A Sentient Character : A Narratological Analysis of Nature's Impact on the Settlers in Remembering Babylon

Sammanfattning

Remembering Babylon explores nature as a sentient character and its impact on the settlers. The novel focuses on multiple characters, highlighting moments where nature chooses to 'claim' them. The characters experience epiphanies resulting in a new sense of national identity, as well as an attitude more attuned to appreciate the Australian land. This essay performs a narratological analysis on Remembering Babylon. It investigates matters of focalization with a focus on Gerard Genette's explanation of the concept. Furthermore, non-human narratology is applied to perform the analysis, narrowing in on relationships between the human and the 'other.' The essay explores the role of Gemmy Fairley as the 'other.' His relationship with the white settlers is mirrored in the settler's fractured relationship with the land on which they reside. The essay engages in the concept of defamiliarization to evaluate the way in which the novel manages to present the familiar nature surrounding the settlement as something completely new.