The Jerilderie Letter and Others

Abstract

It is the purpose of this chapter to investigate the opportunities that lie with drawing on the personal letters of an iconic historical figure so as to implant into the process of telling his story through the medium of tourism a sensitive interpretation and meaning of historical events in which he was involved. The claim will be that input from the letters could be used to conjure a particular ‘spirit' of and ‘personality' for any place at which significant events occurred, and in so doing give to that place a special identity, its genius loci. It is a process of enrichment and value-adding. Using a story embedded in the history of 19th-century Australia, the study uses a custom-built form of narrative analysis to disaggregate six selected personal letters authored by the selected historical figure and to interpret their potential for enriching the telling of his story through tourism.