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'This paper will examine a selection of Australian fiction which features Elvis Presley, or a Presley manqué, as a character. This will include novels and short fiction by Debra Adelaide (A Household Guide to Dying), Julie Capaldo (Weather), Nick Cave (And the Ass Saw the Angel), Gail Jones ('Heartbreak Hotel') and Dorian Mode (A Cafe in Venice). The paper will investigate the capacity of a ubiquitous pop icon such as Presley to absorb and reflect socio-cultural meanings that transcend national boundaries while at the same time affirming elements of national character. In doing so it will consider the meaning and function of trans-national celebrity in a globalised world, and explore why it is that Australian authors—and readers—find a resonance in the figure of Elvis Presley that is seemingly missing from the pop-iconography of their own country.' (Author's abstract)
Notes
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Epigraph:
Elvis will not leave the building because his image remains, if anything, overflowing with meaning and historicity. -Thomas C. Carlson
Elvis is such a packed cultural symbol. - Shady Cosgrove
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Last amended 23 Feb 2011 13:39:29
177-193
Elvis Down Under : Simulations of a US Pop Icon in Australian Fiction
Subjects:
- She Played Elvis 2007 single work autobiography
- And the Ass Saw the Angel 1989 single work novel
- Boys by the Sea 1989 single work novel
- Highways to a War 1995 single work novel
- Heartbreak Hotel 1997 single work short story
- Magic Garage 2002 single work novel
- A Cafe in Venice 2001 single work novel
- Weather : A Novel 2001 single work novel
- The Household Guide To Dying 2008 single work novel
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