Trans-National Neo-Victorianism, Gender and Vulnerability in Kate Grenville’s The Secret River (2005)

Abstract

The British Empire has become a new trope in neo-Victorian studies, incorporating a postcolonial trans-national approach to the re-writing of the Victorian past. Kate Grenville’s novel The Secret River is set in Australia in the early nineteenth century when issues of transportation and colonisation coalesce with the fight for survival under precarious conditions. The Secret River is the story of the confrontation between colonisers and colonised people in terms of gender and vulnerability. This chapter analyses the role of Empire in the construction of a British identity associated with civilisation and that of the native population. Following Judith Butler’s theories, my discussion is organised around two main topics: Australian history and narratives of recollection, and gender identity and vulnerability both in white settlers and indigenous communities. My contention is that both sides became involved in a relationship of mutual vulnerability.