A Study Of Australian Identity In Frank Moorhouse's Grand Days And Dark Palace

Frank Moorhouse is a prominent novelist and social activist in Australia.His early works,mainly short story collections,employed what he called“Discontinuous Narrative”,to depict the emptiness and fragmentation among Australians in contemporary society upon the wave of globalization.As companion volumes,both Grand Days and Dark Palace are featured by the grand historical narration in combined with its magnificent implications in the field of history,international politics and self-identity.Shadowed by the sophisticated story-telling and historical thickness in both Grand Days and Dark Palace,Frank Moorhouse was awarded by South Australia Festival Award and Miles Franklin Award respectively.Been through the failure of the economic sanction to Italy and the collapse of the League,Edith Berry Campbell witnessed the abortion of World Disarmament Conference and German's invasion to Poland.Moorhouse combines the individual's initiation with the progress of history to reflect the international politics from the perspective of a female diplomat,which uncovers an exquisite scroll painting in a quixotic way in the20^th century.This thesis reviews the origin of Australian identity issues,explaining Moorhouse's reflections on reconstructing Australian identity through analyzing the protagonist Edith in both Grand Days and Dark Palace.The author firstly introduces Frank Moorhouse and his writing characteristics in literary works in terms of impact,so does the criticism and research status in both china and abroad.Secondly,the author discusses the issue of Australian identity and its manifestations in literary works by other writers in Australia as a way to introduce Moorhouse's thinking on such issues.Thirdly,the author,by text analyzing,illustrates the loss of self-identity in Grand Days and the attempt to reconstruct“lost self”in Dark Palace.In the final part of this thesis,the author discusses the interrelation between Moorhouse's unique“Discontinuous Narrative”and Australian identity to indicate that the reconstructing of Australian identity is long-lasting and discontinuous process.Concerning the intricate and interweaving connections between Australia and the European Land as well as issues left over from history,Grand Days and Dark Palace manifest the appealing for identity seeking among contemporary Australians,while at the same time shows the hardships and realistic dilemma in the process of identity construction.