This fantastical novel follows the first-person narrative of Molly, a girl living in a near-empty Quaker commune in Calumet City, IL, whose exploits lead her to the housing projects of Chicago during the summer of the (fictional) 1997 Chicago World"s Fair. One of my aims with this novel is to reconcile the kind of grand, maximalist novels of the nineteenth century with the stripped-down but open-throated first-person voice found in the work of contemporary writers like Mark Richard and Yannick Murphy. While the novel itself is outside the bounds of realism, the narrator"s voice originates in the realist tradition, influenced by minimalist writers like Carver, and Hemingway before him, whose crisp, staccato rhythms I"ve attempted to adapt according to my own maximalist narrative agenda. My intention, then, is to take a narrative voice employed primarily in minimalist fiction and attach it to something much more mythic and strange. The result, I hope, is a hybrid novel that appeals simultaneously to readers of both postmodern and mainstream literary fiction. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2011. / March 28, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references. / Julianna Baggott, Professor Directing Dissertation; John Corrigan, University Representative; Diane Roberts, Committee Member; Mark Winegardner, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_182736 |
| Contributors | Wilson, Holly (authoraut), Baggott, Julianna (professor directing dissertation), Corrigan, John (university representative), Roberts, Diane (committee member), Winegardner, Mark (committee member), Department of English (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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