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Filozofická Fakulta Ústav UNIVERZITA KARLOVA - FILOZOFICKÁ FAKULTA ÚSTAV ANGLOFONNÍCH LITERATUR A KULTUR BLURRING THE LINES BETWEEN REALITY AND FICTION: PETER CAREY’S ENGAGEMENT WITH AUSTRALIAN HISTORY AND IDENTITY NEJASNÁ HRANICE MEZI SKUTE ČNOSTÍ A FIKCÍ: AUSTRALSKÁ HISTORIE A IDENTITA V POJETÍ PETERA CAREYHO DIPLOMOVÁ PRÁCE Vedoucí diplomové práce (supervisor): Zpracovala (author): PhDr. So ňa Nováková, CSc., M.A. Bc. Magdalena Císlerová Studijní obor (subject): Anglický jazyk – Anglofonní Praha, kv ěten 2018 literatury a kultury DECLARATION Prohlašuji, že jsem tuto diplomovou práci vypracovala samostatn ě, že jsem řádn ě citovala všechny použité prameny a literaturu a že práce nebyla využita v rámci jiného vysokoškolského studia či k získání jiného či stejného titulu. I declare that the following MA thesis is my own work for which I used only the sources and literature mentioned, and that this thesis has not been used in the course of other university studies or in order to acquire the same or another type of diploma. V Praze dne …………………………… ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor PhDr. So ňa Nováková, CSc., M.A. for her interest in Australian culture and literature, her valuable advice and support during the preparation of this thesis. My thanks also belong to Dr Robert Carver for fuelling my interest in Australian literature and introducing me to the writings of Peter Carey in his wonderful course on Australian literature at Durham University. Souhlasím se zapůjčením diplomové práce ke studijním ú čel ům. I have no objections to the MA thesis being borrowed and used for study purposes. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations used in referencing the following works of Peter Carey throughout this thesis: (30D ) 30 Days in Sydney . London: Bloomsbury, 2008. (IL) Illywhacker . London: Faber and Faber, 1985. (MLF ) My Life as a Fake. London: Faber and Faber, 2003. (OL ) Oscar and Lucinda . London: Faber and Faber, 1988. (TH ) True History of the Kelly Gang . London: Faber and Faber, 2002. ABSTRACT This thesis is concerned with the analysis of Peter Carey’s portrayal of Australian history in his novels Illywhacker (1985), Oscar and Lucinda (1988), True History of the Kelly Gang (2000), and My Life as a Fake (2003), while also taking into consideration the travel memoir 30 Days in Sydney (2001). Carey approaches Australia’s past critically and offers a playful rewriting of the “official accounts”, striving to give voice to the marginalised, thus offering alternative versions not only of Australian history, but also the resulting national identity. This thesis first locates Carey within the historical novel tradition, and considers his rewritings from the perspective of postcolonialism, postmodernism and transnationalism. From the point of view of postcolonialism, Carey’s novels serve as a tool of asserting the former colony’s independence from the power of the metropolitan Centre over discourse. Postmodernism and its relativisation of established concepts and the blurring of boundaries provide Carey with narrative strategies such as unreliable narrators, historiographic metafiction, and multiple perspectives, which are examined in terms of how Carey employs them to call attention to the unreliability of historical sources, and by extension meaning and reality itself, to inspire a critical approach to history and nationality. His novels thus provide the reader with multiple versions of history, without singling one out as the definitive one. This thesis further explores how this inclusive approach is mirrored in Carey’s approach to Australian identity, in which he questions the nationalist rhetoric stemming from the Australian Legend. His novels reflect the transnational reality of Australian culture, which has from the beginning been formed by multiple cultural interactions, drawing on diverse cultural capital, as demonstrated by the capital Carey draws on, as well as through his characters with foreign heritage. Through close readings of the selected novels within the aforementioned critical discourses this thesis comes to a greater understanding of Carey’s strategies of subverting the established version of Australian history and Australian identity. By focusing on the historical, cultural, and literary context of his works, on his narrative strategies, the theme of lying, and the construction of national identity in his novels, this thesis presents Carey’s view of Australia, which is quite critical, precisely because of Australia’s inability to deal with its own past. Carey’s novels are an attempt to aid in that process and help Australia come off age by fully accepting its past as well as its present. ABSTRAKT Diplomová práce se zabývá analýzou vyobrazení australské historie v románech Petera Careyho Illywhacker (1985), Oscar and Lucinda (1988), True History of the Kelly Gang (2000) a My Life as a Fake (2003), s p řihlédnutím k jeho cestopisnému memoáru 30 Days in Sydney (2001). Carey nahlíží australskou historii kriticky a p ředkládá čtená ři hravý p řepis „oficiálních verzí“, kde dává prostor dosud opomíjeným hlas ům. Nabízí tak alternativní pojetí nejen australské historie, ale i vzniklé národní identity. V předkládané práci je Carey nejprve zasazen do kontextu tradice historického románu, poté jsou jeho p řepisy historie zkoumány z perspektivy postkolonialismu, postmodernismu a transnacionalismu. Z pohledu postkolonialismu slouží Careyho romány jako nástroj, který bývalé kolonii umož ňuje upevnit svou nezávislost na metropolitním centru a vymanit se z jeho kontroly nad diskurzem. Postmodernismus, se svou relativizací zavedených pojm ů a nejasnými hranicemi mezi pravdou a fikcí, poskytuje Careymu vypráv ěcí postupy, jako jsou nespolehliví vyprav ěč i, historiografická metafikce či užití několika perspektiv. Ty jsou zkoumány s ohledem na to, jak jich Carey užívá k upozor ňování na nespolehlivost historických pramen ů, potažmo významu a skute čnosti jako takových, aby tak dal podn ět ke kritickému p řístupu k historii a národní identit ě. Romány tedy čtená ři nabízejí n ěkolik verzí historických událostí, aniž by jednu z variant ozna čily jako autoritativní. Práce dále zkoumá, jak se tento otev řený p řístup odráží v Careyho pojetí australské identity, kde zpochyb ňuje nacionalistickou rétoriku s ko řeny v „australské legend ě“ konce 19. století. Jeho romány odrážejí transnacionalismus australské kultury, která od za čátku byla a stále je formována r ůznorodými vzájemnými kulturními vlivy a čerpá z různorodého kulturního kapitálu, což Carey p ředvádí v praxi jak kapitálem, na který navazuje, tak množstvím postav cizího p ůvodu. Pomocí pe člivého čtení (close reading) vybraných román ů v kontextu již zmín ěných kritických p řístup ů dosp ěla p ředkládaná práce k lepšímu porozum ění Careyho strategiím, kterých užívá ke zpochybn ění zavedených verzí australské historie a identity. Zam ěř ení na historický, kulturní a literární kontext román ů, na vypráv ěcí postupy, téma lhaní a konstrukci národní identity umož ňuje této práci vykreslit Careyho pohled na Austrálii, který je vcelku kritický, práv ě kv ůli neschopnosti Australanů vyrovnat se s minulostí. Careyho romány cht ějí k tomuto procesu p řisp ět a pomoci Austrálii dosp ět tím, že pln ě p řijme jak svou minulost, tak svou p řítomnost. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 8 2. CAREY IN CONTEXT: THE NATION AND ITS LITERATURE – POSTCOLONIALISM, TRANSNATIONALISM, AND THE HISTORICAL NOVEL 14 2. 1. Nation and the Role of Literature: Australian Values Debate............................... 14 2. 2. Fact vs. Fiction: the Australian History Wars ....................................................... 17 2. 3. Rewriting History: the Australian Historical Novel .............................................. 19 2. 4. Peter Carey’s Place in the Historical Novel Tradition and His View of History .. 21 2. 5. The Historian vs. the Historical Novelist: Questions of Authenticity and Artistic Licence .......................................................................................................................... 25 2. 6. History Versus Myth: Critical Approach to Carey’s Historiography .................... 30 2. 7. The Australian Historical Novel as a Tool of Postcolonial Literature .................. 32 2. 8. Australian Postcolonial Literature: National Versus Transnational ...................... 36 3. LIES AND LIARS: CAREY’S NARRATIVE STRATEGIES AND THE CHARACTERS THEY PRODUCE ................................................................................. 42 3. 1. Peter Carey’s Play with History ............................................................................ 43 3. 2. Historical Intertexts ............................................................................................... 45 3. 3. Literary Intertexts .................................................................................................. 51 3. 4. Narrative Frames: Destabilising the Boundaries between Lies and Truths .......... 57 3. 5. Lies, Their Propagators and Their Victims: The Psychology of the Lie ............... 70 4. FROM CONVICTS TO MYTHMAKERS: THE LEGACY OF LIES AND THE NATIONAL IDENTITY .................................................................................................. 75 4. 1. Coming into Its Own: From Britishness to Australianness ................................... 78 4. 2. Putting Down Roots in the Bush: Women, Aborigines, and the National Type ... 83 4. 3. The Cultural
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