Hope at the End of the World: Creation Stories and Apocalypse in Alexis Wright's Carpentaria and The Swan Book

• Published in: Antipodes (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) Vol. 30; no. 2; pp. 355 - 368
• Main Author: Adelle L. Sefton-Rowston
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brooklyn Wayne State University Press 01.12.2016
• Subjects: American literature; Atwood, Margaret (1939- ); Australian literature; Bloch, Ernst (1885-1977); British & Irish literature; Canadian literature; Colonial literature; Criticism and interpretation; Cultural differences; Dystopian fiction; English literature; Essays, cont'd; Hope; Huxley, Aldous (1894-1963); Indigenous peoples; Literary criticism; Literary themes; Literature; Morrison, Toni (1931-2019); Native literature; Native peoples; Philosophy; Poetry; Politics; Reconciliation; Religion; Spirituality; Theme; Utopian fiction; Wright, Alexis (1950- ); Australia; New York; Queensland Australia; United States > US
• ISSN: 0893-5580; 2331-9089
• DOI: 10.13110/antipodes.30.2.0355

[...]a hopeful society was created (for these subjects) but one that did not consider the "hopes" of Indigenous subjects.The natural climate is intrinsically linked to the social climate in Wright's literary world and is used as an alternative to "technological advancement"-a typical theme associated with this genre.2 The strong military presence at the swamp is ordered during the government's period of intervention to uphold its political ideals of reconciliation and closing the gap.According to Wright, assimilating or "breaking" with Indigenous cultural ways of seeing and feeling means the extinction of her people, so there must always be gaps between Indigenous and nonIndigenous cultures to ensure cultural diversity.Apocalypse is experienced by the people of Swan Lake when their community is shut down by the de facto leader, Warren Finch, after he succeeds the nominal prime minister for reasons of political form.