The Ancestor Game
The Ancestor Game by Alex Miller, published by Penguin Books Australia in 1992, is a thought-provoking exploration of cultural displacement and identity. This third edition spans 302 pages and is presented in English. The narrative follows Steven Muir, August Spiess, his daughter Gertrude, and Lang Tzu as they navigate their complex relationships with the culture of European Australia, each grappling with their sense of belonging and the challenges of returning to their ancestral roots.
Readers will find a rich tapestry of experiences as the characters confront their ambivalence and yearning for connection to their heritage. The story delves into the paradox of feeling at home while being in exile, highlighting the intricate dynamics of identity and belonging within the context of Australian society. Through their journeys, the characters reveal the nuances of their cultural experiences, making this work a significant reflection on the European Australian condition.
Official synopsis Publisher
Steven Muir, August Spiess and his daughter Gertrude, and Lang Tzu all acknowledge a restless sense of cultural displacement, an ambivalence in their relations with the culture of European Australia. Steven left England for Australia as a young man and his one attempt at returning is unsuccessful. August Spiess, although he speaks frequently of returning to his native Hamburg, fails to make the journey, as does his daughter Gertrude. Lang Tzu’s very name defines his fate: ‘two characters which in Mandarin signify the son who goes away.’ The ‘game’, however, does have winners. For despite their yearnings for the home of their ancestral dreams, a desire to belong somewhere that is truly their own, none leaves Australia, and each in their own way comes to see that to be at home in exile may be a defining paradox of the European Australian condition.
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