AustLit

"[A] reciprocal relationship between narrative and lived experience is examined in Hartnett’s novel The Children of the King (2012). Using perspectives on temporality from phenomenology and cultural memory and incorporating ideas of place from human and cultural geography, this article proposes that Hartnett uses the device of embedded narrative to examine the affective qualities of storytelling and place on the subject.This juxtaposition invites the reader to consider the fluid notions of identity inspired by embodied oral storytelling along with the perceptual opportunities afforded by the physical, sensorial world. Hartnett encourages the reader to critically assess the reliability of narrative, narrator, and the process of subjective judgement that occurs when responding to story." (Source: introduction)