ABSTRACT
This chapter explores constructions of belonging through costumes in two Australian circus novels – The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith by Peter Carey (1994) and The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott (2006) – in order to clarify what identity narratives emerge when someone ‘belongs’ to an object of attachment, in this case circus-related costumes. It clarifies Australian-born costume artist Leigh Bowery’s sense of attachment to circus and clown iconography as a source of inspiration for his original costume inventions. This chapter elucidates to what extent this sense of association with the circus sphere can be called ‘belonging’ in a costume-cum-body context.
