Cirrus@Austlit

'While much of the secondary literature suggests that comparison between Alexis Wright and authors like Patrick White is inherently reductive, I propose that comparison can yield important insights. That is, the methods used to consider Alexis Wright in the context of Australian settler authors have been reductive, but the act of comparison itself is not. Using the inclusion of Alexis Wright's Carpentaria (2006) and Patrick White's Voss (1957) on the French agrégation curriculum as the basis for comparison, I proceed to consider the shared cultural motifs, environments, and divisions that this dual inclusion might indicate. Focusing on the desert environment in each novel, I outline three major areas of confluence and difference: ecological diversity, cultural significance, and biblical and Hebraic visions. By analyzing the common significance of the desert in Carpentaria and Voss, crucial differences are revealed. The lenses on each desert differ, as do their purposes, suggesting two distinct—though connected—Australian traditions of belonging in and writing the land.' (Publication abstract)