This thesis examines the proliferation of ageing characters to be found in twentieth and twenty-first-century Welsh fiction in English and argues that older people have a special significance in this body of literature. The study employs a mixed methodology, combining close comparative analysis of fictional texts with theoretical perspectives taken from cultural and literary theory, philosophy, sociology, psychoanalysis, and postcolonial studies. The introduction situates my work alongside the fields of literary gerontology and Welsh writing in English, giving focus to strands of research which have synergies with this thesis. Chapter 2 examines the influence of stereotypes of ageing on older characterisations in Anglophone Welsh fiction and argues that writers undermine and complicate these stereotypes. Representations of gossips, burdens, those with dementia, wise older people, inspirational grandmothers, older men and grandfathers, and unmarried women are analysed. Chapter 3 focuses on renderings of older subjectivity, considering protagonists’ experiences of physical ageing, alongside tensions between the changing older body and a more constant self within, and texts which represent changes in experiences of time and memory. Writers are argued to give voice to the frail and the marginalised and to reveal the influence of socioeconomic and cultural factors on experiences of ageing. Chapter 4 asserts that intergenerational relationships involving older characters tend to symbolise societal change and to reflect class and linguistic divisions between generations. Ageing characters, particularly older women, are shown to become links to the past and to act as remembrancers of local and national histories. They also signify a conception of Welsh identity grounded in speaking Welsh, devotion to Nonconformist worship, and a stoic determination to survive. These characters often perform the role of storyteller, passing on suppressed knowledge and traditional values. It is argued that, despite their regard for the past, the novels and short stories discussed avoid the dangers of nostalgia through the ambivalence of younger characters to the identities they are bequeathed, the self-reflexivity of several texts, and older characters who are grounded in the present and concerned about the future.

Drawing upon academic and critical literature, the introduction to this exegesis considers how J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (1954) became the ‘norm’ in modern second-world fantasy. Just as Tolkien’s ‘high fantasy’ mediated the fantasies of the sociohistorical periods that preceded it (James, 2012), so subsequent fantasy authors and sub-genres have inherited from and had to react against ‘high fantasy’ in order to discover their own definitions and distinct voices, styles and relevance. Thus, the introduction argues, in order to define and demonstrate the distinct nature of second-world ‘metaphysical fantasy’, of which Empire of the Saviours (2011) is a defining novel, this exegesis is required to show how the second-world ‘epic fantasy’ of the 1980s and 90s inherited from and reacted against ‘high fantasy’, and how ‘metaphysical fantasy’ in turned inherited from and reacted against the ‘epic fantasy’ sub-genre. There is also a discussion of how competing sub-genre definitions within academia and the publishing industry have complicated the debate. The first chapter considers the sociohistorical context of the development of the various sub-genres of fantasy literature, moving from the ‘high fantasy’ of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, through the nature-based fantasy of the 1960s, to the ‘swords and planets’ sci-fi crossover sub-genre of the 1970s, to the ‘epic fantasy’ of the 1980s and 90s, to the ‘urban fantasy’, ‘flintlock fantasy’, ‘steampunk’ and ‘comedic fantasy’ of the new millennium, to the ‘dark fantasy’ and ‘metaphysical fantasy’ (the latter established by my various novels) of the mid to late 2000s, to the ‘grimdark fantasy’ and ‘dystopian YA’ of the 2010s. The chapter shows how each sub-genre is informed by and reacts to its own sociohistorical moment and that each sub-genre in large part derives its distinctiveness from that unique moment. The second chapter considers how second-world ‘metaphysical fantasy’ in large part derives its definition and particular motifs from a ‘Millennial’ sociohistorical moment. The chapter then analyses how ‘metaphysical fantasy’ is distinctly informed by, reacts to and differs from the preceding sub-genre of second-world ‘epic fantasy’. Finally, the chapter considers how subsequent second-world ‘grimdark fantasy’ is informed by, reacts to and differs from ‘metaphysical fantasy’. The third chapter sets out how my novel Empire of the Saviours further exemplifies ‘metaphysical fantasy’ and has served to establish the sub-genre as a distinct and valuable contribution to the wider genre of fantasy. Drawing upon Empire of the Saviours, the chapter identifies further literary features and themes (other than those detailed in the second chapter) that are unique to the ‘metaphysical fantasy’ sub-genre.

This thesis posits that in the twenty-first century we are witnessing a literary turn comprised of a collective authorial attempt to work through and come to terms with the apocalyptic spirit of the contemporary world. The novels explored in this thesis, which are paradigmatic of this wider literary movement, reflect upon the cultural anxieties of contemporary life from what is being referred to here as a post-traumatological location of imaginative retrospect. This discussion reveals that contemporary apocalyptic fiction is for the most part motivated not by a sense of post-catastrophic mourning, as was the case with the wave of literature to have arisen in response to the events of 9/11 at the turn of the millennium, but by a speculative condition of post-traumatic recovery, borne out of recent apocalyptic fears and concerns. Apocalyptic fiction responds to collective anxieties concerning the future of the present world. From its distinct temporal location of retrospect, the apocalyptic novel can provide insights surrounding not only the conditions of contemporary crisis, but more importantly, provoke ways and means by which we might confront the narrative of apocalypse that appears to exemplify the early decades of the twenty-first century. Guided by both anxiety and hope, the post-traumatological novel looks back to the present from a time and place in which our concerns about the future have been realised. By imagining the world as if it has come to an end, or is in the process of ending, these novels actively address the anxieties of the twenty-first century from spaces of aftermath.

This thesis examines the spelling practices and letter-writing conventions to be found in the letters and papers of the Paston family and their circle during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Hitherto, most scholarly attention has been on the fifteenth-century material found in Paston archives, with comparatively little research undertaken on the extensive later materials. This thesis is intended as a partial attempt to address this lacuna, drawing on new approaches to the study of early modern English letters. It draws upon a new comprehensive diplomatic transcription of the materials, consisting of approximately 500 documents containing 200,000 words. Building on an earlier pilot study (Weir 2009), the thesis falls into three main chapters, each addressing the collection from a distinct perspective, framed by a contextualising introduction (chapter 1) and a conclusion summarising the findings of the thesis and offering suggestions for future work (chapter 5). Chapter 2 begins with a key question: (1) How did letter-writing conventions of address and subscription alter and develop - if at all - through the Early Modern period, and are these changes reflected in the Paston family correspondence? The thesis demonstrates how the letters preserved in London, British Library, Additional MSS 27447, 27448 and 36988 displayed adherence to formulaic usages, even though, across the 150 years of their construction, there is a notable shift towards shorter constructions. Further research questions linked to these issues involved in address and subscription engage with the material culture of the correspondence: (2) What materials are used for the letters in question? (3) How do writers relate text to space? (4) How were the letters delivered to their recipients, and how and for what reasons were they preserved? Across the collection of letters, there was a clear development in the material culture of letter-writing, most notably through the development of the postal networks in the period, even though letter-writing tools remained relatively unchanged for centuries. Chapter 3 examines spelling practices in the letters. It addresses the following research questions: (1) How standardised were the Paston letters? (2) To what extent do spelling practices differ between male and female letter- writers? (3) Where such practices vary within an individual’s lifetime is it possible to identify the social factors which contributed to that change? (4) To what extent – and if so why -- do these habits vary between generations of the same family? In order to answer these questions, the spelling habits of Robert Paston and his family were examined, along with a number of letters by identifiable female letter-writers. The thesis demonstrates that the letters in the collection displayed a move towards more standardised spellings, but that the use of personal spelling systems and non-standard variants was still very much in evidence. Chapter 4 focuses on further pragmatic features characteristic of Early Modern English correspondence, with a special focus on the function of punctuation. Research questions addressed include: (1) If punctuation is used at all, in what context is it deployed? (2) How – if at all -- does the use of punctuation vary between male and female correspondents? In addition, this chapter will look at communicative acts within the letters including politeness, terms of address, and the use of formulaic constructions, leading to a further question: (3) To what extent do more general pragmatic features vary across the generations and genders of letter-writers? The thesis finds that punctuation practices of female writers vary considerably, even within the output of single individuals, but also that such variation and unconventional usage was not restricted to them. However, during the period covered by the archive there is a clear progression from the use of virgules and limited punctuation through to the deployment of punctuation broadly recognisable to present-day readers.

This exegesis is a critical and reflexive commentary on my first novel (Taft, A.J. (2011) Our Father, Who Art Out There ... Somewhere, Caffeine Nights: Kent) and my struggle to fit my writing to pre-existing or newly-emerging genres. At the time Our Father was published (September 2011) a new publishing category was seeking to establish itself in the marketplace. Chick Noir first emerged as a feminist reinvention of the traditionally male noir genre with stories centred around a criminal story question. However, following the phenomenal commercial success of chick noir books like Before I Sleep (Watson, S.J. 2011), Gone Girl (Flynn, Gillian, 2012), and Girl On The Train (Hawkins, Paula, 2015) our understanding of what constitutes a chick noir text has changed. This exegesis examines my attempts to contextualise Our Father within the framework of Chick Noir, both as it existed in 2011 and as it has developed since. It has led to me looking at other possible categories for my writing including Feminist Crime Fiction and Feminist Noir.

A Ph.D. by publication comprising two of my books The Death Of Bees and Closed Doors exploring the impact of experience on creative writing practices and techniques used when writing from personal experience. The exegesis is accompanied by a reflective and critical examination aiming to analyze how authors creatively translate experience into their work. Reflecting on my own creative process, I propose a critical inspection of the autobiographical and the personal influences that impacted the creation of various narrative personas behind The Death Of Bees and Closed Doors. Specifically, this thesis reveals the negotiation between real and fictive in order to preserve the truth. The exegesis will also look at how an experiential autoethnographic approach can raise awareness of key social and political issues through the invention of narrative derived from recognizable experiences. In conclusion, I propose narrative persona is inextricably linked to personal experience in all my published work and this contention can be proved within the exegesis, meaningfully contributing to literary discussion regards creative techniques used by authors to translate the autobiographic in their creative work. This unique research and revelation reinvigorates the debate around the impact of creatively sharing trauma in fiction and the effect this has on the reader seeking authentic narratives reflecting a shared and universal experience.

'Pilgrimage' (1915-1938/67), Dorothy Richardson’s long modernist novel of female consciousness, has a history of mischaracterisation. The first novel to be termed stream of consciousness, Pilgrimage offers an account of New Woman, Miriam Henderson, as she comes of age in fin-de-siècle Britain and becomes a writer in the first decades of the twentieth century. Adhering strictly to Miriam’s consciousness, Pilgrimage is often read as a byword for high modernist style: hermetic, elitist, and anti-democratic. By examining the power relations behind Pilgrimage’s other key formal system of representation, not stream of consciousness but intertextuality, this thesis offers a new understanding of Pilgrimage as a vital text of democratic modernism. Dialogic, diffuse, and dissensual, Pilgrimage’s intertextuality provides a counter-balance to the novel’s stream of consciousness, revealing the diverse and polyphonic voices of which Miriam’s subjectivity is composed. By staging its intertexts in relation to the perceiving subject, Pilgrimage constructs a space of democratic intertextuality: a space between texts where hierarchical distinctions between text and intertext, author and reader, self and other break down. This in turn points to the need for other equally open spaces of representation to emerge for women, not just in the artistic sphere but also in the socio-political arena. Using four case studies – Pilgrimage’s recourse to the personal letter, Charlotte Brontë’s Villette, Richardson’s nonfiction for The Crank and The Saturday Review, and Beethoven’s Sonata Pathétique – this study examines how the intertextual replaces distinctions between ‘high’ and ‘low’ art with an understanding of art as a node of intersubjective connection and play. Moreover, by dramatising the acts of reading and interpretation, Pilgrimage reframes textual ‘value’ in contingent terms that invite readers to apply the same principles to itself. As such, Richardson’s novel of the single female consciousness opens itself up to the processes of democratic contestation, debate, and reform.

This thesis mainly consists of two artifacts: a creative text followed by literary criticism. The research draws on the theoretical intervention of the flâneuse I have posited as a way of reading home in fiction. Not withstanding commentaries on the flâneur in the social sciences and cultural studies, no literary study yet has posited the connection between flânerie and home, let alone theorized the notion of the flâneuse as a subversive figure that can be deployed in creative, and then critical, writing to make intelligible the possible variants of home in the present-day fictions of Lebanon and Syria. I thus propose a redefinition of the term in a way that may also apply to readings of the trope in a literary text: I read the flâneuse as a determined woman whose acts of street-walking, or of movement from one place to another, are enacted on two levels in such a way that her physical journeys – in search of, or as a return to, her own conceived notion of home – intersect with an emotional itinerary that traces her development against, and resistance to, a backdrop of patriarchy and conflict. My PhD novel, I Am Not Naked, is a first in marrying the Lebanese and Syrian contexts and in appraising the subversive quests for home of their fictional female characters, both heterosexual and non-heterosexual, from the theoretical lens of the “flâneuse,” against the setting of two civil wars, the Lebanese Civil War (1975—1990) and the Syrian Civil War (2011—present). In the second section of the thesis, I shift rhetorical gear from creative to critical discourse in order to situate the novel, and henceforth its analysis of home and patriarchy that I read through the different theoretical imports that attach to the flâneuse, in relation to new creative narratives from Lebanon and Syria. Hence, in reference to three novels in which the trope can be culled – I Am Not Naked (Sleiman El Hajj, 2016, Lebanon and Syria), Cinnamon (Samar Yazbek, Syria, 2012), and An Unnecessary Woman (Rabih Alameddine, Lebanon, 2013) – I argue that the notion of the flâneuse I have postulated is reified in characters who defy patriarchy by employing flânerie as a multilayered vector for fulfilling the homing desire that drives their respective journeys. Necessarily, I hyphenate the intervention with relevant strands of criticism to better invigorate my reading of home-as-emotional-space, as opposed to a fixed place, in the three novels, hence the feminist flâneuse, the postcolonial flâneuse, and the queer flâneuse, terms unused in previous scholarship. My thesis also contributes to the nascent body of creative writing on the Syrian Civil War and the refugee crisis, and supplements the growing interdisciplinary corpus of research on (mostly male) homosexuality from a queer-female literary angle, given my novel’s focus, in part, on same-sex female affects through its characterization of Teta – a queer Arab grandmother figure – a representation still unexplored in extant Lebanese and Syrian literature of the 21st century.

This study deals with the origins of The Daily Telegraph & Courier, during a period of social change, under the direction of two successive proprietors from 1855 to 1865. Extensive research was undertaken to examine the proprietors’ control of the newspaper - with particularly significant findings on the founders, their policy and how this changed following the handover. As a result it has been possible to rectify repeated inaccuracies concerning the newspaper’s ownership and editorial development. Further original findings have contributed to a fuller awareness of Lt Col B.W.A. Sleigh, the founder of The Daily Telegraph & Courier, the progenitor of the current Daily Telegraph.

This thesis critically engages with Amin Maalouf’s (b. 1948) contribution to the pressing socio-cultural debates of the contemporary world. By drawing implicitly on Lucien Goldmann’s concept of worldview, it traces the development of a number of ideas across Maalouf’s work, including revivalism, tradition, modernity, cosmopolitanism, globalisation and identity. I argue that although Maalouf’s oeuvre is an attempt to ‘reclaim’ history from the gaze of the ‘Other’, seeking self-representation through a ‘native’ perspective and bridging the chasm between East and West, it fails to transcend the discourses of ‘inferiority’ manifest in orientalist writings about the ‘Arab World’ and the ‘Third World’ in general. Maalouf’s self-claimed role as a cultural interpreter and mediator is put into question by reading his works against two contexts: Arab cultural debates and postcolonial debates that are centred around the classical ‘self/other’ dichotomy. I place special emphasis on the historical context of those debates and demonstrate how ideas of ‘failure,’ ‘backwardness,’ ‘cultural malaise’ and ‘the absence of democracy’ stand in contrast to Western notions of ‘progress,’ ‘civilisation,’ ‘development’ and ‘modernity’. In doing so I underline how these conceptions of civilisational difference did not originate with contemporary theorists (for example, Samuel Huntington). Maalouf’s obsession with ‘failure’ is no coincidence but rather the symptom of a theoretical preoccupation that can be traced back to the very formation of modern Arab subjectivity during the Arab Renaissance or Al-nahdah Al- Arabiyah. Ultimately, I argue that Maalouf’s body of work fails to distinguish itself from the widespread conceptions that understand the ‘European’ model of economic and political development as representing the only path to modernity. I try to show that Maalouf subscribes to a particular version of universalism involving what Samir Amin has described as a twofold ‘cultural involution’: on one side of the ledger he places European/ Western provincialism, thereby confirming Western exceptionalism; on the ‘other’, he places reactionary Third World fundamentalism, which in its corresponding provincialism affirms a totalising cultural Otherness vis-à-vis the West. The thesis is divided into two sections. In the first of these, I engage thematically with six of Maalouf’s novels, discussing his representation of the contest over cultural ‘authenticity’ in ‘the Arab world’, his suggestion (advanced most centrally in The Rock of Tanios) that the Arab peoples have failed to ‘enter’ or ‘realise’ modernity, and his mobilisation of the idea of cosmopolitanism, notably cast in his work in terms of a nostalgic figuration of a better world, now ‘lost’. The second part of the thesis engages with Maalouf’s non-fiction. Its objective is to trace the development of Maalouf’s understanding of identity in the ‘era of globalisation.’ My engagement with this body of work draws upon a range of critical methods and conceptions – cultural studies as well as Marxist, postcolonial and world-system theories – as I attempt to situate Maalouf work in the context of wider Arab considerations of identity, modernity, secularism and globalisation.