Date of Award

Spring 5-2019

Level of Access Assigned by Author

Open-Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

English

Advisor

Gregory Howard

Second Committee Member

Danielle Pafunda

Third Committee Member

Steven Evans

Additional Committee Members

Benjamin Friedlander

Abstract

“Girl Thing” is a collection of five original stories that are an exploration of autofiction (the hybrid genre straddling autobiographical writing and fiction writing) in which I consider the ways different clichés and genre tropes can be subverted. In particular, I am interested in the way(s) in which the generic category of “girl” (as a way of diminishing young women who are considered too immature, too feminine, too lovestruck, et cetera to be considered proper women) is often portrayed in writing and other works of art, and how this category can be reclaimed and recognized as a being with subjectivity -- while still playing with the concepts and clichés that pin “girl” into a space of object-ness.



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