Collected Stories of William Faulkner, published in 1950 and awarded the National Book Award for Fiction in 1951, is more than an arbitrarily arranged selection of representative stories. Indeed, it is remarkably similar in form and theme to many of Faulkner's novels, especially Go Down, Moses, and can profitably be read as a unified work.Like Go Down, Moses, As I Lay Dying, Light in August and other Faulkner novels, Collected Stories is structured around a center, in this case a theme: the relationship between man and his environment. The six chapters of Collected Stories and the stories within each chapter are arranged in a "counterpointed" fashion; together, they offer myriad ways of looking at the central theme.Each chapter of the work is unified thematically, and each ultimately has relevance to the theme of man in relationship to his environment. "The Country" is set in ruralYoknapatawpha County and concerns the idea of self-assertion.

The implication of belief, that association between the veridical ghost tale and the fictional ghost tale—an association resulting from the onslaught of reason and science, and consequently spiritual doubt—remains largely responsible for the fictional ghost tale’s critical demise. A rise in the spiritualist movement produces a specific literature that coincides with the rise in interest in its fictional counterpart. Both the veridical ghost tale and the fictional ghost tale reach their heights in popularity at precisely the same time; not coincidental, but well planned by talented writers who viewed the preoccupation with ghosts as a platform from which a variety of contemporary issues could be candidly dealt. The Victorian literary ghost figure simultaneously, and ingeniously, fills a spiritual void, satisfies a consumer need for entertainment, and provides an opportunity for cultural commentary. The voice of the Victorian ghost, and the subsequent understanding of its haunted are of distinct cultural significance.

The thesis examines Greek short stories written and published since the fall of the dictatorship in Greece in 1974, a year marking the beginning of the country's increasing opening to western lifestyles, mentalities and preoccupations. The present research explores two questions: How do Greek short stories of this period respond to the challenges of the postmodern condition, and what is the picture of the postmodern that one could draw from these texts. To this goal more than a hundred short stories are examined, by Sotiris Dimitriou, Michel Fais, Rhea Galanaki, E. Ch. Gonatas, Yiorgos loannou, Christophoros Milionis, Dimitris Nollas, I. Ch. Papadimitrakopoulos, Ersi Sotiropoulou, Christos Vakalopoulos, and Zyranna Zateli. The thesis is structured on a thematic basis, studying the major themes of reality and the subject, in order to evaluate the kind and degree of subversion that this fundamental bipolar axis of modern thought is undergoing in the postmodern condition. The readings are informed by contemporary theory, ranging from microhistory and Bakhtinian dialogism to poststructuralism and deconstruction, Levinas's ethical theory and Wittgensteinian language games. The textual analysis reveals that the traditional notion of reality as a unified totality is coming under severe strain; the critique mounted by the texts ranges from negative recognition of cosmological plurality through epistemological failure to an increasingly positive recognition of multiple incommensurate universes, be that by means of metafiction or, more radically still, a magic realism that transcends the world of the text to imbue performatively the world of the reader. The reality of the past in the form of historical truth is another target of scrutiny, as the unearthing of multiple insignificant, private and a-systemic events undermines the formerly dominant monolithic representations of the past and uncover its discursive construction, thereby facilitating the emergence of marginal historical subjects by means of fictional terms. Accordingly, the subject is no longer represented as a dominant and autonomous agent but as discursively constructed within a web of power relations. Yet this predicament creates the potential for a narrative identity and an alternative ethics founded on the acknowledgment of difference and interpersonal relations. Lastly, games, and especially language games, as a particular trope of merging reality and the subject, signal the cultural determination of irredeemable difference and plurality that is a constant in postmodern critique. Apart from suggesting the significance of the texts studied and proposing novel approaches to them, the thesis also promotes the re-evaluation of the short story as a genre in the study of the contemporary, while at the same time offering a detailed account of particular instances of postmodern critique on the fundaments of modern thought.

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This masters thesis in creative writing is comprised of two sections, a critical review of contemporary love stories written by women in the narrative mode and a novel entitled Si tes reves m'etaient contes. / In our study of Le recit amoureux feminin actuel, we attempt to explain women's preference for the narrative mode, to describe the new vocabulary of love and highlight its specific meaning and style. How do women write about love, how do they portray men, what have become their amorous preoccupations in the recent years? / Si tes reves m'etaient contes is the story of Catherine who, fast approaching her forties, reflects upon her life and her marriage. She is forced to conclude that her husband, whom she thought she knew so intimately, is no longer the man she married. He has become a stranger to her.

The implication of belief, that association between the veridical ghost tale and the fictional ghost tale—an association resulting from the onslaught of reason and science, and consequently spiritual doubt—remains largely responsible for the fictional ghost tale’s critical demise. A rise in the spiritualist movement produces a specific literature that coincides with the rise in interest in its fictional counterpart. Both the veridical ghost tale and the fictional ghost tale reach their heights in popularity at precisely the same time; not coincidental, but well planned by talented writers who viewed the preoccupation with ghosts as a platform from which a variety of contemporary issues could be candidly dealt. The Victorian literary ghost figure simultaneously, and ingeniously, fills a spiritual void, satisfies a consumer need for entertainment, and provides an opportunity for cultural commentary. The voice of the Victorian ghost, and the subsequent understanding of its haunted are of distinct cultural significance.

The exegesis will elaborate on the research process undertaken to write a collection of short fiction. The creative work is a collection of ten stories linked thematically by an archaeological approach to character psychology, expression and action. Some of the stories also explore the influence of popular culture and cultural archetypes on the characters. Important contemporary influences in terms of both content and style have been the short stories, Wheat by Tracy Slaughter (2004), Walking to Laetoli by James George (2004) and Aquifier by Tim Winton (2004). The introduction of the exegesis outlines my interests in the modern ‘slice of life’ story, in the conflict and tensions that occur between emotional and chronological time, and in Charles May’s assertion that short stories, through their use of metaphor, are a vehicle for exploring mythological perception. The theorists who most influenced my research and creative writing are then highlighted and their contribution to my understanding of narrative technique is discussed. Four main narrative techniques are emphasised, and illustrated with reference to particular stories from the collection. The techniques discussed are all related to the fundamental craft issue of show don’t tell. Finally the exegesis touches on the difficulty a writer has in being an objective reader of their own work. [Note: the creative work is embargoed until 31 March 2013.]

The exegesis will elaborate on the research process undertaken to write a collection of short fiction. The creative work is a collection of ten stories linked thematically by an archaeological approach to character psychology, expression and action. Some of the stories also explore the influence of popular culture and cultural archetypes on the characters. Important contemporary influences in terms of both content and style have been the short stories, Wheat by Tracy Slaughter (2004), Walking to Laetoli by James George (2004) and Aquifier by Tim Winton (2004). The introduction of the exegesis outlines my interests in the modern ‘slice of life’ story, in the conflict and tensions that occur between emotional and chronological time, and in Charles May’s assertion that short stories, through their use of metaphor, are a vehicle for exploring mythological perception. The theorists who most influenced my research and creative writing are then highlighted and their contribution to my understanding of narrative technique is discussed. Four main narrative techniques are emphasised, and illustrated with reference to particular stories from the collection. The techniques discussed are all related to the fundamental craft issue of show don’t tell. Finally the exegesis touches on the difficulty a writer has in being an objective reader of their own work. [Note: the creative work is embargoed until 31 March 2013.]

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1988. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 211-218).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2007.