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Date of Award

Spring 2024

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Department or Program Affiliation

English Department, Creative Writing Program

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

English

First Advisor

Magee, Kelly, 1976-

Second Advisor

Dorr, Noam

Third Advisor

Laffrado, Laura

Abstract

This short story collection investigates dynamics of violence, grief, and rage when perpetrated by and against female characters. Each story finds comfort in the complexities of trauma, so much so that emotions such as anger and sadness are often synonymous with moments of all-consuming intimacy. In my writing process, I discovered the strength of compassion, towards my characters and myself, and found that my process of creating strong female characters and discovering the power of feminine rage in contemporary literature comes from a place inside me that is driven explicitly by own instances of love and loss. Where there is violence, there is hurt. Where there is hurt, there is trauma. Where there is trauma, there is grief. These feelings became so intertwined in my thesis that their definitions are often used interchangeably, manifesting themselves through character, plot, description, and metaphor.

Type

Text

Keywords

female characters, feminine rage, trauma, grief, violence, contemporary literature

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

1435634797

Subject – LCSH

Women--Fiction; Anger--Fiction; Psychic trauma--Fiction; Grief--Fiction; Women--Violence against--Fiction; Women in literature; American fiction; Short stories, American

Format

application/pdf

Genre/Form

masters theses

Language

English

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Rights Statement

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

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