The Carnival Writing of Birds of Passage

Abstract

Brian Castro is one of the most important Chinese-Australian writers in Australian literature. In his representative work Birds of Passage, he deeply explores the issues of identity crisis and racial discrimination faced by Chinese immigrants in Australia. This paper analyzes the novel by using Bakhtin’s carnival theory. The carnival rituals in the novel not only challenge the authority of mainstream society through the establishment of intimate relationships but also achieve self-renewal through the imagery of fire. In the intersection of Shan and Seamus’s chronotope, Castro constructs a unique carnival chronotope, where racial labels are temporarily set aside. It allows the characters to establish a boundary-transcending sense of self-identity. Through its themes and narrative techniques, the novel not only calls for racial equality but also elevates this appeal to a concern for all humanity, proposing a new approach to exploring identity issues in multicultural societies.