Doctoral Thesis
An Unruly Business: Character in the realist short story
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Murdoch University
2024
Abstract
Literary theories and models, serve, for me, and may for others, as valuable tools for crafting and dissecting characters in realist short stories. Such frameworks offer a multifaceted approach to character construction, benefiting readers, writers, and theorists alike that may enhance interpretative depth and narrative complexity. By employing such theoretical lenses, researchers, literary theorists, and writers can more effectively analyse the intricate interplay between narrative techniques and the process of character development within the constraints of the realist short story. This approach illuminates the craft of characterisation and deepens our understanding of how complex, believable characters emerge from the intersection of literary theory and creative practice.
I present this thesis in two parts. Part One, the creative work, is a collection of twelve short stories in which the characters exemplify the humanist and realist traditions. At the same time, my characters are constructed using ideas of form and functionality from the formalist/structuralist traditions. Part Two, the exegesis, explores distinct ways of thinking about character in literary study. I use perspectives such as Jens Eder’s ‘Clock of Character’ to theorise the centrality of character, to explicate the textual process of character creation, and to explain how character functions in the short form. I discuss the short story’s development and its conventions, draw upon theories and models of characterisation to expound how writers can create characters for the realist short story, and explain the role of readers in imagining characters to ‘life’.
Details
- Title
- An Unruly Business: Character in the realist short story
- Authors/Creators
- Nadia-Lisa King
- Contributors
- Kathryn Trees (Supervisor)Josephine Wilson (Supervisor) - Murdoch University, School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
- Awarding Institution
- Murdoch University; Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Identifiers
- 991005753933807891
- Murdoch Affiliation
- College of Law, Arts and Social Sciences
- Resource Type
- Doctoral Thesis
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