Capricornia (1938) is the debut novel by Xavier Herbert. Like his later work considered by many a masterpiece, the Miles Franklin Award-winning Poor Fellow My Country, it provides a fictional account of life in 'Capricornia', a place clearly modelled specifically on Australia's Northern Territory, and to a lesser degree on tropical Australia in general, (i.e. anywhere north of the Tropic of Capricorn) in the early twentieth century. It was written in London between 1930 and 1932. Highly influenced by the Jindyworobak Movement, it also describes the inter-racial relationships and abuses of the period. It was written before Herbert was acting Protector of the Aborigines in Darwin.

A few extracts

The book opens, The story, like other works by Herbert, is immense and rambling, following with irony the fortunes and otherwise, of a range of Outback Characters, over a span of generations. Through their story is reflected a story of Australia, concerning the clash of personalities and societies that provide the substance on which today's society is founded. Characters of particular interest include the unfortunate underdogs (many granted fewer rights in the officially White pre-1970s Australia) of whom Xavier is one of the few outstanding champions who demonstrates any real insight and compassion—though not by any favour, but simply by the fact that he places all on an equal standing. Perhaps the most notable characters in his story are those followed from birth. For example, Norman ("Nawnim", or "no-name"): And Constance: Herbert's frank historical settings give authenticity to much that would otherwise be forgotten, for instance: In not dodging the unattractive, and actively seeking the non-conformist characters, he has preserved for modern readers a view which seems not unlike that of modern writers, where so much of early-to-mid 20th century history of Australia is bland, apoliticised, and ignores the vast majority of the truth, following the politic of the White Australia myth. Here, a paragraph about the return of a soldier following World War I, relating his stories to an older advocate of the war who stayed at home. Occasionally the facts seem to need to be spoken plainly, and Herbert is not completely averse to rants by his characters, but these are few and far between. The following rant given with only minimal irony, on behalf of the Officer in Charge of the Native Compound seems worth reproducing, given that it mirrors closely many of the circumstances of the country of Australia 70 years later (remember Capricornia is a fictional nation, and some small discrepancies are likely, even without the gap of 70 years since the novel was written): As for the administrators of the System of Government which offers such services, to Herbert, the vast majority are self-interested nincompoops, and the system reliably self-perpetuating due to a more-or-less indefinite supply of same, viz: Indeed, heroes are few, or non-existent. Acts of bravado usually tempt swift retribution from forces outside the control of the characters, force which is wielded with such offhand irony by the author that one eventually becomes inured to their pain, and able to predict to some extent when one has gotten above themself and about to fall. But it is this spite in the face of the inevitable, strength of conviction, courage, and blindness to consequence that Herbert apparently admires most—even the stupidest and most vain are given equal respect having served their role in elucidating the beautiful interweave of the pattern whose surface is all that is discovered by most other authors.

Recognition

The book won the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal for Australia’s Best Novel of 1939. Prominent Australian author and historian Geoffrey Dutton included Capricornia in The Australian Collection: Australia’s Greatest Books, describing it as “one of the most energetic of modern novels. And it is a modern novel, despite its straightforward narrative technique and style and being set in the past, with characters whose names recall Bunyan or Dickens. It is modern because it impinges on contemporary consciousness.”

Stage adaptation

Playwright Louis Nowra adapted Capricornia for the stage, first performed by in 1988. Company B Belvoir's production, directed by Kingston Anderson, opened at Sydney's Belvoir St Theatre in April 1988 before a national tour. Belvoir revived Nowra's play in 2006 in a production directed by Wesley Enoch at the Seymour Centre in Sydney.