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Date Permissions Signed

5-19-2020

Date of Award

Spring 2020

Document Type

Masters Thesis (Campus-Only Access)

Department or Program Affiliation

English

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

English

First Advisor

Paola, Suzanne

Second Advisor

Miller, Brenda, 1959-

Third Advisor

Odabasi, Eren

Abstract

Not One Girl, But Many is a collection of short stories that explores and critiques gender norms and expectations through a speculative lens. It examines the way that communities of women process and live through trauma. Through the experiences of witches, mermaids, and vestal virgins, this collection asks what it means to be angry and joyful at once. Further, this collection subverts the trope of nature as feminine through stories that replace the tranquil docility typically assigned to women and flora with wildness. Across stories about the overgrowth of weeds and a profusion of growing plant women, Not One Girl, But Many considers the way that abundance can produce power. Finally, these stories interrogate trauma and oppression by examining not only the roles of accuser and accused, but also the roles of men and women complicit in this kind of oppression through their silence and lack of action.

Type

Text

Keywords

speculative, first person plural, short stories, gender, gender expectations, magical realism, overgrowth, oppression

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

1155640518

Subject – LCSH

Short stories--Women authors; Women--Fiction; Feminist fiction--Women authors; Women--Violence against; Misogyny

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.

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