Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://hdl.handle.net/2440/119704
Type: | Theses |
Title: | Confronting the dark |
Author: | Rees, Karen M. |
Issue Date: | 2017 |
School/Discipline: | School of Humanities |
Abstract: | “Confronting the Dark” is a creative writing thesis comprised of two interrelated parts: Volume 1: The Art of Dying, a novel; and Volume 2: “Representations of death in Australian fiction,” an exegesis. In the novel, Gerard, the main character, is dying. As a consequence of his imminent death, he begins to focus on both the trauma of his early years and the great love he feels privileged to have experienced. The exegesis describes how the practice of writing about death led to a critical inquiry into various philosophies of death that have been of interest to writers, as well as the transformation of the Western approach to death over the past few centuries, brought about by modernity. It presents a case study of two Australian novels, Helen Garner’s The Spare Room (2008), and Patrick White’s The Vivisector (1970). I discuss the writing of my own novel in light of the reflexive agency required for creative writing research and in terms of creative writing habitat, the creative domain, activities of writing, and the artefact. I conclude that writing about death occurs for primarily existential reasons. Writers are asking questions about how human beings feel about their impending death, how they cope with life goals and the possibility of unfinished business, and how the death of the other affects the lives of those who remain. |
Advisor: | Castro, Brian Rutherford, Jennifer Treagus, Mandy |
Dissertation Note: | Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2017. |
Keywords: | creative writing Death Australian literature philosophy Helen Garner Patrick White Nietzsche Heidegger writing about death creative writing research |
Description: | Vol. 1 [Novel] The Art of Dying -- Vol. 2 [Exegesis] Representations of death in Australian fiction |
Provenance: | This electronic version is made publicly available by the University of Adelaide in accordance with its open access policy for student theses. Copyright in this thesis remains with the author. This thesis may incorporate third party material which has been used by the author pursuant to Fair Dealing exceptions. If you are the owner of any included third party copyright material you wish to be removed from this electronic version, please complete the take down form located at: http://www.adelaide.edu.au/legals |
Appears in Collections: | Research Theses |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
---|---|---|---|---|
01front.pdf | Volume 1 | 143.31 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
02whole.pdf | Volume 2 | 848.07 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
03front.pdf | Exegesis | 132.25 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
04whole.pdf | Exegesis | 550.27 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
Permissions Restricted Access | Published version | 354.53 kB | Published version | View/Open |
Restricted Restricted Access | Published version | 1.35 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.