Year

2020

Degree Name

Doctor of Creative Arts

Department

School of the Arts, English and Media

Abstract

Stories narrated chiefly in the first person plural (a point of view characterised by the use of ‘we’ and ‘us’) are relatively uncommon. This doctorate examines narratives that employ an ‘unnatural’ first person plural, presenting their story in a manner that breaks with the contract of realist fiction. Essentially, I argue that thematic concerns are served by unnatural uses of ‘we’ in fictional texts. Close textual analysis of my case studies—Jon McGregor’s Even the Dogs (2011), TaraShea Nesbit’s The Wives of Los Alamos (2014) and Malcolm Knox’s The Wonder Lover (2015)—involves asking a series of questions of each work to highlight the relationship between theme and point of view. I am also interested in considering these texts in terms of the ‘challenge’ they pose to the reader—when a reader actively works to uncover or decode who is narrating. By examining texts in terms of their language, structure and their conception of ‘the self’, I propose an analytical framework that addresses the ambiguity, and the potential, of the first person plural. I argue that the first person plural serves many thematic concerns: aside from being an obvious tool for presenting shared experiences, my case studies bear out its effectiveness in foregrounding notions of an ‘us’ versus a ‘them’, as well as highlighting notions of complicity and guilt.

My research is presented in two parts: a dissertation, and a novel (The Push Back). When twelve-year-old Esther disappears on the way home from school in a small town in rural Australia, the community is thrown into a maelstrom of suspicion and grief. Detective Sergeant Sarah Michaels—a no-nonsense, gay, female cop—leads the investigation. But no one is more determined than Esther’s tenacious best friend, Ronnie, to find Esther and bring her home. When schoolfriend Lewis tells Ronnie that he saw Esther with a strange man at the creek the afternoon she went missing, Ronnie feels she is one step closer to finding her. But why is Lewis refusing to speak to the police? And who else is lying about how much they know about what has happened to Esther?

While my novel alternates between first person singular, first person plural and third person narration, key revelations in the work come through the first person plural narration. In doing so, I build on the arguments made in the thesis and make a contribution to the growing understanding of the uses and potential of the first person plural in fiction.

FoR codes (2008)

190402 Creative Writing (incl. Playwriting)

Download

Share

COinS
 

Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Wollongong.