Ambiguities of the Future: Theological Hints in the Novels of Patrick White.

Fiddes, Paul (2010) Ambiguities of the Future: Theological Hints in the Novels of Patrick White. In: The Melbourne College of Divinity Centenary Conference, 5-7 July 2010, Trinity College, Melbourme, Australia.

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Abstract

This essay explores the presence of and relationship between different visions of the future in the novels of Patrick White. In works such as 'Voss', 'A Fringe of Leaves', 'Riders of the Chariot' and 'The Vivisector' we can detect traces of what Moltmann calls "calculable" and "desirable" vision of the future. White's treatment of the themes of the body and the land speak of a future that is made possible from within the framework of existing possibilities. Yet throughout his writing White also hints at a future that can only be received, often in moments of intense, and somtimes spiritual illumination. This dual vision comes to expression in the figure of the outsider, the judgement of art and, crucially, in White's repeated use of crucifixion imagery. In this way White, though in many ways a quitessentially Australian novelist, helps us to reflect theologically on aspects of the human situation and the tension inherent within it.

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