AustLit

This comparative study of Peter Carey's and Christopher Koch's pieces of fiction of the 1970s explores the tension between copia (abundance) and inopia (shortage) which creates a dynamic in human relationship. If individuals at both extremes are fatally marginalised in clear-cut catgories (the haves and the have-nots, the obese and the famished) it should be ascribed to their marked differences, the radical otherness of which breeds hatred and fear. Perhaps the solution lies in envisioning difference as a vital component which enables to single oneself out and assert one's sui generis identity.' (Author's abstract)