Folklore, History and Myth at an Anzac Memorial

Authors

  • Graham Seal Curtin University of Technology

Keywords:

ANZAC,

Abstract

This paper uses a small case study of a World War 1 memorial in suburban Perth (WA) to show how the local, the state and the national resonances of Anzac have been mythologised from 1915 to the present. It looks at the folklore of the digger, the official observation and maintenance of Anzac and the relationship between these elements of the mythology and Australian national identity. In closing, this paper also makes an argument for the importance of accounting for myth as well as history in understanding the powerful complexities of remembrance, mourning, nation and identity.

Author Biography

Graham Seal, Curtin University of Technology

Curtin University of Technology, Perth, WA, Australia.

References

Downing, W., Digger Dialects (Sydney: Lothian, 1919).

Fair, R., A Treasury of Anzac Humour (Brisbane: Jacaranda Press, 1965).

Seal, G. (ed), Echoes of Anzac: The Voice of Australians at War (South Melbourne: Lothian Books, 2005).

Seal, G., Inventing Anzac: The Digger and National Mythology, (St Lucia, Qld: University of Queensland Press, 2004).

Seal, G., ‘The Sacred Secular of Anzac’, Journal of Australian Studies, 91 (2007).

Wannan, W., Dictionary of Australian Folklore (Ringwood, Vic: Penguin, 1987)

Downloads

Published

2010-11-05

Issue

Vol. 25 (2010): A Celebratory Issue

Section

Studies in Australian Folklore

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Copyright of items in their Australian Folklore format, and any associated fees (e.g.CAL), remains the property of the Association. This includes making articles freely available on the journal's website. 
  2. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g. in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
  3. Authors are welcome to archive their pre-print and post-print pdf copies of their articles under the SHERPA RoMEO 'Green' copyright classification.
  4. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.