The lonely and the alone : : the poetics of isolation in New Zealand fiction / / Doreen D'Cruz and John C. Ross.

• Superior document: Cross/Cultures - Readings in the Post/Colonial Literatures in English ; 147
• Author: D'Cruz, Doreen, 1950-
• TeilnehmendeR: Ross, J. C., 1938-
• Year of Publication: 2011
• Language: English
• Series: Cross/cultures ; 147.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (427 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Aloneness, loneliness, isolation, the isolated consciousness, the many possible guises of outsider-status, alienation, and exclusion - these have especial potency in New Zealand life and literature. The prominence of the motif or topos of the man or woman alone has been widely recognized by literary historians and critics, but this work is the first book-length exploration of it, extended to encompass the broader theme of isolation. This study treats selected novels and short stories from the late-nineteenth century through to the early-twenty-first. Close readings of works by George Chamier, G.B. Lancaster, Katherine Mansfield, John Mulgan, Graham Billing, William Satchell, John A. Lee, Robin Hyde, Frank Sargeson, Fiona Kidman, Noel Hilliard, Patricia Grace, Witi Ihimaera, Keri Hulme, and Alan Duff take their place alongside more comprehensive chapters devoted to selected works by two major novelists, Janet Frame and Maurice Gee. Other literary works receive brief mention.

Table of Contents

Isolation in the back-country: George Chamier, G.B. Lancaster, Katherine Mansfield, John Mulgan, and Graham Billing -- Outsiders and misfits in fragmented social milieux: William Satchell, Vincent Pyke, John A. Lee, Robin Hyde, Frank Sargeson, and others -- The lonely and the alone in the fiction of Janet Frame -- Maurice Gee and postmodern isolation -- Women, isolation, and history: Fiona Kidman, Noel Hilliard, and Patricia Grace -- Cultural deracination and isolation: Witi Ihimaera, Keri Hulme, and Alan Duff.