Creative Writing Commons^™

Bully Me: A Graphic Novel; The Return: A Graphic Novel; Comakademix: A Comics Anthology; Leadbetter: A Comic; Laundry: A Minicomic -And- The Erotics Of Comics: An Exegesis, Bruce Roberts Mutard

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Beholding a comic is ideally, a pleasure. The work informs, entertains and stimulates the mind in some way. There is no gainsaying which works will affect which beholders howsoever it does, yet the expecta­tion of pleasure from a work of comics makes behold­ers seek it. Making the comic is also a pleasure, even if the process can be long-winded, winding and dif­ficult. The maker wants to give others the same plea­sure they drew from beholding comics, but in their way, making their vision of Batman, Lieutenant Blue­berry or, their own story worlds. What this research seeks to explain are many …

‘Bloodwood’ And ‘Liminal Spaces, Timeless Places: Abjection, Liminality And Landscape In Australian Gothic Fiction’, Karleah Olson

Theses : Honours

This creative honours project comprises a work of fiction titled ‘Bloodwood’ and an accompanying exegetical essay, exploring the concept of liminal space within the Australian landscape. It investigates the anxieties and consequences of past trauma that linger within the landscape of modern Australia, exploring themes such as time, connection to nature, trauma and grief. Using Julia Kristeva’s abjection theory, particularly her ideas on liminal space, this work addresses the contentious issue of postcolonial theory within the field of literary studies, as well as the concept of grief as a liminal process. These ideas are explored through the storylines of three …

Alexandre Goes South: A Novel – And – An Essay, ‘The Modern Adventure Novel’, Samima Dindar

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

When asked what sort of novel I was writing, I always said ‘a modern adventure novel’. And then I began to question myself about the meaning of these three words together, the substance and the definition of a modern adventure novel. Does such a thing exist? In my novel ‘Alexandre Goes South’, Alexandre is a thirty-year-old Parisian from a family that enjoy wealth and privilege, facts that provide a setting but play only incidental roles in the events that unfold. Alexandre goes through a series of crises, which propel the journey that launches him onto the road to manhood. The …

On The Corner Of North And Nowhere. A Novel ‐ And ‐ Going Back To Go Forward: An Invitation To Get Lost. A Critical Essay, Ali Marie Jarvey

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis comprises a young adult (YA) novel called On the Corner of North and Nowhere and an exegesis entitled ‘Going Back to Go Forward: An Invitation to Get Lost’.

On the Corner of North and Nowhere follows 18‐year‐old Nev Isles, who lives and works at Cleary’s, her grandmother’s art retreat in the Perth Hills. She dwells happily in an old cottage by herself, until her mother decides that she wants to move there too. Rather than live with her again, Nev runs away with her friend, Cole, set for the WA roads she travelled as a child and …

Sexuality, Desire And The Ageing Female Body: An Essay, Lauren Marsh

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis consists of a novella, ‘One Night in Hong Kong’, and an essay, ‘Sexuality, Desire and the Ageing Female Body.’ The novella tells the story of an erotic affair between the female narrator and a man in a hotel room in the neon city of Hong Kong. Told in four parts, the story shifts in time, reflecting on earlier events in the narrator’s life and a trip she made to the Sicilian city of Catania in 1954.

Older female protagonists and their sexuality are rarely depicted in contemporary Australian fiction. Where representations do exist, they act as ‘interventionist’ texts, …

Maps For The Lost: A Collection Of Short Fiction And Human / Nature Ecotones: Climate Change And The Ecological Imagination: A Critical Essay, Susan Heather Greenhill

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The thesis comprises a collection of short fiction, Maps for the Lost, and a critical essay, “Human / Nature Ecotones: Climate Change and the Ecological Imagination.” In ecological terms, areas of interaction between adjacent ecosystems are known as ecotones. Sites of relationship between biotic communities, they are charged with fertility and evolutionary possibility. While postcolonial scholarship is concerned with borders as points of cross-cultural contact, ecocritical thought focuses upon the ecotone that occurs at the interface between human and non-human nature.

In their occupation of the liminal zones between human and natural realms, the characters and narratives of Maps …

The Historian’S Daughter (A Novel); Monsters And Memory (An Essay), Rashida Murphy

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis comprises two parts, a novel and an essay. ‘The Historian’s Daughter’ is a work of fiction based on family memories and historical research that speaks to the trauma of abandonment and displacement in an immigrant family living in Australia. The accompanying essay is titled ‘Monsters and Memory’ and is an autoethnographical text which combines theoretical, experiential and embodied research to argue that the inclusion of women’s stories, particularly those of trauma and abuse, must be foregrounded in any exploration of cultural and diasporic memory. Drawing primarily on the work of Said (1978, 1993, 1999, 2001), Bhabha (1990, 1994), …

Somewhat Damaged And Interrogating The Incubus : Sleep Paralysis Explored In The Young Adult Novel, 'Somewhat Damaged', Lauren Payne

Theses : Honours

This thesis, comprising an excerpt from my young adult paranormal novel ‘Somewhat Damaged’ and an essay, examines the mythic potential of sleep paralysis, a paralytic transitory state between sleep and consciousness during which frightening hallucinations are projected onto the waking environment. While the neurophysiology is generally agreed upon, further investigation is warranted on the anomalous phenomena that manifests during sleep paralysis hallucinations. Within the theoretical framework of psychoanalysis, particularly Carl Jung’s collective unconscious theory (1959), I will imaginatively explore the recurring figure of the ‘incubus’ of sleep paralysis that has provoked ubiquitous fear and ambiguity. The essay will describe the …

Lilac Tractors : A Novel ; And, Critical Essay: Intersections Among Psychiatry, Madness, Sexuality And Feminism In 'Lilac Tractors', Anna Bennetts

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis comprises a novel, ‘Lilac Tractors’ and an essay, ‘Intersections among psychiatry, madness, sexuality and feminism in ‘Lilac Tractors’’. The novel focuses on the relationship of a married couple, Gary, a fly-in, fly-out rig worker, and Sharon, a mature-age university student studying psychology. They live together in Perth’s north at the turn of the twenty-first century, as the outer suburbs are beginning to sprawl. Gary has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Sharon finds that her growing knowledge of the condition increases her annoyance with him, rather than her compassion. But mostly she is unhappy because Gary is too gentle …

A Novel - The Dues Of St Fitticks: And Essay - Paying Your Dues In The Lucky Country: Anglo-Celtic Australian Attitudes To Migrants, Michael Armstrong

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Through the medium of the novel and an accompanying essay, this project explores the relationship, particularly since the end of World War II, between the dominant (Anglo-Celtic) and non-dominant Australian cultural groups. I argue that upholding the dominance of Anglo-Celtic culture, particularly as a centre or “core” of Australian identity, is discriminatory and detrimental to the development of Australian society in general and the goal of multiculturalism in particular. Moreover, I question the thesis that Australia can have a “core” culture without marginalising the groups that do not reside within it. Instead of projecting Anglo-Celtic culture as the archetypal Australian …

Visions Must Be Re-Visioned : Gender Politics In Earthsea, Audrey Barton

Theses : Honours

This thesis analyses Ursula Le Guin's interpretation of gender and genre in her Earthsea novels, A Wizarf of Earthsea (1968) and Teha1111 (1990). Examining Le Guin's assertion for the need to "re-vision" her former work with the latter, I interrogate the ways in which she attempts to "break free" from the ideologies that impose themselves upon her work. Part one explores the mode of the hero quest used in A Wizard of Earthsea and examines the significance of this in terms of "gendering" the text. Part two examines the revisioned text Tehanu and the ways in which the …

The Albanian And An Accompanying Exegesis : Place And Form In The Albanian, Donna J. Mazza

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis takes the form of a novel titled The Albanian and an exegesis, “Place and Form in The Albanian". The novel spans the period from October 1989 to the end of 1991 and is set against a backdrop of Eastern European change and its effect on a small group of Albanian refugees and Rosa, a young woman from Western Australia. Rosa narrates the tale in first person, present tense. The novel begins with her arrival in Dubrovnik, where she meets a young Albanian man on the verge of exiling himself in order to survive ethnic persecution. He fascinates Rosa, …

A New Map Of The Universe : A Novel And Accompanying Essay, Annabel Smith

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis comprises a novel entitled A New Map of the Universe and an accompanying essay. The novel tells the story of a young architect named Grace Darlowe, who is struggling with her very first project: the design of a house for her lover, Michael. Grace struggles partly because she is uncertain about the future of her relationship with Michael, but her insecurities are more deeply rooted in her troubled relationship with her mother, Madeleine. Embittered by grief, Madeleine blames Grace for her husband Peter's death and resents Grace's choice to follow her father in becoming an architect. Grace is …

Fame, Sex And Other Types Of Criminality, Rob Finlayson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis consists of two parts. First, a novel manuscript titled 'Fame, Sex and Other Types of Criminality' and, second, an essay discussing ideas used in the creation of the novel.

The novel uses ironic and satiric devices to explore aspects of the culture of narcissism in contemporary Australia. The plot sees a group of characters set out to write a television show in order to achieve their individual goals. An underlying crime subplot results in the characters' desires being thwarted. The novel makes extensive use of references to philosophical, psychoanalytical and political texts to explore issues surrounding desire, the …

Voices From A Reliquary, Donna Jean Mazza

Theses : Honours

"Voices from a Reliquary" is a series of six short stories drawn from genealogical research. The stories explore historical events and issues which affected the family. Two main thematical bases of the stories are the power of the historical relic and the life transforming effect of journeys. Major theoretical issues considered within the work are the relationship between historical-biographical narrative and the cognitive processes of memory. My narrative style seeks to imitate these cognitive processes, mainly through the use of what Bakhtin termed “polyphonic" narrative. Research for the stories was gathered from letters and interviews with surviving family members. Photographs, …

El Aspecto Humanitario De La Obra Literaria De Camilo Jose Cela, Jean T.A. Page

Theses : Honours

The aim of this study is to demonstrate a particular aspect of Camilo Jose Cela’s writing, that is, his sympathy and concern for the underprivileged and those people alienated from the mainstream of society. It will thereby endeavour to reveal Cela’s deep understanding of the human condition. This thesis analyses four of Cela’s works, namely, La familia de Pascual, La calmena, Viole a la Alcarria and San Camilo 36 and compares two of them, La calmeno and San Camilo 36. The study concludes with a detailed look Cela's treatment of humanitarian issues, a literary quality that explains why this author …