The Cotton Is High & of the Earth
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The Cotton Is High & Of the Earth: Writing The Cotton Is High Bryan Whalen This novel and exegesis are submitted together in satisfaction of the requirements for The Degree of the Doctor of Philosophy in Creative Writing School of Humanities Discipline of English University of Adelaide July 2013 Table of Contents Abstract i Declaration ii Acknowledgements iii VOLUME ONE : The Cotton Is High 1-170 VOLUME TWO: Of the Earth (an exegesis in two parts) ` 171 Introduction 172 PART ONE: Depictions of Developing Nations 177 Overview 178 Providing a Theoretical Framework: 180 The Danger of a Single Story Colonial Writings: The Heart of Darkness Debate 189 Modern Colonialism: Eat, Pray, Love and Developing Nations 197 as a Means of Self-Discovery How Best to Engage With an ‘Other’ Culture: 206 The Crowded Self and Crowded Style PART TWO: Fictionalizing a Developing Nation 213 Overview 214 Providing a Framework to Fictionalize: Country Profiles 215 First-hand Conflict: The Influence of Personal Experience 223 Fictionalizing a Developing Nation: Writing The Cotton Is High 229 Works Cited 234 Works Consulted 238 Whalen i Abstract The Cotton Is High is the comedic tale of one man’s quest to find happiness and contentment in an imperfect, ever-changing world. Written in the first person narrative perspective, the novel details the protagonist’s descent into madness as he, Cotton Walters, strives to understand and assimilate discrepancies between his seemingly ideal upbringing and the disadvantaged lives of the characters who surround him. Taking place over the course of a single day, the opening sections introduce Cotton as well as the first major conflict in the narrative: Cotton quarrels with Bell, his girlfriend, while travelling abroad in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The novel then follows Cotton through the streets of Dhaka, as he compares his “lucky” life to the poverty-stricken characters that surround him. Further sections reveal that Cotton’s life may not be as perfect as he has previously suggested. Cotton, who is already showing signs of mental instability, runs into a character he believes to be his estranged mother and, again, through confrontations with a series of local, Bangladeshi characters, Cotton’s life is compared and contrasted to the lives of those who surround him. The final sections detail Cotton’s absolute downfall, in which he looses his mind in an attempt to understand problems within the world and within his own biography that are well beyond his cognitive capabilities. Of the Earth, the exegetical component of my PhD, is divided into two parts. ‘Part One: Depictions of Developing Nations’ highlights debates surrounding the creative representation of an ‘other’ culture that exists within a developing nation. As such, the benefits and pitfalls of postcolonial discourse will be discussed and will be the lens through which literary influences on The Cotton Is High are examined. ‘Part Two: Fictionalizing a Developing Nation’ will discuss geo-political research and personal experiences that informed The Cotton Is High. It will also discuss difficulties encountered in the writing process, strategies for overcoming these difficulties, and the intended effect of authorial techniques on the reader. By discussing all of the above, the exegesis, as a whole, will demonstrate how The Cotton Is High has placed itself within the context of border-crossing fiction that engages with a developing nation. Whalen ii Declaration This work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any 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 due reference has been made in the text. I give consent to this copy of my thesis, when deposited in the University Library, being made available for loan and photocopying, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I also give permission for the digital version of my thesis to be made available on the web, via the University’s digital research repository, the Library catalogue, the Australasian Digital Theses Program (ADTP) and also through web search engines, unless permission has been granted by the university to restrict access for a period of time. Bryan Matthew Whalen Creative Writing School of Humanities Discipline of English Monday, July 8, 2013 Whalen iii Acknowledgements Many thanks to Nastasja Roels for being herself. As Cotton is in many ways a composite character of her and me, and as his internal debates are in many ways debates we have shared on our walks around this world, it must be said that this novel and exegesis would not exist if she had not entered and forever altered my life. For her patience in dealing with my roller-coaster emotions during the writing process, for allotting both space and strength throughout the course of this PhD, and for being a constant source of inspiration to both the narrative and me, I thank her. Thank you, as well, to Mama Whalen. Without her steady encouragement, my mental health would have declined as rapidly as Cotton’s. From the top of your head to the tips of your toes, I wouldn’t change a thing about you. You’re a star. As is Brock Travis. Though we only met in the final year of the PhD, his endless words of wisdom and guidance have provided consistent emotional and intellectual support; and for this, I thank him. Thank you to Mama Sari, as well – for her support and for use of her apartment – and to Cees Roels, for his intellectual and paternal support. Thank you, as well, to Dr. Phillip Edmonds for his ‘get it done’ attitude and encouragement throughout the course of this PhD. His editing comments, his understanding support, and our continual discussions about the purpose and importance of this project were integral to my completion. Thank you to Kirie Pedersen for her friendship and guidance. Her kind words have been a constant source of optimism when I’m feeling less than optimistic. Lastly, thank you to the citizens of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh—in particular, my dear friend Opu Naimul Islam. The Cotton Is High Bryan Whalen VOLUME ONE Creative Work Presented for the Degree of the Doctor of Philosophy School of Humanities Discipline of English University of Adelaide July 2013 (Note: Creative document written in American English, to match voice of narrator) Summertime, And the livin' is easy Fish are jumpin' And the cotton is high Your daddy's rich And your mamma's good lookin' So hush little baby Don't you cry Summer Time DuBose Heyward PART ONE Whalen 1 She called me a motherfucker. So I walked out on her. Problem is I had no idea where I was, or where to go after I’d stormed out, or how to get back once I’d calmed down and realized that leaving wasn’t really an option. I mean, she fully fucking screamed at me: “You are such a selfish asshole, Cotton. Do you realize that? Do you realize what a self-centered prick you are?” And I screamed back something melodramatic about taking a cab to the airport – right before accidentally leaving behind my passport and wallet – and it’s funny because I don’t ever really remember what we were arguing about. Like all I know is that Bell was sleeping on top of me, because Bell always sleeps on top of me, and I wanted to get up to get some fresh air, but I didn’t want to wake her, because I didn’t want her to ask: “Is everything alright?” Because everything was perfect, peachy keen, dandy, swell. I mean, if you compare your life to the life of a leper you’ve just seen strewn across the sidewalk in one of the dirtiest, poorest places on earth, you suddenly feel beautiful and rich – and I guess that’s what I was thinking about while I lay there beneath Bell, staring up at the off-kilter ceiling fan and attempting to follow one blade as it spun round and round. Everything, I thought, is relatively perfect. I’m extremely rich in this extremely poor society, and that’s okay. Because I’m poor in America – like I’m not really rich, because if I was really rich I’d obviously have helped that poor woman. Is she still on the street where we saw her or is there some sort of shelter where she can go to be safe? Or a leper colony? Do leper colonies still exist? And I hoped they did, because even if you’re brilliant and kind, courageous and funny, who would want to sleep next to you when your face is covered in massive lumps? You would have to have a leper girlfriend, who you’d probably meet at a leper colony. So hopefully leper colonies still exist, and hopefully your leper girlfriend Whalen 2 doesn’t have stumps for arms like that poor lady on the street. She was the most horrifying human being I’d ever seen in real life – which sounds terrible, but it’s true – and I kept hoping there was someone out there to keep her company, someone to love her despite her hideousness, because, if not, what was the point of being alive? I mean, wouldn’t you just kill yourself? Because I would. Or I thought I would. I thought it didn’t actually sound that bad, I mean, because we don’t actually know anything about the afterlife, so who’s to say it’s negative? Like, maybe the absence of life isn’t an absence at all, because you’re gaining death.