An Imaginary Life is a 1978 novella written by David Malouf. David Malouf David Malouf (born March 20, 1934) in Brisbane is an Australian writer whose themes encompass Australian history and the Australian landscape. ... For other uses, see Country (disambiguation). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This article is about the literary concept. ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... See also: 1977 in literature, other events of 1978, 1979 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Hardcover books A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth, heavy paper, or sometimes leather). ... ISBN redirects here. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... A novella is a narrative work of prose fiction somewhat longer than a short story but shorter than a novel. ... David Malouf David Malouf (born March 20, 1934) in Brisbane is an Australian writer whose themes encompass Australian history and the Australian landscape. ...

It tells the story of the Roman poet Ovid, during his exile in Tomis. Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... The poor poet A poet is a person who writes poetry. ... For other uses, see Ovid (disambiguation) Publius Ovidius Naso (March 20, 43 BC – 17 AD) was a Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid who wrote on topics of love, abandoned women and mythological transformations. ... Tomi (also called Tomi) was a Greek colony in the province of Scythia on the Black Seas shore, founded around 500 BC for commercial exchanges with local Dacian populations. ...

Whilst there, Ovid lives with the natives, although he doesn't understand their language; and forms a bond with a wild boy who is found after having been brought up by deer. This article is about the feral child. ... This article is about the ruminent animal. ...

The relationship between Ovid and the boy, at first one of protector and protected, becomes an alliance between two people in a foreign land.

Ovid comes to Tomis enculturated with a Roman worldview and through his attempts at teaching the boy acquisition of language is able to free himself from the constrictions of Latin and the encompassing perception of reality that is his only barrier against transendence.

The novel is comparable to the poems of William Wordsworth in the idea of child and childhood affecting a perception of nature. Ovid is continually searching for the Child and what he represents to him. He goes so far as to capture him in an attempt to learn from him, and to teach him language and conventions.

Malouf has been described as a post-colonialist author. He wrote this novel when issues with the treatment of the Indigenous people of Australia was under question, and the White Australia Policy and paternalistic mentality were inherent in society. These values can be seen in An Imaginary Life, with the Child, so wild and close to nature, captured by an encultured person who wishes to teach him.

Malouf dedicated his novel to Christopher.