The (false) dichotomy of the author and reader in the short story cycle, and, Hesket

Bayat, Sara (2023) The (false) dichotomy of the author and reader in the short story cycle, and, Hesket. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Critical discourse surrounding the short story cycle has traditionally offered two differing approaches to formal unity. One method, championed by Robert Luscher, emphasizes the reader in the creation of coherence, whereas the other foregrounds the author and form, as conceived by Forest Ingram. Recent scholarship has questioned the necessity of this division but is yet to conclusively interrogate if and how these oppositional methodologies work together. My critical thesis aims to bridge the two approaches by demonstrating how the creation of unity is in fact an interactive process, evidenced by my analysis of both a published short story cycle (The Shore by Sara Taylor), and through my engagement with archival materials from the British Archive for Contemporary Writing, to investigate the compositional history of that text.

My creative component is an exploration of the short story cycle form in which the ordinary and the peculiar commune in shifting perspectives and intertwining stories. It posits how the uncanny and the natural world intersect, and then examines the way in which this convergence occurs within a small Norfolk community.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	01 Nov 2023 11:19
Last Modified:	30 Jun 2026 01:38
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/93524
DOI:

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