Place, Ecology and Environmental Writing in the Queensland Novels of Arthur Upfield
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/qre.2014.10Keywords:
Arthur Upfield, representation of 'place', environmental writing, eco-criticismAbstract
In the 29 novels by Arthur Upfield in which he is the protagonist, Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte (Bony) is often referred to as a product of Queensland. We are reminded repeatedly of his origins, first in North Queensland (where he was born and raised on a mission) and then Brisbane (where he was educated, and where he and his wife live in the suburb of Banyo – though this city location is never described). But my main purpose here is to explore Upfield’s representation of ‘place’, specifically in the three Queensland-focused Bony novels, and the related, recurrent discourses and tropes commonly associated with environmental writing and eco-criticism: wilderness, toxicity, pastoral, dwelling and particularly environmental crisis, eruption and catastrophe.
References
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