Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

School

School of Arts and Humanities

First Supervisor

Dr Donna Mazza

Second Supervisor

Dr Robyn Mundy

Third Supervisor

Associate Professor Richard Rossiter

Abstract

This thesis consists of an original novel, Rogue, and an exegesis titled Wonderlust: the value of wonder for readers, writers, and The Vault.

Rogue is the second novel of the series titled The Vault, which is a speculative fiction duology for young adults (thirteen and above) with the possibility for crossover into adult readership. Rogue picks up the story of fifteen-year-old Hayley who, after choosing to leave her previous home of an underwater seed vault, finds herself washed onto the cliffs of Maria Island, off the coast of Tasmania. As Hayley ventures further into the terrestrial ‘real world’ of 2120, she must call on her wits, intelligence, and creativity to survive. Rogue is a story of new beginnings, discovery, belonging, relationships, choice, and responsibility.

Wonderlust: the value of wonder for readers, writers, and The Vault, is an examination of wonder which investigates the role of wonder in literature and how it can be evoked without relying on overused tropes of science fiction. The exegesis first explores the experience of wonder and its importance to us individually and collectively, along with its relationship to philosophy, psychology, nature, and science. Secondly, it investigates wonder in literature, particularly in speculative fiction: its composition, appeal, reception and potential, on and beyond the page. It specifically examines how narrative elements have been successfully manipulated to facilitate wonder in creating an original two-book series of speculative fiction for young adults titled The Vault. Thirdly, it discusses the role of wonder for the writer, both as initial impulse for creativity and as an experience during the writing process. In this, reference is made to the writing of Rogue: a novel inspired and shaped by wonder.

Ultimately, the thesis argues the value of wonder in fiction — particularly contemporary young adult fiction — and positions Rogue in this context as a work which reminds readers of the astonishments of this puzzling world, and their important place within it.

Access Note

Access to this thesis is restricted to the exegesis.

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