image of person or book cover 6675743643663189995.jpg
This image has been sourced from online
y separately published work icon An Imaginary Life : A Novel single work   novel  
  • Author:agent David Malouf http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/malouf-david
Issue Details: First known date: 1978... 1978 An Imaginary Life : A Novel
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'In prose that is both elegant and lyrical, David Malouf departs from the little-known facts of Ovid's exile beyond the pale of civilization to create a deeply moving novel of extraordinary beauty. An outcast in a vast wasteland at the edge of the Black Sea, Ovid discovers a feral child. As he teaches the boy to speak the language of the civilized world, the child tutors him in his own tongue, the language of nature, and the once barren landscape begins to resonate with meaning.' (Publisher's blurb)

Exhibitions

7438642
18388350
18387981

Adaptations

An Imaginary Life Kim Carpenter , 1986 single work drama

A stage adaptation of David Malouf's novel about the friendship between the exiled Ovid and a feral child.

Notes

  • Dedication: To Christopher.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      George Braziller ,
      1978 .
      image of person or book cover 2856691582690114612.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online
      Extent: 154p.
      Reprinted: 1978 ,
      ISBN: 090760884X
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Chatto and Windus ,
      1978 .
      image of person or book cover 6675743643663189995.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online
      Extent: 154p.
      Reprinted: 1993
      ISBN: 0701123664
    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Pan , 1980 .
      image of person or book cover 4433121231886661091.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online
      Extent: 154p.
      Reprinted: 1982 , 1984 , 1988 , 1989 , 1990 , 1992
      ISBN: 0330270044
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Toronto, Ontario,
      c
      Canada,
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Vintage ,
      1996 .
      image of person or book cover 5538622082091873709.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 154p.
      ISBN: 0679767932
      Series: y separately published work icon Vintage International New York (City) : Vintage , 1993- 19532994 1993 series - publisher novel

      'William Faulkner, Philip Roth, Alice Munro, Thomas Mann, Doris Lessing, Albert Camus, V.S. Naipaul, Gabriel García Márquez, Salman Rushdie, Joan Didion, and Cormac McCarthy, among many others: Vintage International is devoted to publishing the best writing of the past century from the world over. Offering both classic and modern fiction and literary nonfiction in elegant editions, Vintage International aims to provide readers with world-class writing that has stood the test of time and essential works by the preeminent authors of today.'

      Source: Vintage.

    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Vintage ,
      1999 .
      image of person or book cover 3632906721095649689.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 154p.
      ISBN: 0099273845
Alternative title: Ett forvandlat liv
Language: Swedish
    • Malmo,
      c
      Sweden,
      c
      Scandinavia, Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Forum ,
      1981 .
      Extent: 151p.
      ISBN: 9137074180

Other Formats

  • Braille.
  • Sound recording.

Works about this Work

The Shifting Margins in David Malouf’s An Imaginary Life Sourav Banerjee , 2023 single work criticism
— Appears in: Marginality in Australian Literature 2023; (p. 85-99)
Journeying into Australian Literature : A Memoir and Reflection Antonella Riem Natale , 2023 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Queensland Review , vol. 30 no. 1 2023; (p. 126-137)

'In this memoir, Antonella Riem reflects on her long career in Australian literary studies in Italy and internationally, and the scholars who have inspired her. She then outlines the principles of the partnership model of literary studies that she has developed over many years, and how she applies her approach to Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s ‘Kubla Khan’ and David Malouf’s An Imaginary Life.'  (Publication abstract)

‘All You See Is What You Feel’ Stephanie Green , 2023 single work prose
— Appears in: Queensland Review , vol. 30 no. 1 2023; (p. 118-125)

'This article explores themes of place, literature and friendship through an engagement with David Malouf’s novel Johhno. Set in Brisbane and Italy, the article takes the form of a creative non-fiction essay, in six sections. The narrator reflects on her wanderings, bent on renunciation of everything except writing, yet hoping for revelation or union. Whereas for Malouf’s characters, Dante and Johnno, Brisbane offers a canvas to hurl themselves against, the narrator of ‘All You See’ takes the city as a point of arrival and departure. She veers towards and away from family, friends and lovers, crossing cities and continents, eventually returning home, yet still at odds with what she knows and what she has lived.' (Publication abstract)

“Do Not Shoot, I’m a B–b–British Object!” : Reading David Malouf in Indian Universities Nishtha Pandey , 2022 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Postcolonial Writing , vol. 58 no. 1 2022; (p. 80-94)

'Since 2009, Australian author David Malouf’s texts have been included and then excluded from key courses in Indian universities. Malouf’s place in the curriculum (particularly that of An Imaginary Life [1978]) relates to pedagogical and intellectual negotiations with postcolonial theory – especially debates about the inclusion of white settler literatures. It also should be seen in the context of the country’s emergent (hyper)nationalist political imagination. Referring to the influential course “New Literatures in English” offered by University of Delhi’s English department, this article argues that the selection of Malouf texts by Indian English departments indicates not only ongoing debates in postcolonial thought, but also a preference for postcolonial texts that can be read through essentializing lenses. It proposes Malouf’s later novel Remembering Babylon (1993) as a productive text through which to discuss the limitations of using deterministic cultural markers in the creation of a postcolonial Indian imaginary.' (Publication abstract)

Exile’s Return : Change Was in the Air Andrew Taylor , 2019 single work criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 19 no. 1 2019;
'In September 1963 I boarded the ship, the Fairsky, in Port Melbourne, and waved goodbye to my parents and my girlfriend. I was 23 years old and leaving Australia for the first time. The Fairsky was one of many ships that had served in the Second World War and then been repurposed in the immediate post-war years. In this case, she had served for both the USA and Royal navies, firstly as USS Barnes and then as HMS Attacker, before being converted initially for use as a cargo carrier (the Castel Forte), and eventually undergoing another major refit for passenger use in 1957, from which she re-emerged as Fairsky.' (Introduction)
[Review] An Imaginary Life Kate Eldred , 1978 single work review
— Appears in: New Republic , 13 May no. 178 1978; (p. 36)

— Review of An Imaginary Life : A Novel David Malouf , 1978 single work novel
[Review] An Imaginary Life Helen McNeil , 1978 single work review
— Appears in: New Statesman , 15 September no. 96 1978; (p. 338)

— Review of An Imaginary Life : A Novel David Malouf , 1978 single work novel
[Review] An Imaginary Life Rowe Portis , 1978 single work review
— Appears in: Library Journal , 1 March no. 103 1978; (p. 587)

— Review of An Imaginary Life : A Novel David Malouf , 1978 single work novel
The Parable of the Child and the Nose Geoffrey Dutton , 1978 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 17 October vol. 99 no. 5131 1978; (p. 75-76)

— Review of An Imaginary Life : A Novel David Malouf , 1978 single work novel
Printout Helen Frizell , 1978 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 20 May 1978; (p. 17)

— Review of An Imaginary Life : A Novel David Malouf , 1978 single work novel
Culture and Identity : Politics and Writing in Some Recent Post-Colonial Texts Gareth Griffiths , 1992 single work criticism
— Appears in: From Commonwealth to Post-Colonial 1992; (p. 436-443)
Problems of Historicity in David Malouf's An Imaginary Life Peter Morton , 2000 single work criticism
— Appears in: Classical & Modern Literature , vol. 20 no. 1 2000; (p. 1-17)
David Malouf's An Imaginary Life : A Return to the Very Edge of Memory, History and the Multicultural Self M. Dolores Herrero , 2002 single work criticism
— Appears in: Narrativa i Historia 2002; (p. 37-59)
Explores the relationship between history, autobiography and fiction in Malouf's novel.
Constructing the Post-Colonial Male Body Bill Ashcroft , 1998 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Body in the Library 1998; (p. 207-223)

Discusses the representations of the male body and identity in Australian art and literature.

David Malouf's Language of Reconciliation : Stylistic Patterns in An Imaginary Life Brendan Rodda , 2004 single work criticism
— Appears in: Literature and Aesthetics , June vol. 14 no. 1 2004; (p. 49-66)
Uses a linguistic model to analyse the lexico-grammar of two excerpts from Malouf's novel and to show 'Malouf's brilliance in crafting language to convey the theme of the novel' (65).
Last amended 7 Jul 2021 09:39:44
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