Ebb and Flow single work   prose  
Issue Details: First known date: 2017... 2017 Ebb and Flow
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Notes

  • Research background

    Whitehead proposes trauma literature ‘novelists have frequently found that the impact of trauma can only adequately be represented by mimicking its forms and symptoms’ (2004: 3), utilising narrative strategies such as repetition and fragmentation. This research aims to better represent the complexity of traumatic images and sensations in crime fiction by drawing upon these elements of trauma narrative, and aligning them with crime fiction conventions that maintain the pace and suspense of the crime genre. Rowan (1990) claims the dissociated subpersonality that may be induced by trauma is capable of acting as a separate identity. This concept is drawn upon in the creative work to represent the impact of trauma in crime fiction, while using these cuts in perspective to aggravate the crime plot and heighten tension.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon TEXT Special Issue Website Series Writing Death and Dying no. 45 October 2017 12941635 2017 periodical issue

    'In October 2016, the editor of this Special Issue convened the second Australasian Death Studies Network (ADSN) conference in Noosa, Queensland. This event gathered a significant number of scholars and creative practitioners who were interested in exploring the symbolic and representational possibilities of the processes of death and dying. Following on from the first multi-disciplinary conference that established the ADSN the year before, this conference continued discussion and investigation into a range of cultural, humanities and social areas that conduct research into death and dying, including the creative arts, popular culture and health. There was a very strong representation of creative writers and creative writing researchers interested in these topics. These scholars and creative practitioners explored a wide range of topics including: representations of death and dying in literature, visual art and the media, music and various types of popular culture; Gothic representations of death, dying and the undead; and writing about death and dying across cultures and historical periods. Writing about gender, ageing and trauma in relation to death and dying were also discussed, as were transgression, murder and crime fiction. The keynote address, ‘A day in the life of a funeral director’, was not only a highlight of the conference, but provided a heady measure of realism to the deliberations.'  (Donna Lee Brien : Introduction)

    2017

Works about this Work

The Perfect Crime : Trauma Writing Strategies in Crime Fiction Leanne Dodd , 2018 single work criticism
— Appears in: TEXT Special Issue Website Series , October no. 51 2018;

'Within a framework of trauma theory and its relationship to literature, this paper proposes a number of writing strategies that may enable crime fiction, in particular the domestic noir sub-genre, to portray narratives of trauma using textual cues that invite readers to enter the text in similar ways to trauma fiction. Despite the central role trauma plays in crime stories, the capacity for crime fiction to serve as a vehicle for representing trauma and to act as a catalyst for personal and social change has not been explored in any depth by critics or scholars. By employing an exegetical reflection and case study analysis of the writing of my completed PhD novel, Ebb and Flow, I show how analysis of these strategies can be aligned with the structure and literary devices typical of crime fiction This analysis offers tools to write a form of crime fiction that may deliver similar benefits to readers as trauma fiction. This leads the way for further research into the power that crime narrative has to evoke change through psychological and emotional growth and other inherent benefits for a genre fiction audience, as well as a potential new arts and health market for crime fiction writers.'  (Publication abstract)

Turning the Tide : A Post-Traumatic Recovery Journey Framework for Creative Writers Leanne Dodd , 2018 single work criticism
— Appears in: Axon : Creative Explorations , November vol. 8 no. 2 2018;

'While we can’t change the past, we can change the way we view the past and the story we tell about it, which can transform identity. This is the premise of narrative therapy. However, some writers choose to work with fictionalised traumatic experience because of the difficulty of exposing hidden subject matter in an autobiographical work. Creating a fictional work may allow reflection on traumatic experiences with similar emotional aftereffects, but with the emotional distance to be able to write with a deeper exploration of the subjects writers are reluctant to confront autobiographically. This article proposes that writing a fictional account of traumatic experiences might achieve similar benefits as the personal accounts relied upon in narrative therapy. It further deduces that the hero-journey model could provide a metaphor for writers to become the hero in their own post-traumatic growth journey through creative writing. The culmination of this article is a mapping of the commonalities between White’s maps of narrative therapy steps and Campbell’s Hero’s Journey stages, and a case study of how this framed my post-traumatic journey through creative writing. This framework may be useful for other creative writers embarking on a similar writing journey for post-traumatic recovery.'  (Publication abstract)

Turning the Tide : A Post-Traumatic Recovery Journey Framework for Creative Writers Leanne Dodd , 2018 single work criticism
— Appears in: Axon : Creative Explorations , November vol. 8 no. 2 2018;

'While we can’t change the past, we can change the way we view the past and the story we tell about it, which can transform identity. This is the premise of narrative therapy. However, some writers choose to work with fictionalised traumatic experience because of the difficulty of exposing hidden subject matter in an autobiographical work. Creating a fictional work may allow reflection on traumatic experiences with similar emotional aftereffects, but with the emotional distance to be able to write with a deeper exploration of the subjects writers are reluctant to confront autobiographically. This article proposes that writing a fictional account of traumatic experiences might achieve similar benefits as the personal accounts relied upon in narrative therapy. It further deduces that the hero-journey model could provide a metaphor for writers to become the hero in their own post-traumatic growth journey through creative writing. The culmination of this article is a mapping of the commonalities between White’s maps of narrative therapy steps and Campbell’s Hero’s Journey stages, and a case study of how this framed my post-traumatic journey through creative writing. This framework may be useful for other creative writers embarking on a similar writing journey for post-traumatic recovery.'  (Publication abstract)

The Perfect Crime : Trauma Writing Strategies in Crime Fiction Leanne Dodd , 2018 single work criticism
— Appears in: TEXT Special Issue Website Series , October no. 51 2018;

'Within a framework of trauma theory and its relationship to literature, this paper proposes a number of writing strategies that may enable crime fiction, in particular the domestic noir sub-genre, to portray narratives of trauma using textual cues that invite readers to enter the text in similar ways to trauma fiction. Despite the central role trauma plays in crime stories, the capacity for crime fiction to serve as a vehicle for representing trauma and to act as a catalyst for personal and social change has not been explored in any depth by critics or scholars. By employing an exegetical reflection and case study analysis of the writing of my completed PhD novel, Ebb and Flow, I show how analysis of these strategies can be aligned with the structure and literary devices typical of crime fiction This analysis offers tools to write a form of crime fiction that may deliver similar benefits to readers as trauma fiction. This leads the way for further research into the power that crime narrative has to evoke change through psychological and emotional growth and other inherent benefits for a genre fiction audience, as well as a potential new arts and health market for crime fiction writers.'  (Publication abstract)

Last amended 28 Aug 2024 11:35:15
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