays with this difficulty and sets up its own illusion of reality.The following episodes are most commonly included in Kelly stories. 2 Kelly was born in 1855 near Beveridge in Victoria and grew up in a poor Irish farming family.As an eleven-year-old, he rescued a neighbourhood boy, Dick Shelton, from drowning and was awarded a green sash for his bravery.3 Kelly wore this sash underneath his armour in his final shoot-out.4 Around 1870, Kelly spent time in prison on a number of occasions for horse-stealing.5 The Kelly myth generally emphasises his innocence or the disproportionately harsh sentence awarded to him.6 Kelly's entry into lawlessness is often justified on the basis of his family's poverty and the racial 2 For example, see popular histories such as: J. J.
Author: Marija Pericic
Language: English
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W15424598