Flesh and Blood (A Memoir) and Products of Conception, Imaging and Imagining the Maternal-Foetal Relationship (A Critical Analysis)

Dosani, Sabina (2022) Flesh and Blood (A Memoir) and Products of Conception, Imaging and Imagining the Maternal-Foetal Relationship (A Critical Analysis). Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Via creative-critical methodology, this thesis explores maternal and clinical narratives. The memoir, Flesh and Blood , investigates my experiences of recurrent miscarriage while working as a medical expert witness in the Family Court. Flesh and Blood takes the reader on a journey through a medicalised pregnancy, which unfolds under the bright glare of medical examinations, alongside a parallel, professional journey with three families eviscerated by illness, adversity and addiction. Tracking the conflicts, collisions and concerns of medical professionals, social workers and lawyers, Flesh and Blood asks readers to consider what it would mean if clinics and courts were places of greater compassion, and whether emotional bonds stall the difficult and often devastating interventions designed to keep children safe.

The critical essay, Products of Conception, Imaging and Imagining the Maternal Foetal Relationship, considers depictions of obstetric ultrasound in three contemporary works: Queenie (2019) by Candice Carty-Williams, Hilary Mantel’s memoir, Giving up the Ghost (2013) and Maggie O’Farrell’s personal essay “Baby and Bloodstream”, from I am, I am, I am: Seventeen Brushes with Death. In each text, ultrasound represents a contested site where obstetric and maternal narratives collide. Core themes examined in the critical essay have informed the composition of Flesh and Blood

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing
Depositing User:	Nicola Veasy
Date Deposited:	28 Jun 2023 13:13
Last Modified:	28 Jun 2023 13:13
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/92524
DOI:

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