Published 13 January 2009 · Main Posts Dystopian utopia Kalinda Ashton I finally got around to reading Peter Carey’s His Illegal Self, which I delayed purchasing in its very handsome but also handsomely-priced hardcover edition, but now possess, courtesy of a public library. There are many potential discussions catalysed by the book (the representations of failed utopian enclaves of Australia as embodied in gothic hippie-yet-demonic landscape, the intricate structural logic that manages time and revelation, the troubling eddies in point of view, the vanishing of what might have been assumed to be the central dramatic incident), yet what struck me was how it intersects with a glut of novels (and films, especially documentary films) addressing journeys which portray the collapse of elements of the Left into adventurism, ‘terrorism’ and activists alienation from mainstream movements, and descent into petty crime. Why is this happening now and what does it say about contemporary cultural interpretations of, and assumptions about the wins of the 1960s and their struggles? Kunzru’s My Revolutions is a detailed, historically-specific account of the political degeneration of utopian ideals that somehow cannot account for their continuing meaning for the present day (except as an irresolvable paradox under an inevitable capitalism), while Carey’s almost never touches directly on either the motivations, milieu or identifications of the mother who literally self-destructs. Then there’s Chrisopher Sorrentino’s Trance. What can/should novels that intend on storying political activism speak to and in what ways? Who is the audience for these works of fiction, and what do they say about a yearning for utopia or the West in a post-September 11 world? Can they be revisiting without also being revisionist? Then there are the documentary films… Kalinda Ashton Kalinda Ashton is the author of The Danger Game (Sleepers, 2009). More by Kalinda Ashton › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays First published in Overland Issue 228 28 March 202428 March 2024 · Main Posts Why we should value not only lived experience, but also lived expertise Sukhmani Khorana In the wake of this year’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, I want to extend the central idea of El Gibbs’s 2022 essay on 'lived expertise' and argue that in media accounts of racism, analytical expertise and lived experience ought to be valued together and even in the same body. First published in Overland Issue 228 5 March 2024 · Main Posts Andrew Charlton’s school assignment Alex McKinnon Australia's Pivot to India exists for three reasons: so that when Andrew Charlton is interviewed on the radio or introduced on Q+A, his bio includes the phrase "he has written a book about Indian-Australian relations"; to fend off accusations that he is another Kristina Keneally engaging in electoral colonialism in western Sydney; and to help the Albanese government strengthen economic and military ties with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.