Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.15291/sic/1.14.lc.1

Elastični polaritet humora u djelu Me, Antman & Fleabag australske Aboridžinske autorice Gayle Kennedy

Iva Polak ; University of Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

Research into humour in Indigenous Australian fiction is strikingly rare, even when compared to studies on humour in traditional Indigenous societies. As a consequence, when channelled through fictional prose, Indigenous humour rarely “receives any echo” (Bergson). One case in point is Gayle Kennedy’s novel Me, Antman & Fleabag (2007). Kennedy’s text, despite being marketed as humorous and winning the prestigious 2006 David Unaipon Award, has attracted a handful of minuscule reviews. The paper discusses distinctive “elastic polarity” of humour (Boskin) in Kennedy’s text, which simultaneously denies and affirms. By analysing the way in which her narrative debunks social and racial stereotypes of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia, the paper argues that her double-edged humour produces a site of cultural negotiations necessary for understanding complexities of contemporary Indigeneities and contemporary Australia.

Keywords

Gayle Kennedy, Me, Antman & Fleabag, humour, elastic polarity, laughing with/back/at, Charlie Chaplin Effect, “deadliness”

Hrčak ID:

312847

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/312847

Publication date:

21.12.2023.

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