Date of Award

1-1-2008

Document Type

Thesis - ECU Access Only

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Master of Arts (Creative Writing)

School

School of Communications and Arts

Faculty

Faculty of Education and Arts

First Supervisor

Associate Professor Jill Durey

Abstract

The work here presented exploits and complements the maitrise (master's thesis) n comparative literature l presented in 1997 at the University Paul Valery in Monitpetlier, France entitled L’Ecriture d 'un Contour' (the Writing of a Story Teller). Just as does the present work, Story Teller explored the theme of loss.

The present thesis consists of two parts. First, a novel manuscript entitled ‘Small Trees Bend on Long Shadows’ and second, an essay, ‘Life after trauma’, which deals with the repercussions of trauma and the stages leading to a possible healing.

The. novel is written in the first person voice and in the present tense; it deals with the difficulty of leading a full life after a traumatic event. The heroine Firoza, when she returns home after having been kidnapped, decides to change her first name and move to another country, in order to try to overcome the pain she has suppressed.

The novel deals with the quest, both of culture and identity, of a young woman, whose first goal is to stay alive. ‘Small trees bend on long shadows’ is a novel where speech and writing are, once again, the means and the end.

‘Life after trauma’, the essay, examines the repercussions of the trauma. The main character’s evolution, until her healing is resumed, is explained and linked to theoretical texts and literature.

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