Is Burchett a traitor to Australian journalism? A cultural historiographical approach to why this may not matter

More than 25 years after his death, Wilfred "Peter" Burchett continues to excite debate. He is a figure that, as historian Robert Manne notes, is possibly "the most controversial and influential communist in Australian history" (Manne 32). To many, Burchett is a traitor, but to others, he stands as a representation of Australian journalism's Enlightenment-informed value and belief system. This article offers a theoretical and methodological cultural-historiographical framework within which it is possible to reinterpret Burchett as an allegorical narrative. This reinterpretation suggests Burchett can be read as a metaphor and, as such, continues to have a fundamentally essential position within Australian journalism culture, despite apparent uncomfortable "realities".