The Pygmalion Factor—Creativity in the Novels of Janette Turner Hospital

Abstract

History and literature are twin narratives by which we seek to define realities. Through them we are able to escape the tyranny of the present by recreating the past and delivering identity and culture. Such is the lust for continuity that myth and dream are essential elements in all narrative. Truth becomes a function of memory and desire, so is rendered fundamentally unstable. Reality is fractured. The creative artist is compelled to regain control by re-establishing shared realities which, as art, may be no more than a compensation for dislocation or suffering. Such concepts and themes are central in all Janette Turner Hospital's novels. This paper seeks to trace the creative urge as expressed in the major characters and in the text of Turner Hospital's work.