The Sentient House in Australian and Canadian Literature, and Five Floors of Basement: a Novel
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“The Architecture of Bad Dreams”: The Sentient House in Australian and Canadian Literature, and Five Floors of Basement: A Novel Suzette Mayr A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of the Arts and Media Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences December 2016 PLEASE TYPE THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/Dissertation Sheet Surname or Family name: Mayr First name: Suzette Other name/s: Rosel Vernita Abbreviation for degree as given in the University calendar: PhD School: Arts and Media Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences Title: “The architecture of bad dreams”: the sentient house in Australian and Canadian literature, and five floors of basement: a novel Abstract 350 words maximum: (PLEASE TYPE) The “sentient house” is a sub-category of the “haunted house” literary genre that has received little creative or critical attention in Australia or Canada. Using four examples of Australian and Canadian “sentient house” literature – Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, Vivienne Cleven’s Her Sister’s Eye, Daniel David Moses’ Big Buck City, and Andrew Pyper’s The Guardians – the research dissertation examines the ways in which Australian and Canadian writers have “renovated” the Euro-American sentient house genre within their respective national contexts. For example, writers such as Pyper and Cleven import the Euro-American trope of the “haunted castle” into their work, but challenge the normative assumptions associated with race and/or gender inherent in most Euro-American gothic horror narratives. Alternatively, Lindsay’s and Moses’ texts reveal the subversive qualities that a sentient house can have in its material aspects such as its building materials and faulty construction. Lindsay, Cleven, and Moses also demonstrate that the sentient house trope can operate as a tool to interrogate residual colonial influence in countries such as Australia and Canada that are “haunted” by Indigenous dispossession of land. The houses are all – as space theorist Christine Wilson proposes – “unruly” spaces that also operate as uncanny, revelatory spaces that expose the oppressed and the hidden. The creative writing component, Five Floors of Basement, is a sentient house novel that centres on a university professor named Edith who works at the fictional University of Inivea, in Alberta, Canada. Her office is in Crawley Hall, a building that produces “sick-building syndrome” in its residents. Five Floors pushes the notion of a “sick” building beyond metaphor and into the literal: Crawley Hall is alive and “sick” – in every sense of the word. The novel follows Edith’s mental and physical disintegration as she tries to determine if she is being overwhelmed by too much university bureaucracy and asbestos renovation, or if she is being affected by Crawley Hall’s inherent evil. Ever concerned about her place within her “university family” in her home away from home, Edith struggles to balance the precarious relationship between her increasingly unhappy work life and her life outside of work. Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstracts International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). ..................................................................... ..................................................................... ..................................................................... Signature Witness Date The University recognises that there may be exceptional circumstances requiring restrictions on copying or conditions on use. Requests for restriction for a period of up to 2 years must be made in writing. Requests for a longer period of restriction may be considered in exceptional circumstances and require the approval of the Dean of Graduate Research. FOR OFFICE USE ONLY Date of completion of requirements for Award: COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ‘I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.’ Signed ……………………………………………........... Date …………………………………………….............. AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ Signed ……………………………………………........... 19 Decemb 2016 Date …………………………………………….............. ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed ……………………………………………........... 19 December 2016 Date …………………………………………….............. ii Abstract The “sentient house” is a sub-category of the “haunted house” literary genre that has received little creative or critical attention in Australia and Canada. Using four examples of Australian and Canadian “sentient house” literature – Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, Vivienne Cleven’s Her Sister’s Eye, Daniel David Moses’ Big Buck City, and Andrew Pyper’s The Guardians – the research dissertation examines the ways in which Australian and Canadian writers have “renovated” the Euro-American sentient house genre within their respective national contexts. For example, writers such as Pyper and Cleven import the Euro-American trope of the “haunted castle” into their work, but challenge the normative assumptions associated with race and/or gender inherent in most Euro-American Gothic horror narratives. Alternatively, Lindsay’s and Moses’ texts reveal the subversive qualities that a sentient house can have in its material aspects such as its building materials and faulty construction. Lindsay, Cleven, and Moses also demonstrate that the sentient house trope can operate as a tool to interrogate residual colonial influence in countries such as Australia and Canada that are “haunted” by Indigenous dispossession of land. The houses are all – as space theorist Christine Wilson proposes – “unruly” spaces that also operate as uncanny, revelatory spaces that expose the oppressed and the hidden. The creative writing component, Five Floors of Basement, is a sentient house novel that centres on a university professor named Edith who works at the fictional University of Inivea, in Alberta, Canada. Her office is in Crawley Hall, a building that produces “sick-building syndrome” in its residents. Five Floors pushes the notion of a “sick” building beyond metaphor and into the literal: Crawley Hall is alive and “sick” – in every sense of the word. The novel follows Edith’s mental and physical disintegration as she tries to determine if she is being overwhelmed by too much university bureaucracy and asbestos renovation, or if she is being affected by Crawley Hall’s inherent evil. Ever concerned about her place within her “university family” in her home away from home, Edith struggles to balance the precarious relationship between her increasingly unhappy work life and her life outside of work. iii Table of Contents Page Publications Arising from the Work v Acknowledgements vi Chapter 1. Introduction: “Born Bad”: The Sentient House in Australian and Canadian Literature 1.1 The “Haunted” House vs. the “Sentient” House 1 1.2 The Origins of the Sentient House 6 1.3 The Sentient House and the Uncanny 10 1.4 Comparing Australian and Canadian Literature 15 1.5 Four Examples of Sentient Houses 16 1.6 Methodology 19 Chapter 2. The Fall of the House of Appleyard: The Misfit 24 House in Joan Lindsay’s Picnic at Hanging Rock Chapter 3. “This Shit House”: The Abject House in Daniel 40 David Moses’ Big Buck