The Claremont serial killer and the production of class-based suburbia in serial killer mythology

Abstract

ABSTRACT This is an investigation into the ways in which serial killer mythology and notions of place are often co-created. In this study, we focus on the mythos of the serial killer and its relationship to the construct of Australian suburbia. We focus on the ways in which the tension between working-class suburbia and upper-middle-class suburbia plays out through the serial killer narrative. Politically, the serial killer narrative is also intertwined with the production of race-based, class-based and gendered definitions of space. We show how culture is deeply invested in ‘making sense’ of serial killing through several political manoeuvres, including the privileging of certain victims over others, such as the way in which women of colour are rendered invisible in these mythologies. To argue these assertions, we draw from a case study located in Perth, Western Australia, dubbed by the media as the Claremont serial killings. By tracing several sub-narratives, we perform qualitative discourse analysis on diverse media texts.