Shirley Hazzard’s The Transit of Venus and the Question of Value

Abstract

Considering literature’s value is a difficult task in that it asks one to quantify an aesthetic form that by its very nature thwarts measurement. This does not mean that literature is an ineffable phenomenon. The value of literature comes from its ability to foster a sense of communal belonging and provide a unique window into the lives of others. The imaginary worlds of novels in particular enable one to inhabit vast linguistic spheres that generate sensations beyond the everyday. Shirley Hazzard’s novel The Transit of Venus (1980) provides remarkable evidence of literature’s ability to conjure such worlds and experiences. Her technique of ‘prolepsis’ installs the future into the present in unpredictable ways, making The Transit of Venus a powerful example of how novels can transport readers beyond themselves and into imaginative spaces of deep reflection. This novel demands close analysis because it is a carefully crafted work of fiction that offers a rich, even painterly sense of the world. It is also a novel that at times adopts an aerial perspective that crosses both physical and disembodied realms – landscapes of the body and of the mind. As in life, the generosity of Hazzard’s writing is antithetical to naive or simplistic outcomes, as the subtlety of her prose invites both readerly speculation and contemplation. I argue that Hazzard’s novel is a deeply generous fiction that awakens in readers a profound sense of interiority as one is encouraged to ponder the many facets and dimensions of The Transit of Venus.