13th Congress of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research

Presentation Abstracts

McKENRY, Keith

The Parodying of the National Verse: an Australian folk craft

There is a strong tradition in Australia of social and political commentary through parody, especially parody of national verse and song. Two items stand out as the most parodied: our national song Waltzing Matilda (a musical setting of a ballad by the poet Banjo Paterson), and our national anthem Advance Australia Fair. The parodists come from all sections of society, and the full breadth of the political spectrum. Very often, too, the parodies get published by newspapers, not in their literary or magazine sections, but as ‘letters to the editor’. In this paper these phenomena are examined, analysed, and illustrated by example.