True History of a Rogue: Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey

Luigi Gussago

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

This article highlights the original contribution of Australian-born novelist Peter Carey to the debate over historical fiction, with particular emphasis on Parrot and Olivier in America. Through a picaresque retelling of the French historian Alexis de Tocqueville’s early life and journey to America, the narrative subtends the questioning of historiography as both an objective report of events and a set of prearranged metaphors borrowed from literary rhetoric, in favour of an ironic re-enactment of the past.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)199-219
Number of pages21
JournalSoutherly
Volume77
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Carey Peter
  • Australian Literature
  • Tocqueville Alexis de

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