Where Exactly Are We?

Abstract

My thesis is composed of a creative thesis titled The Yellow-Throated Bluebird and an exegetical thesis called Where Exactly Are We?

The creative element is a short story collection containing twelve short stories. It focuses on women’s interior lives and examines their experiences in the modern world; experiences that women endure often for the sake of others. Throughout the creative element, women find themselves coping with the fallout from other people’s actions, whether it be from addiction, betrayal or domestic violence. At the heart of the stories are moments of empowerment in which women make decisions in the face of adversity. This could be deciding to leave, as in ‘The Sting’, letting go, as in ‘The Yellow-Throated Bluebird’, or accepting help, as in ‘The Rescue’.

Patriarchal control and societal conditioning are also issues affecting women in the creative element. This is evident, for example, in Anya’s battle with her mental health in ‘The Vessel’ and Elise’s difficulty in making a career change in ‘The Lioness’. Stories such as ‘Fertile Ground’ aim to illustrate that despite years of progress, women are not free from discrimination or harassment by men. ‘The Yellow-Throated Bluebird’ shows how important it is for women to have the right to choose.

The exegetical element of my thesis Where Exactly Are We? aims to frame my creative thesis conceptually in terms of my motivations as a writer, and to show the sources, influences and genre examples that have had a bearing on my work.

The first part of my exegesis explores feminist literary criticism and the influence of Western female writers over the recent course of history. It focuses upon the place and space of women in literature starting with Virginia Woolf’s A Room of her Own, moving right through to near-dystopian works of fiction such as Sophie Mackintosh’s The Blue Ticket.

The second part of the exegesis looks at which authors and works have influenced the form and style of my creative thesis.

Throughout the exegesis, I explain how my research has shaped my creative work.