The Paradox of the Margin in the Novels of Janette Turner Hospital

Abstract

<p>This thesis will explore the work of Janette Turner Hospital. Her work</p> <p>reveals the attempt to mediate between two levels of reality. The first may</p> <p>be described as that which comprises the world of objective reality, of</p> <p>everyday life, of western culture and the perceived centre. The other level is</p> <p>perceived to exist on the margins of the first, and encompasses the subjective,</p> <p>the unconventional, the Third World and the supernatural. The awareness</p> <p>of this dichotomy, which has connective roots to Hospital's experience in both</p> <p>Australia and Canada, has led her to search for the integration of these two</p> <p>worlds. The difficulties of this quest form a central issue in Hospital's novels.</p> <p>These difficulties include the belief that the world of the margin cannot be</p> <p>truly known, especially from the perspective of the centre, and that, because</p> <p>the two levels of reality coexist, they cannot be separated.</p>