The paradox of voice occluding its absence in phonic terms by performing its presence metaphorically in speech is particularly relevant to my reading of voice in Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang (2000). This section also examines the ways that agents augment their volume of literary and economic capital through engaging with, what I call, Carey’s archival capital. Through a case study of an agent in constructing the archive, I investigate the stakes invested in the ongoing dominant position of Carey in the Australian literary field into the twenty-first century. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological paradigm, I demonstrate how the constitution of the archive is the result of the collective recognition of the economic and cultural capital of Carey’s manuscripts and paraphernalia.

This archive adds a new facet to Carey’s image as an Australian author in the public domain, creating a sense of continuity of his relevance to the canon of Australian literature. This collection, catalogued as ‘The Papers and Drafts of Peter Carey’ marks the convergence of canonicity, the literary market, and the materiality of the cultural artefact. This paper explores the archiving of Carey’s materials in the State Library of Victoria, a process commenced by the Library’s purchase of the documents relating to Carey’s True History of the Kelly Gang (2000). Peter Carey’s archives are a missing element, albeit a remarkably important one, in the critical literature about the productive mechanisms of his celebrity.

Peter carey true history