Soul's Shelter – Morphoses of archive

Lewis, Elizabeth Cameron (2022) Soul's Shelter – Morphoses of archive. DFA thesis, University of Glasgow.

Due to Embargo and/or Third Party Copyright restrictions, this thesis is not available in this service.

Abstract

This is a practice as research thesis comprising an original work of fiction titled Soul’s Shelter, and a companion critical component titled Morphoses of Archive. The creative component of the DFA appears first in the submission and is a novel titled Soul’s Shelter (98,794 words). Set in the final months and direct aftermath of World War I, the narrative perspective of the novel alternates between siblings Helen and Thomas Andrews as they navigate the shifting social and political climate as well as their own belief systems. Themes include the processing of individual traumas, grief/loss, the concept of home and belonging, and the value of human connection. Through the novel’s dual narrative, the reader is able to engage with the more immediately recognizable WWI experience of a soldier in the trenches in counterpoint to that of a munition worker on the home front.
While extensive research was conducted for both characters in the novel, the research for Thomas is central to the critical component of the thesis submission. Morphoses of Archive (16,965 words) is a lyric essay exploring archival theory and how it related to my personal creative process. The essay is a work of hybridity and applies autoethnography, transcription, and creative non-fiction to further explore how the many elements of archival research interact with one another. Morphoses of Archive centres around a collection of letters written by Daniel McFarlane and housed by the University of Glasgow Special Collections and Archives. The essay posits that the material may no longer hold its so-called original meaning and thus becomes malleable and open to interpretation during the creative process. The essay explores the concept of the archive in relation to the process of morphoses – a coinage and key concept of the text, indicating the transformation of archival material driven entirely by the researcher or writer.

Item Type: Thesis (DFA)
Qualification Level: Doctoral
Additional Information: Due to copyright issues this thesis is not available for viewing.
Subjects: C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CD Diplomatics. Archives. Seals > CD921 Archives
P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General)
P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies
Supervisor's Name: Collins, Ms. Sophie and Strachan, Ms. Zoë
Date of Award: 2022
Embargo Date: 8 April 2025
Depositing User: Theses Team
Unique ID: glathesis:2022-82800
Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
Date Deposited: 12 Apr 2022 10:20
Last Modified: 12 Apr 2022 10:21
Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.82800
URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/82800

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