On the Road to Hokitika: The Epics of a New Constellation

Authors

  • Maria Socorro Suárez Lafuente

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1344/co20172295-103

Keywords:

Eleanor Catton, Paul Carter, New Zealand, Hokitika, The Luminaries, spatial history, gold-seekers.

Abstract

This article aims to analyse Eleanor Catton’s novel The Luminaries mainly using Paul Carter’s theory of spatial history and Catton’s own notions of the influence of astronomy upon human behaviour. The novel portraits a number of individuals who get together in a sparsely populated spot in the South Island of New Zealand and develop a gold-rush town that will eventually become actual Hokitika. Turning a natural space into a "civilized" place requires much toiling and moiling, many personal clashes and the solving of a few mysteries —eventually Hokitika will have its own history grounded and The Luminaries can be concluded in a scene that rounds up the epic construction of the city and promises, at the same time, a consistent future.

Author Biography

Maria Socorro Suárez Lafuente

María Socorro Suárez Lafuente is Professor of English Literature and Literatures in English at the University of Oviedo, Spain. Her interests lie in the field of Contemporary Literature, Feminism, Critical Theory and the development of the Faust theme. She has published extensively on those fields, has been co-editor of several volumes and is the author of a collection of literary essays, and she has been presented recently with a volume of essays: A Rich Field Full of Pleasant Surprises: Essays on Contemporary Literature in Honour of Professor Suárez Lafuente. She has been president of the Spanish Association of Women’s Studies and president of the Spanish Association of Anglo-American Studies. She is now the Spanish representative in the Spanish Society for the Study of English and is Fellow of the English Association.

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Published

2017-04-26