The Somerton Man: An Unsolved History

Ruth Balint

doi:10.5130/csr.v16i2.1520

Cultural Studies Review 16.2 September 2010 Critical Proximity

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Published: Sep 15, 2010

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5130/csr.v16i2.1520

Keywords:

Cold cases, Postwar Australia, Displaced persons, Cold War, Rubaiyat.

Ruth Balint

University of New South Wales

Abstract

The case of the unknown man who died mysteriously at Somerton Beach in South Australia in 1948 remains an open police investigation, although the trail today has grown fairly cold. Revisiting the case, and the responses the mystery of his person have elicited, enables a special historical insight into Australia’s postwar society, and the ways in which the past is continually reshaped by the subjectivities of the present. Further, an unsolved case such as this provides for a unique kind of historical project. The limitations of a history without a coherent centre are myriad, yet so are the possibilities. In this article, I explore the possibilities of an ‘unsolved history’, a history of dead ends, and argue that it is the very unknowable-ness of the Somerton Man that allows for a perception of history as multi-dimensional and complex.

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 2 (2010): Critical Proximity

Section

Articles (Peer Reviewed)

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Author Biography

Ruth Balint, University of New South Wales

Ruth Balint is a lecturer in the School of History and Philosophy, University of New South Wales, Australia. Her research is currently focused on postwar Australia, Displaced Persons and ideas of home and belonging in this period.

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Ruth Balint, University of New South Wales