Threading the Labyrinth: a Novel & Gardens and The
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ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY THREADING THE LABYRINTH: A NOVEL & GARDENS AND THE FANTASTIC: SPACE AND TIME IN THREADING THE LABYRINTH TIFFANI KAY ANGUS A thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Anglia Ruskin University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Submitted: September 2015 Acknowledgements When I started my path of study over four years ago, I knew it would be difficult, but I didn’t know-know; now I know. What I didn’t expect was how much it would change me in positive ways. I couldn’t have done it without the support of friends and colleagues, to whom I can only offer my deep appreciation (pints will come later). Thank you must first go to my supervisors, Farah Mendlesohn and Una McCormack, without whom I would not have survived the journey from then to now. To Annette (Nettie) Oxindine, who gave me the idea in the first place to come study in the UK, and to Liz Hand who pushed me into Farah’s path. To Aga Jedrzejczyk-Drenda, who was here even before I was and welcomed me in. To Edward James, John and Judith Clute, and Val Nolan, who have been listening boards from the very beginning. To Heather Lindsley, my London CatHerders and my Milford crew: some of you saw first drafts, some later ones, but you got me going in the right direction and were always there with advice. To my family and the Pritchard clan, for always being only an email away. To Ian Dulieu, who was my rock during the final year and who reminded me not to take everything so seriously. To Audrey Taylor, Amy Crawford, Louise Ells, and Meg MacDonald—my PhD girls here in the UK—and to Joanie Pritchard McNeil and Angelle Haney Gullet, my two best girls across the pond. You were all always there with support, encouragement, and time for a quick drink and a vent—And crafts! And cake! I seriously do not think I could have done it without you all in my dugout. LYMY and Mwah! Thank you. i ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY ABSTRACT FACULTY OF ARTS, LAW & SOCIAL SCIENCES DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THREADING THE LABYRINTH: A NOVEL & GARDENS AND THE FANTASTIC: SPACE AND TIME IN THREADING THE LABYRINTH TIFFANI KAY ANGUS JUNE 2015 This thesis comprises a novel and a critical commentary. The novel, Threading the Labyrinth, is a historical-fantasy novel set in an English manor-house garden over four centuries. The commentary explores the intersection of time and space in gardens, both fictional and real, and how this has influenced my creative process. The commentary begins with an investigation of borders between genre designations and my argument for the term “temporal instability” to describe the variation of timeslip I employ, which differs from that found in other fantasy novels with garden settings. Real and fictional gardens are chronotopes, or “time-spaces,” based on Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory; this intersection of space and time influences the verisimilitude and characterisation used to encourage the suspension of disbelief necessary for historical and fantasy fiction. A narrative of separate but interconnected stories of other times within the same space designate my novel as a composite novel. I also argue for the fictional garden as a heterotopia, and each novel section as a heterochrony, based on Michel Foucault’s theories. Gardens are cultural creations, and the influence of the hortus conclusus, or walled garden, makes it nearly impossible to write a fictional garden without inadvertently creating a metaphor for the Garden of Eden or Paradise. Further, planting a garden is a pursuit of perfection; writing is much the same, with studies of creative writing processes illustrating how writers follow various steps in their pursuit of narrative “perfection.” Finally, Susan Stanford Friedman’s theory of spatialization assists in placing the author in relation to reader, the creative product, the historical context of its creation, and the nearly uncountable outside texts that influenced it. Key words: garden, historical, fantasy, border, timeslip, chronotope, verisimilitude, characterisation, composite novel, heterotopia, heterochrony, hortus conclusus, metaphor, spatialization ii Table of Contents Threading the Labyrinth: a Novel ................................................................................ 1 Gardens and the Fantastic: Space and Time in Threading the Labyrinth .................... 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 237 Chapter One: Borders: Historical Fantasy, Magic, and Threading the Labyrinth in Context ..................................................................................................................... 240 Chapter Two: The Garden as a “Time-Space”: The Chronotope, Characterisation, and Verisimilitude .................................................................................................... 257 Chapter Three: Structures in Space and Time: Threading the Labyrinth .............. 276 as Composite Novel and Heterotopia ...................................................................... 276 Chapter Four: The Hortus Conclusus: Metaphor, Perfection, and Revision ........... 294 Chapter Five: Spatialization: Writing Myself into the Axes ................................... 310 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 320 Reference List .......................................................................................................... 323 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 333 Appendix A .............................................................................................................. 342 Appendix B .............................................................................................................. 342 COPYRIGHT DECLARATION Attention is drawn to the fact that the copyright of the critical component of this thesis rests with i. Anglia Ruskin University for one year and thereafter with ii. Tiffani Kay Angus. Copyright of the creative component of the thesis, Threading the Labyrinth, rests with i. Tiffani Kay Angus This copy of the thesis had been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is bound by copyright. iii THREADING THE LABYRINTH A Novel by TIFFANI KAY ANGUS Early Seventeenth Century “Her Ladyship complains that her garden is choked with weeds.” The voice spoke down to her from above, and when Joan Cookstole looked up the sun shone around the edges of his head and hat, sending his face in shadow. She tipped her head to shade her eyes with her own hat brim and the halo disappeared. Edmund Vale’s face came into focus. The King might rule the kingdom, and His Lordship’s domain was his house and lands, but the running of the gardens was Vale’s concern. Joan stood and wiped her hands on her apron. Having worked by her husband’s side these many years, she had her own opinion of the master gardener. “Sir, you know we tended My Lady’s particular garden within this week.” “Joan.” He ignored Gwen, the other weeding woman who was pulling the sheepbine that had tangled itself in the gooseberry bushes. “My Lady requests it. She has a dislike of plants which spoil the lawn’s continuity, and she desires a smooth surface upon which to walk when in contemplation.” Vale held himself with his shoulders pulled back and his head cocked at such an angle that he peered down at Joan from beneath heavy lids. Gardens are not rooms inside houses, though. You cannot fill a garden, even a small one, with your presence. It is always bigger. And Vale’s attempt fell short. “We weeded her garden just last Thursday, today being only Tuesday.” He swept one arm wide. “You are welcome to go to the Hall and send that message to My Lady.” Her Ladyship would be back in her garden just after dawn. Joan was going to have to either tend it now then go home to a late supper, or weed it early the next morning in the dark. The gate stood taller than the master gardener, its wood painted a dark green that almost hid it among the vines growing up the wall. Inside the stone walls there was barely an inch of space between the dirt paths of the labyrinth that did not hold a dandelion or charlock or groundsel. Instead of a calm stretch of green, the space was dotted with yellow, yellow, yellow. She was glad of her gloves when she saw that the paths along the edges of the garden were thick with nettles and docks. She began at the far corner, and Vale left her to her work. 1 Every gardener knows that gardens are borders between worlds, built to keep order in chaos, to keep beauty from decay, to keep what is inside safe from the threat of what is outside. But Joan didn’t have time to ponder the philosophy of fences and borders and wilderness and gardens. She was too busy pulling weeds, or tending children, milking cows, making cheese and butter, baking bread, spinning and weaving, soaking peas, washing and wringing, making malt, and pulling rushes to make what little light she could against the darkness to see the greater design. As she finished, pulling the last of the nettles and setting them aside for pottage, she heard a baby’s weak cry. It sounded like Ned, crying from his cradle in the night, and Joan started. Beth knew to bring him to the garden if she couldn’t get him to suck from a milk-wetted cloth, but his colic made him vexatious. Joan waited, expecting her daughter to round the corner. Then the crying died away, and she told herself it was a rabbit most likely,