Una Vida Imaginaria de David Malouf: una aproximación ecocrítica-poscolonial

Abstract

This paper offers an analysis of the novel An Imaginary Life by the Australian novelist David Malouf from an ecocritical and postcolonial perspective. It emphasizes the fundamentals of both theories such as the human and the non-human, culture and nature, hybridity and otherness, among others. Through this interpretation the reader is invited to reflect about possible universes, the currency of Malouf’s literary discourse and its adaptability to various historical and cultural contexts.
The novel appropriates Ovid’s exile in Tomis, in the outskirts of the Roman Empire. This semi-sedentary community was periodically invaded by the Barbarians that surrounded it. Little is known about the poet’s life during his exile and this is the gap that Malouf uses to frame his narration. The exile experience, the insertion of the main character in a new world -far from civilization- the encounter with a wild boy, the relationship between them and Ovid’s transformation are aspects which make the novel fertile ground for a postcolonial-ecocritical reading. Although it is not set in Australia, it is an Australian author who dares to present the character not in the center as in his days of glory but rather in the periphery. Australia can also be seen as the periphery and England, its colonizer, as the center. By means of his fictional account, Malouf confronts us with the inner struggles that arise in the periphery and vindicates this space, resignifying it.