Despite predictions that globalisation would homogenise cultures, ethnicity continues to split states asunder. Democratic theorists fear that consensus, equality and social capital are retreating before competition, materialism and resentment. The 2004 federal election campaign became a festival of individualism as alternative governments courted voters not with visions of a richer community but with promises of greater disposable household income after health and education costs.

Literature reflects social fragmentation with readers’ worlds splitting into narrow, isolated and specialised publics. Where once a canon of western novels purported to depict and analyse human nature, the postmodern trend is to reproduce narrow experiences. When each unique story is a valid piece of a fractured mosaic, it is a challenge for readers to situate stories within a general discourse about humanity.