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An aspect of the diffusion of American popular culture is examined in this research drawing upon national survey data. Measuring Australians‟ knowledge of American and Australian outlaws, we found that Jesse James and Billy the Kid are better known in Australia than any of the local outlaws, or bushrangers, with the exception of Ned Kelly. While a relatively large proportion of Australians identified Ned Kelly, Ben Hall, Jesse James and Billy the Kid as outlaws, few identified other Australian „outlaws‟. Social background and political ideology is associated with greater knowledge of outlaws. Men, baby boomers and their predecessors, those born in Australia or the UK, those with a basic secondary level education and those identifying as left on the political spectrum are the most knowledgeable. This Australian study suggests that outlaws such as Jesse James and Billy the Kid are not just national folk heroes, but recognised globally. Promoted by visual and print media they have transcended their outlaw heritage to represent romanticised notions of freedom, loyalty and the „underdog‟, regardless of the historical facts surrounding their lives and deaths.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Human Society
Research Group:	Sociology
Research Field:	Sociology not elsewhere classified
Objective Division:	Culture and Society
Objective Group:	Other culture and society
Objective Field:	Other culture and society not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Tranter, BK (Professor Bruce Tranter)
UTAS Author:	Donoghue, J (Dr Jed Donoghue)
ID Code:	86396
Year Published:	2013
Deposited By:	School of Social Sciences
Deposited On:	2013-09-11
Last Modified:	2014-04-04
Downloads:	814 View Download Statistics