What's A Bad Boy like You Doing in a Nice Place like This? Ned Kelly Faces Off against American College Freshmen

Abstract

Australian texts are rarely included in syllabi on North American college campuses. Perhaps the only Australian writer who is well known outside Australia is Patrick White, the only Australian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Unfortunately, the variety and depth of Australian literature remains a well-kept secret, but it is certainly worth closer consideration, especially when faculty members are choosing texts in liberal arts or "great books" type programs. One Australian novel worth considering for general education courses in world literature or composition is Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang (2000), which won the Booker Prize in 2001. Three reasons make this novel worth studying: First, Carey's focus on the bush ranger, or outlaw, Ned Kelly, who is an iconic Australian figure, reveals key insights into Australian culture. Second, True History of the Kelly Gang deals with universal issues, which are relevant, challenging, and timely for today's students, and third, Carey's experimental approach to language use in this novel is so striking and unusual that North American students would have difficulty finding anything comparable elsewhere.