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Form in Fiction: The Development of ‘I dream of Magda’ Stefan Lashchuk Submitted as part of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Creative Writing Discipline of English School of Humanities The University of Adelaide September 2008 Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………...……..…….....i Statement of Originality………………….……………………….……..….……….ii Introduction…………..…………………………………………………..…..………1 To b or not to b?: A musical and literary merging……………….............…...…. 2 Sonata Form: A Basic Definition……………..……......………………………..….6 I’ve scene the light: Introducing a Filmic Sensibility…….........…………......…..12 Muse and Literature: Magda Szubanski…………..……......……………..……...17 I have a dream: Introducing the Hyper-real……………......…………………….20 Two voices at once: Distinguishing Matthew from George…………............……27 Here comes the (younger) son: The development of George Harrison.................35 A Picture of Him: The development of Matthew Harrison………...........…...…..43 A Quick Note on Humour………….…………………………....………………….49 Beginning at the End: Form and Fiction………...………….…….......…………..52 The End of the End: Reconciliation/Recapitulation…….……………….........….55 Conclusion………………………………………………..…………….....…………60 Abstract People who write books are invariably asked how they do it, by people who read them, in a similar way, for example, to how pilots might be asked ‘How do you fly a plane?’ by passengers who couldn’t imagine steering several tonnes of metal through the sky at 30,000 feet. Although there is a consistent, if complicated, logic to the flying of planes, I’m not sure there is a definitive one with regards to writing books. Creative processes, in whatever genre, are by their own nature constantly evolving and redefining their own boundaries. I decided to remain acutely aware of the creative processes involved with writing the novel for my PhD, ‘I Dream of Magda’. I also made note of external inspirations and practical considerations I encountered along the way. This resulting exegesis is an attempt to explore the genesis and creative evolution of my novel. Specifically, it will address the various challenges and benefits involved in writing the novel to a pre- determined form, which, in this case, was the musical form ‘sonata’, adapted for literary expression. In the end, it may not be any more helpful in addressing a general question on how to write a book, but it should go a long way to explaining how the initial idea for this book, in particular, took off and eventually flew at 70,000 words. i Statement of Originality This work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any other university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where reference has been made in the text. I give consent to this copy of my thesis being available for loan when deposited in the University Library. Stefan Lashchuk____________________________ September 2008 ii Form in Fiction: The Development of ‘I Dream of Magda’ Introduction In this exegesis I will attempt to explain how I crafted my novel ‘I Dream of Magda’ from the original concept of writing to a pre-determined form. I will explore the various challenges that arose throughout the project—such as the balancing of different narrative voices, maintaining momentum and pace within my set structure and achieving both a technical and emotional resolution in my work. The story itself is primarily that of two brothers sharing a house together, George and Matthew Harrison. Both are young men, in their twenties, and have recently suffered substantial emotional traumas. The younger brother, George, is a twenty-six-year-old man who works in a bowling alley and is afraid of the dark. Reeling from a broken heart and still coping with the trauma of a childhood home invasion, he finds rare solace in the giant painting of an alien that sits outside his room. Matthew Harrison has his own demons to deal with. He has recently lost the love of his life in a car accident—an accident he was lucky to survive himself. Unable to face life without his one shining light, he retreats into a world of constant sleep in which he dreams about having an intimate relationship with Australian comedienne Magda Szubanski. Her humour and warmth shine through in Matthew’s dreams so much so that they fast become the only place he feels content. As things progress, George meets Stacey, who’s also getting over her ex, and the two of them form a mutually beneficial friendship that causes George to ponder whether he will ever be able to get over his previous love. Meanwhile, Matthew 1 retreats further and further into his imagined relationship with Magda, and at the same time the full tragedy of his real life losses begin to surface, making him contemplate the idea of ‘sleeping forever’. And so as one brother’s life looks like finally getting itself together, the other brother’s life looks like falling apart, until the whole situation reaches a dangerous and mysterious climax. ‘I Dream of Magda’ is a deliberately a humourous and tragic novel. It deals with the loss of love and the process of grieving. It explores the pain that the death of a parent can leave for the family they leave behind. It also aims to show that sometimes the families that are closest are the ones who seem the farthest apart. It is essential to point out that while the final manuscript eventually went on to win the 2007 Australian/Vogel award, and thus ended up being professionally edited and published through Allen & Unwin, the manuscript I will be submitting for my PhD remains completely my own work. It had not, at time of completion, undergone any level of professional edit—though of course, as with all novels, I sought general feedback from various readers from time to time. The submitted, unedited manuscript thus remains considerably different to the later, finished novel. To b, or not to b? : A musical and literary merging The idea of writing a novel in sonata form originated from a series of conversations with my mother (a highly accomplished musician) in which we were discussing the presence of form and structure relative to the creative process itself, and whether different types of creative expression (be it visual art, music or text etc) necessarily warranted using different, established types of form and structure specific to each craft. 2 This line of thought led to us ruminating on whether it might be possible (or indeed, common) to transpose and adapt structural and formal tools from one kind of creative expression to another. If so, would the end result be effective or perhaps seem contrived? And, importantly, from a practical sense—how would it affect the creative process along the way? In terms of beginning the actual project, I initially decided upon using a known musical form, as opposed to, say a visual form. On a personal level, the connection between music and literature for me has long been both inspirational and experiential. I have written music (and lyrics) for over fifteen years in a series of bands and have taken an almost obsessive interest in the craft of songwriting—in particular, the different ways in which I could start out writing a song, the different limitations I could set myself, to force myself in certain directions. Importantly, too, both music and literature exist as essentially time-driven narratives. It was this which convinced me that the idea of a structural, formal crossover would be somewhat more achievable than with other genres. As Calvin Brown says, in his article ‘The Poetic Use of Musical Forms’: “It is immediately obvious that music and literature are alike in one fundamental characteristic in which they differ from painting, sculpture and architecture: they extend and develop in time rather than in space. By this very fact, they have certain general processes in common: for example, they require of their audience both memory and anticipation.” (Brown, 1944, p87) With this in mind, I decided to choose a musical form with which to work. While reading through various books on different forms I stumbled across a few passages in ‘Understanding Music’ by composer and broadcaster Antony Hopkins 3 which immediately grabbed my attention. In explaining the various sections of the musical form ‘sonata’, he began likening them to the writing of a novel. “The Exposition is like the first chapters of a novel in which we meet the characters and learn of their background; the Development reveals hidden aspects, changes their relationships, introduces surprise twists and turns, journeys to unexpected places and so on.” (Hopkins, 1979, p72) In the various books I had explored thus far, this was the first time I had seen someone draw such distinct parallels between musical and literary form. I read on: “If in the Exposition we met the essential characters in this particular plot, in the Development we learned a great deal about them... (then)... in the Recapitulation we will look at them in quite a different light since not only do we know more about them but we ourselves have had our emotions played upon. If we have been properly involved in the drama...whatever emotional condition we were in at the start of the work will have become subtly changed.” (Hopkins, 1979, pg74-75) Hopkins’ reference to ‘characters’ as such, was obviously just his way of describing musical themes in more accessible way for his audience. It convinced me though, that if I wanted to embark on a project involving the adaptation from the musical to the literary, then I could take the musical sonata form and apply this metaphor in reverse. i.e. use the structure and behaviour of the musical sonata form to explain and dictate the journey of my characters.

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