Distance and displacement : the theme of exile in a selection of novels by David Malouf

Abstract

In an interview with Helen Daniel, David Malouf insists that, "I don't myself ever think of exile as being a subject I'm much preoccupied with." He feels that reconciliation is what he aims at in his novels. However. he also admits that characters like Adair in The Conversations at Curlow Creek have to pass through "a psychological underworld and a mythological underworld as well as a real one". This "darkness" is also reminiscent of Knack's girlfriend, Edna's mention of the dark element present within each individual's soul. The aim of this dissertation is that of tracing the emergence of such a theme in four of Malouf s novels which are: An Imaginary Life, Harland 's Half Acre, Remembering Babylon and The Conversations at Curlow Creek. Different portrayals of exile will be looked at and any effects of such a theme on the characters, both positive and negative, will subsequently be analysed in the light of the novel's context.