Literature
Diversity and Togetherness
24
Celebrating Culture in Literature
Australia: ‘My Brilliant Career’ by Miles Franklin ‘My Brilliant Career’ is Miles Franklin’s 1901 debut novel, exploring class, gender, and youth in late 19th to early 20th century rural Australia. Purporting to be an autobiography, the book tracks the journey of Sybylla, a headstrong, free-spirited girl growing up in the Australian bush, reflecting Franklin’s adolescence in the mountain-guarded valleys of the Alps in New South Wales. An intelligent girl with a literary gift, Sybylla struggles to confine her potential whilst slaving away at the rough yet beautiful family-owned farm, Possum Gully. The 1890s were, in the words of Carmen Callil who wrote the introduction to the book, ‘a period of political and artistic ferment’ in Australia – the six colonies federated to form the independent Commonwealth and there was an emergence of fervent nationalism in literature. Franklin contributes to this patriotic literary tradition, celebrating nationalism and socialism in the immensely detailed pages of ‘My Brilliant Career’. Franklin writes fondly of her homeland, yet she is conflicted about the classist, misogynist social structures within it. This oxymoronic relationship is captured in the metaphor: “the cruel dazzling brilliance of the metal sky”. Published worldwide and adapted into a film, ‘My Brilliant Career’ illuminates the lush Oceanic landscape while teaching readers about the nation’s complex history. words by: Eve Davies
South Asia, India: ‘Life Of Pi’ by Yann Martel Yann Martel’s ‘Life Of Pi’ celebrates South Asian culture through a man’s childhood in his hometown, to his adulthood in Canada, wherein between such, he becomes stranded in the ocean with zoo animals. Whilst only the first section is based in Pondicherry, a French colonial part of South India, its culture lingers throughout the novel and affects the way Pi philosophises life. Growing up in a zoo, he understands much of life through eternal nature; a notion the culture is renowned for. From violence and hierarchy to beauty and freedom, he grasps a sense of its rhythm. What’s more, the novel serves as fuel for some postcolonial thought; with some historical background, we learn about French colonial influence, from architecture to school and street names. Pi’s name itself, is the shortened version of his first name: Piscine. Other than distaste towards his name, the narrator embraces the mashed cultures. It’s only when he moves to Canada that he experiences the negative effects of colonialism and globalisation: when he uses his hands to eat traditionally in an Indian restaurant, he is condemned in a way that makes him feel inferior- a subtle but memorable introduction to racism for both the protagonist and the reader. words by: Anushka Kar