"Oh, You're Cutting My Bowels Out!": Sexual Unspeakability in Marcus Clarke's His Natural Life

Authors

  • Damien Barlow La Trobe University, Albury-Wodonga

Keywords:

Marcus Clarke, colonial fiction, queer criticism

Abstract

This article provides a queer reading of Marcus Clarke's His Natural Life that pays particular attention to Clarke's thematic of sexual unspeakability. More specifically, it revisits the infamous fate of the young convict Kirkland in order to explore the perverse dynamics of the homosocial romance between Clarke's gentleman hero Rufus Dawes, and perhaps Clarke's most enigmatic and queer creation, the prison priest Reverend James North.

Author Biography

  • Damien Barlow, La Trobe University, Albury-Wodonga
    Associate Lecturer in English, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University, Albury-Wodonga Campus. PhD on queer readings of Australian Literature completed 2004/2005

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Issue

Vol. 6 (2007)

Section

Articles

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