The Picaresque as Australian Political Satire: Peter Carey's 'The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith'

This paper investigates the ways in which Peter Carey employs the underlying assumptions and techniques of the picaresque in his novel The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith. I argue that the picaresque mode of writing can be identified by the presence of a particular type of protagonist, story structure, style and predominant motifs. I argue that because the picaresque mode inherently raises questions about the construction of dominant discourses, in the Australian context, this mode can be used to raise questions about the construction of Australian nationalism. As a result, Peter Carey’s use of the mode in The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith suggests the possibility of alternative definitions of the Australian nation to the limited repertoire of definitions used in nationalist discourses