Exploring Australian national identity: heroes, memory and politics

This text explores the attitudes of Australians, analysing how Australian national values are promoted and reflected by heroic figures who are identified as important and influential.

Who are the heroes, saints and sages that exemplify the Australian national character?

Who do Australians, as citizens of a settler society, nominate as their contemporary heroes?

What is the role of colonial and post-colonial figures regarding contemporary Australian identity?

This book reassess the influence of convicts, bushrangers, Ned Kelly, the ANZACS, sporting heroes, and the nation's most 'important people' in terms of national identity.

Sporting 'heroes' such as Don Bradman, and historical figures like Ned Kelly might be expected to feature prominently but the authors identify other nationally important Australians, and gauge how well they symbolize Australian national identity.