Between Belonging and Dwelling: The Hospitality of David Malouf's Remembering Babylon

Nicolette Bragg

doi:10.5130/csr.v21i2.3955

PDF HTML

Published: Nov 25, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5130/csr.v21i2.3955

Keywords:

nation, colonialism, Remembering Babylon, hospitality

Nicolette Bragg

Cornell University

Abstract

This article argues that David Malouf’s Remembering Babylon relates two narratives, one of hospitality and one of the nation. Rather than corroborating each other, these narratives conflict. By emphasising the novel’s account of hospitality and the accommodation of the stranger, this article intervenes in readings of the novel as a national allegory. Rather than simply a legacy of colonialism with revised legitimacy, the nation in Remembering Babylon signals the failure of hospitality.

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 2 (2015): New Materialisms

Section

Articles (Peer Reviewed)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright Notice

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

a) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed undera Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share and adapt the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

b) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

c) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Open Access Citation Advantage Service). Where authors include such a work in an institutional repository or on their website (ie. a copy of a work which has been published in a UTS ePRESS journal, or a pre-print or post-print version of that work), we request that they include a statement that acknowledges the UTS ePRESS publication including the name of the journal, the volume number and a web-link to the journal item.

d) Authors should be aware that the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License permits readers to share (copy and redistribute the work in any medium or format) and adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the work) for any purpose, even commercially, provided they also give appropriate credit to the work, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. They may do these things in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests you or your publisher endorses their use.

Author Biography

Nicolette Bragg, Cornell University

Nicolette Bragg is a PhD candidate in English Language and Literature at Cornell University. She specialises in Anglophone world literature and critical theory and holds a minor in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Her dissertation examines philosophical metaphors of birth and argues for the interdependencies of theory and maternity.

Article Sidebar

Main Article Content

Abstract

Article Details

Nicolette Bragg, Cornell University