'In the past two years much has been said, by both media and government, about the role of secondary English teachers in promoting "classic" Australian literature. This article contends that the dominant voices in this discourse, which emphasise cultural heritage over rational and theorised approaches to texts, fail to recognise the ways in which critical theory can be used to facilitate student connection and engagement with classic works, and thus maintain rather than bridge cultural and historic divides. To explore the argument, this paper draws on a classic Australian text that continues to be much used (and loved) in secondary classrooms: Jessica Anderson's Tirra Lirra by the River. My aim is to both explore a theoretical paradigm which will offer a new reading of this significant Australian text, and also to suggest an approach to reading and teaching classic Australian literature which investigates an alternative to the more traditional pedagogies that have dominated media responses to this issue.' (Author's abstract.)