Under a Lonely Sky: Fictional Representations of Mental Illness in Literature

Abstract

Under a Lonely Sky is a doctoral thesis in creative writing comprising a literary prose artefact in the form of a young adult fiction (YA) novel, along with a critical component (exegesis) subtitled ‘Fictional Representations of Mental Illness in Literature’. The novel, Under a Lonely Sky, depicts the journey of my protagonist (a seventeen-year-old girl) through mental illness, namely major depressive disorder, borderline personality disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. I explore what it is like to live with mental illnesses, while navigating challenging circumstances such as being orphaned, first love, and the challenge of forming a self in an unstable world. The exegesis engages and imbricates multiple topics, foregrounding the potential role of a novel as a resource for those struggling with mental illnesses. I review clinical literature on relevant mental illnesses, along with more critical theoretical challenges to the clinical model, as aids to achieving more accurate representations than are often evinced within the YA genre. The notion of ‘triggering’ when used in relation to reader responses to fictional narratives is investigated in terms of how the term originally stemmed from PTSD-related medical literature, in contrast to its more generalised usage in contemporary culture today. I also explore the fictional depictions of mental illness in a wide body of narrative media, namely novels, television shows, and films, highlighting the problematic glamorisation and potential triggers these depictions can pose for at-risk people. Māori myths and legends that underpin my depiction of themes of life and death in the novel are discussed, along with the depiction of sex in YA literature, and how it has been comparatively absent in such novels until recently: a deficit I seek to address in the novel. Finally, the critical component culminates in an exegetical discussion of how Under a Lonely Sky seeks to integrate these concerns into a compelling fictional work.