• Journal of English Language & Literature
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.337-357
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• 2009

Ned Kelly, the bushranger, is a legendary figure of special significance to the Australians of today. The Aussies' affection for this "horse thief" derives from the fact that the latter has become a national ideal of the "battler" who does not give up in the face of hardships. Peter Carey's is considered to be one of the "national narratives" that not only heroize but also give voice to the Irish rebels who fought for "fair go" in the colonial Australia. However, this paper asserts that there are more to the novel than merely paying a tribute to the national icon, especially when the novel is examined in the context of the "republic controversy." In 1999, the preceding year of the novel's publication, Australia had a national referendum on the issue of whether or not to secede from the Commonwealth. Due to the procedural manipulation of the royalist ruling party, republicanism was voted down. At the time when the majority of Australians were irate with the result of the referendum, Carey's retelling of the supposedly anti-British rebel failed to promote the lost cause. This paper investigates how the narrativization of the legendary figure, whose anti-British and anti-authoritarian attitude can be easily translated into the cause of republicanism, came to appeal to the general reading public. In so doing, this paper compares Carey's novel with the historical Kelly's two epistles: Jerilderie and Cameron Letter. This comparison brings to light what is left out in the process of Carey's narrativization of the rebel's life: the subversive militant voice of an Irish nationalist. The conclusion of this paper is that the possibility for Kelly's life to surface again in the 21st century as a sort of counter-memory is contained by Carey through its inclusion in a highly personalized domestic narrative.