Bradshaw, Wayne (2024) Gone Bung: Athur Desmond’s Poetry and the Financial Chaos of 1890s Sydney. In: [Australian Literary Convention]. From: Australian Literary Convention 2024: Chaos and Order, 2-5 Jul 2024, Sydney, Australia.

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Abstract

In the twenty-first century Arthur Desmond is better known among scholars of terrorism than scholars of Australian literature. As “Ragnar Redbeard,” Desmond produced one of the foundational texts of social Darwinism and white nationalism, Might is Right, or Survival of the Fittest, first published in 1896, shortly after his arrival in Chicago from Australia. Might is Right has inspired all manner of radicals, ranging from anarchists and libertarians through to Satanists and fascists. What is frequently lost in accounts of Desmond’s influence is his place in Australian literary history as part of the activist community which sprung up around McNamara’s bookshop in Sydney in the 1890s. This paper reinserts Desmond into a cultural milieu which included Henry Lawson, Jack Lang, Billy Hughes, and Alfred Deakin, and examines the ways in which his incendiary verse and prose contributed to the radicalisation of Australian nationalism while sowing chaos in Sydney’s banking industry.

Item ID:	83058
Item Type:	Conference Item (Presentation)
Copyright Information:	© 2024 Australian Literary Convention.
Date Deposited:	07 Jul 2024 23:30
FoR Codes:	47 LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE > 4705 Literary studies > 470502 Australian literature (excl. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander literature) @ 100%
SEO Codes:	13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1302 Communication > 130203 Literature @ 100%
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