“Melancholic Things”
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“Melancholic Things” Volume 1: The Major Work “The Things She Owned” and Volume 2: The Exegesis “Objects as Markers for Identity Transformation in Fictional Grief Narratives” Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of English and Creative Writing School of Humanities Faculty of Arts University of Adelaide Submitted March 2016 Table of Contents Abstract i Declaration iv Acknowledgements v Volume 1: The Major Work “The Things She Owned” 1 Volume 2: The Exegesis “Objects as Markers for Identity Transformation in Fictional Grief Narratives” Introduction 234 Chapter 1: The Story Behind the Story 240 Chapter 2: The Things Behind The Things 257 Chapter 3: Melancholic Things: Fossil-Objects, Relic-Objects, Fetish-Objects and Totem-Objects 274 Conclusion 299 Endnotes 301 Bibliography 302 Abstract “The Things She Owned” is a work of literary fiction in the genre of the grief narrative. The interwoven stories of Michiko and Eriko, a mother and daughter, follow Michiko’s life from her wartime childhood in Tokyo to early adulthood, and Erika’s, after her mother’s death, in contemporary London. Erika has not dealt with an urn containing some of Michiko’s bones, nor with other things once owned by her mother, all of which sit untouched and hidden in a dusty cabinet. The arrival of her Japanese cousin Kei forces Erika to confront the difficult feelings stirred up by the sight of these objects. Each section of the narrative from Erika’s life is prefaced by an ekphrastic description of objects that once belonged to Michiko; the things appear within the body of the narrative, each playing a different role in reflecting Erika’s sense of identity in relation to the death of her mother. Some are relics, some represent fossilised grief; others are catalysts for Erika’s transforming identity. A military academy ring found in a secret cabinet drawer prompts Erika to travel to Okinawa to find the man she discovers is her real father. There, she has an accident climbing to a waterfall and her rapidly changing internal world becomes apparent. The exegetical component of this thesis examines the role played by objects in fictional grief narratives and how they illustrate identity reconstruction of a protagonist that has suffered traumatic loss. Acknowledging that traumatic loss shatters the world view of the bereaved, requiring a re-ordering and reconstruction of a new identity to help find new meaning in a forever-changed world, this exegesis seeks to fill a gap in research, exploring the way objects can be used as markers to reflect the different stages through which the bereaved progress through a process of identity reconstruction. The exegesis suggests a new schema for the analysis of objects and their changing roles in grief narratives by combining findings from the research of Margaret Gibson — into the way the bereaved relate to the i objects of the dead — with thing theory, bereavement theory and psychoanalytical research, particularly incorporating ideas on the transitional or cathexic object. For the purposes of this thesis, Siri Hustvedt’s novel, What I Loved, is read closely alongside “The Things She Owned” to demonstrate the application of the suggested schema. The exegesis will also examine how using the real in fiction — real objects, in the case of “The Things She Owned” — helped to mitigate difficult feelings that arose during the writing process. It also addresses a perceived yearning for authenticity, epitomized by a surge in the popularity of grief narratives, in an age of rapidly-consumed multimedia and shallow sensationalism. 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 These Program (ADTP) and also through web search engines, unless permission has been granted by the university to restrict access for a period of time. Katherine Tamiko Arguile iii Acknowledgements The idea for “The Things She Owned” came to me in 2002, but it was only in 2010, when I took up my place at the University of Adelaide to undertake a PhD in Creative Writing, that the novel began to take form. The APA Scholarship I was awarded enabled the completion of this novel, which forms the creative component of my thesis. I cannot overstate the importance of this award, nor my gratitude for receiving it, given the current state of university funding as I write in 2016. My thanks are due also to those in the Creative Writing department at the University of Adelaide who were part of my selection for PhD candidature. It has been a privilege to be amongst such illustrious writers, experienced academics and wise editors, and be given the support and encouragement so essential to emerging writers. My gratitude and thanks go also to the Eleanor Dark Foundation, who awarded me a Varuna Retreat Fellowship in 2014, allowing me a fortnight of intensive and uninterrupted writing bliss in Varuna Writers’ House, surrounded by the beauty of the Blue Mountains. It is there that I completed the first draft of this manuscript. Travel funding awarded to me by the University’s English department enabled me to travel to Okinawa, Cambridge and to London for essential research, and for this, I am deeply thankful. An excerpt from this novel, the chapter entitled ‘Dai Nishō’, was published in slightly altered form in ‘Breaking Beauty’, an anthology of short stories edited by Lynette Washington and published by Midnight Sun Publishing. This publication provided me with early opportunities for exposure as a writer at the start of her career, for which I am deeply grateful. Involved and fascinating discussions with Dr Shōko Yoneyama of the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Adelaide were formative to the writing of this manuscript. The ideas aired during these conversations — particularly those about Okinawan culture — iv were what helped to give it life. I am most thankful to her for sharing her time, energy and knowledge with me. My heartfelt thanks also go to Dr Carol Lefevre, a writer whose profoundly moving and beautiful work I greatly admire. She is one of the most generous editors and reviewers I have had the fortune to encounter. Her feedback was crucial to the structure and flow of “The Things She Owned”; without it, it would have been a far poorer work. I left each of our encounters richer in ideas, and always inspired. To Dr Sue Hosking, my love and deepest gratitude. Throughout the years under her supervision, she has coaxed me through the tricky process of writing a first novel. It is her loving patience, rigour, objective support and encouragement that gave me the courage to complete it, and to make it the novel it has become. It has been a great honour to be supervised by her. To the ‘Archetières’ — talented writers who read my manuscript and provided valuable feedback, thanks and love also: Rachael Mead, Anna Solding, Heather Taylor Johnson and Rebekah Clarkson. We have shared tribulations, joys and sorrows about our writing and our lives, making our friendships all the richer. To Lynette Washington, talented and enthusiastic writer and editor, who worked alongside me on her thesis on our ‘exegesis- writing days’, and for whom I have great admiration; my love and thanks. She provided me with unshakeable encouragement and inspired me with her extraordinary courage; thank you for your friendship. To my 5th Grade homeroom teacher, Linda Dixon Howard — then Mrs Boyd — her enthusiastic support of my earliest forays into fiction writing had a greater impact than she can ever know, and for that I am deeply grateful. To Albyn Hall, who long ago gave me the advice that set me on the path to writing this manuscript, my heartfelt thanks also. To Emma Anderson and Craig Harrison, who own the most perfect writing shack on the Yorke Peninsula, my thanks for sharing with me such a magical place and allowing me to v write, alone and interrupted, surrounded by the wild beauty of the coast. It was there that I was able to complete this thesis. To Miles Dodd, my father, my love and thanks for his support, on so many levels, that has allowed me to pursue my calling as a writer. He instilled in me my love of reading, encouraging me to read from an early age and ensuring I was always surrounded by books. Without him, my calling as a writer may never have surfaced. To his partner too, Dr Jocelyn Probert, much love and thanks; for being the perfect reader, for giving helpful and objective feedback on this manuscript, and for encouragement and support. Our tastes in literature are so similar, it is a shame half a planet’s time difference complicates further discussions on the books we love. My late mother, Akiko Yonekubo Dodd, is someone whom I sorely miss, even twenty years after her death. She was kind, funny, lively, beautiful, and one of the best storytellers I have ever known. She instilled in me my love of storytelling, and she, too, often had her head buried in a book. I am most adamant that the character of Michiko in my creative work should not be confused with my mother’s.