Re-constructing the “Outcast-initiate” in Patrick White's The Twyborn Affair

This article is a postcolonial literary analysis of The Twyborn Affair, by the Australian Nobel-prizewinner, Patrick White. Concepts provided by queer theology, radical feminist postcolonial theology and trans-theology are used as an appropriate critical lens through which to view The Twyborn Affair. In each of the three sections of the novel the main character is in search of love, sex, intimacy and connection with family, and at the same time religious and spiritual issues are explored. Using a queer theology theoretical framework, the article examines the significance of White's portrayal of the interplay between the transgressive body and the sacred in terms of bisexuality, queer wanderlust, transcendence in brothels, queer redemptions and sanctity.