Two inches of ivory: short-short forms and feminine expressions

Tansley, Laura (2011) Two inches of ivory: short-short forms and feminine expressions. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

When Jane Austen described her writing as ‘two inches of ivory’ she was being selfdeprecating,
maybe even sarcastic. But as I began an investigation into short-short forms and
feminine voices her two inches of ivory became poignant, creating an image of a woman
writer inside a tiny white space or writing on a tiny white space. This thesis represents the
paths I have chosen – the changes in direction and the twists and turns of my creative process
during three years spent exploring ideas related to this image. This journey produced themes
and questions which spill across three sections: Passing Through, A Middle Place; Short-short Turns;
and Harvested Short-shorts. Each element explores the way short-short stories come to us as
writers, readers and editors and also considers the responsibilities and processes involved with
taking on these roles.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Due to copyright restrictions the full text of this thesis cannot be made available online. Access to the printed version is available.
• Subjects: P Language and Literature > PR English literature
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > English Literature
• Supervisor's Name: Schmidt, Mr. Michael and Reeder, Ms. Elizabeth
• Date of Award: 2011
• Depositing User: Elaine Ballantyne
• Unique ID: glathesis:2011-3206
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 17 Feb 2012
• Last Modified: 10 Dec 2012 14:05
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/3206