Proximity Mines, Archives: The Problem of Fictional Realism

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dc.contributor.advisorVandervlist, Harry
dc.contributor.authorMoody-Corbett, Roderick
dc.contributor.committeememberMayr, Suzette
dc.contributor.committeememberHanson, Aubrey
dc.contributor.committeememberDobozy, Tamas
dc.contributor.committeememberClarke, Michael
dc.date2018-06
dc.date.accessioned2017-12-21T23:19:05Z
dc.date.available2017-12-21T23:19:05Z
dc.date.issued2017-12-13
dc.description.abstractThe twenty-five short stories that comprise the creative component of Proximity Mines, Archives, while not linked in any strict formal sense, do share, in breadth of theme and comic temperament, a certain fixation on the psychological, social, and narratological difficulties attendant to the creation of realistic fiction. Employing a range of styles, from the subdued, minimalist strategies of Lydia Davis, Amy Hempel, and Raymond Carver, through the more exuberant, genre-dissolving prose of Donald Barthelme, David Foster Wallace, and Joshua Cohen, the collection performs and, in its sequencing, enacts a story of artistic maturation. Featuring a large cast of would-be writers and academics, the collection is at once deeply self-conscious and satirical. In composing a collection of disparate, fiendishly protean, short stories—from the stylistically sedate first-person narrative of “Terminal” through any number of long, one-sentence stories, pastiches, and nimbly ironic adaptations of canonical works (e.g., “Hills Like White Elephants, POV Hill”)—the collection both traces and challenges traditional forms of fictional representation. The accompanying critical afterword to this collection considers the relationship between creative writing and academic commentary, particularly as these roles fall to one author. Eschewing a standard, or purely theoretical approach, I undertake a vigorously subjective examination of the wide range of literary influences underpinning the stories in this collection. While examining the stylistic practices of a variety of writers (Mark Anthony Jarman, Stanley Elkin, Yann Martel), I make a case for my own aestheticism, aligning myself with those writers for whom the sentence serves as first philosophy. Finally, I argue that the inclusion of self-conscious or metafictive elements in a piece of fiction is not antithetical to literary realism.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/5214
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/106218
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArtsen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectCreative Writingen_US
dc.subjectShort Storyen_US
dc.subject.classificationLiteratureen_US
dc.subject.classificationLiterature--Canadian (English)en_US
dc.subject.classificationLiterature--Englishen_US
dc.titleProximity Mines, Archives: The Problem of Fictional Realismen_US
dc.typedoctoral thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineEnglishen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)en_US
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