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Point of no return: Exploring katabatic narrative and deterritorialisation in the Australian outback novel A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Fine Art (Creative Writing and Research). Brendan Telford (BA/BEd) Creative Industries Queensland University of Technology July 2012 Keywords Katabasis, territoriality, deterritorialisation, outback fiction, hero’s journey Brolga Page i Abstract This thesis consists of the novel Brolga and an exegesis examining in what ways the ideas of katabasis and deterritorialisation inform an understanding of descent narratives in contemporary Australian outback fiction. When writing the creative piece, it was observed that Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey was an imprecise model for my manuscript and indeed for many of the contemporary novels I had read written in similar outback settings. On analysis a better fit lies in the idea of a heroic journey from which there is no clear return from the underworld. This narrative form is defined in this thesis as a katabatic narrative. To unpack this narrative trope, the inverse of territoriality, deterritorialisation, is used as a lens to examine the complex thematic and symbolic resonances of the outback in both Brolga and analogous works of contemporary outback fiction. Brolga Page ii Table of Contents Contents Keywords .....................................................................................................................................i Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................... iii Statement of Original Authorship ............................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... v Creative Work ............................................................................................................................ 1 Exegesis ................................................................................................................................. 118 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 118 2. THE HERO’S JOURNEY ........................................................................................................ 120 3. KATABASIS AND DESCENT NARRATIVE .............................................................................. 122 4. HEART OF DARKNESS AS KATABATIC NARRATIVE ............................................................. 126 5. THE OUTBACK .................................................................................................................... 129 5.1 Defining the Outback ................................................................................................... 129 5.2 Outback as frontier – notions of boundaries .............................................................. 131 5.3 Boundaries in contemporary Australian fiction and in Brolga .................................... 133 6. TERRITORIALITY ................................................................................................................. 136 6.1 Definition of territoriality ............................................................................................ 136 6.2 Failure of territoriality in contemporary Australian outback fiction ........................... 138 6.3 Effect of territoriality in Brolga ................................................................................... 141 7. DETERRITORIALISATION .................................................................................................... 142 7.1 Definition of deterritorialisation ................................................................................. 142 7.2 Deterritorialisation as oppressed ................................................................................ 145 7.3 Deterritorialisation’s place in the history of the Australian Outback ......................... 147 7.4 Effectiveness of deterritorialisation in contemporary Australian outback fiction ...... 149 7.5 Effect of deterritorialisation on Brolga ....................................................................... 157 8. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 159 REFERENCES CITED ................................................................................................................ 161 APPENDIX 1............................................................................................................................ 166 Brolga Page iii Statement of Original Authorship The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted to meet requirements for an award at this or any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made. Signature: Date: 20 November 2012 Brolga Page iv Acknowledgements Craig Bolland (supervisor), Kim Moody (edit), Ellen Thompson, Catherine Haden, Louisa Rossitto, Sam Martin, Tim Milfull, Lee McGowan, Alison Tebbutt, John & Sue Telford, Sara Page, Marjorie Tanks, Luke Wilkie. Brolga Page v Creative Work BROLGA A novel by Brendan Telford ‘A man’s past is not simply a dead history…it is a still quivering part of himself, bringing shudders and bitter flavours and the tinglings of a merited shame.’ George Eliot Brolga Page 1 ONE He let his forehead rest against the bus window, looking through himself at the blurred shapes beyond. Not much could be made out, the night blending with the landscape to become one black anomaly. The coolness of the glass soothed his aching body. The bus interior was dark, the only illumination coming from the luminescent digital clock at the front above the windshield. Music from an iPod floated faintly from somewhere across the aisle. A small girl no older than five occupied the seat opposite. At the beginning of the journey, she had been a ball of combustible energy. She now lay snuggled into the chair, quiet, the occasional infantile murmur passing her lips as she slept. He had been at the bus terminal two hours before the departure time printed on his ticket. He sat close to the glass doors, watching the comings and goings of the passengers and their various acquaintances. How would each embrace, handshake, lingering kiss shape the overall paths of these strangers’ lives? Was this a last goodbye? The first of many happy reunions? Were the lesbians who verged on heavy petting gratuitously in lust for each other, or desperate in the realisation that their parting once again left them alone? Was the man with the red silk tie happy because of the journey that lay ahead, or because of what he was leaving behind? He wiped a sweaty palm across his face, the stubble rasping against his skin. Light filtered through one of the station windows. He stared at the motes of matter that danced in the golden rays, dirt mixing with dead skin, dust melding with discarded particles, memories, all forgotten. He had alighted his bus without fanfare. His departure from this world was without fuss. There was no party, big send-off, or last hurrah to mark his inception into the ‘real world’, one seen as working five days a week for the majority of the calendar year, having responsibilities such as car and home loans, union fees, and beer other than XXXX Bitter. “We don’t want you forgetting what you’re leaving behind, y’know!” Brolga Page 2 He looked at the clock. The party would have been winding down about now, everyone making plans to head out into the city. If they bothered to have the party. They probably would have. Without him there, they would have had to think up another reason to drink, which would inevitably be that he wasn’t there. He stretched his legs as far under the seat in front of him as he could, trying as he did so to work the knot out of the middle of his back. He tried to make as little noise or movement as possible, but before long the girl stirred from her sleep, opening her eyes to look at him. She yawned, rubbing her half-opened eyes with tiny fists. “Sorry,” he whispered. “Go back to sleep.” “What time is it?” the girl mumbled. “Two in the morning.” “Oh.” She straightened a little in her seat, still gazing bleary-eyed at him. “That’s pretty early, hey?” “Hey,” Amos replied softly. “Go back to sleep.” “How come you aren’t sleeping?” the girl asked. He looked at her. The girl’s face was purity – pink rosy cheeks framed by red curls, large blue eyes, the lightest touch of freckles across the bridge of her nose. He looked at her and felt the emptiness open wide inside him. His mouth quivered, his tongue unsure of its proper movements. He rested his head against the glass. “Just go back to sleep,” he whispered. The bus travelled on through the night. ____________________ Thump. Brolga Page 3 He started, swivelling around in fuzzy awareness, looking for eyes in the darkness, piercing his fragile exterior. No one stirred. The girl had acquired a blanket, huddling beneath it, a protective shell to the night. Her chest rose in quick heaves, deflated in rapid troughs. He eased over her, out into the aisle. The only light