Australia as America’s “Little Brother”: A Satiric Reading of John Howard in Andrew McGahan’s Underground

In this article, I read Andrew McGahan’s novel Underground as a criticism of the Australian government under the leadership of John Howard in the era following the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. I draw out the satire of Howard’s perceived role as President George W. Bush’s little...

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Veröffentlicht in:Intersections (București) 2016-12 (19), p.25-47
1. Verfasser: Dahlstrom, James
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:In this article, I read Andrew McGahan’s novel Underground as a criticism of the Australian government under the leadership of John Howard in the era following the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center. I draw out the satire of Howard’s perceived role as President George W. Bush’s little brother, which becomes a synecdoche for Australia’s relationship with America. I situate the novel in the context of America’s cyclically neo-colonial history in Australia and draw upon the work of Homi K. Bhabha to suggest that McGahan portrays Australians as an “in-between” people who are guilty of adopting American policies—and thereby relinquishing control of their nation’s sovereignty to America—without compunction. I further suggest that, in the tradition of satire, the novel could be read as a warning to Australians against following the United State too closely. With the rise of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, Australia has witnessed the re-emergence of the political climate that is reflected in Underground, renewing its relevance to contemporary audiences.
ISSN:2068-3472
2068-3472