Fragmented Perspectives: Creating Empathy Through Experiments in Form and Perspective in Short Fiction Amanda Bigler A Doctoral Thesis Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy, Loughborough University January 2017 © by Amanda Bigler 2017 Abstract This thesis addresses a creative writing approach to exploring reader empathy through the critical analysis of writing devices implemented by contemporary American short fiction writers and through creative experimentation through a written collection of short stories. It explores the ways in which writers can implement specific literary devices to potentially affect a reader's emotional reaction to a character or situation. The specified devices in this research have been utilised by contemporary American authors in their short fiction collections, namely Lydia Davis (The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis), George Saunders (Tenth of December), and David Foster Wallace (Brief Interviews with Hideous Men), who have influenced reader empathy in their short stories. Two categories of devices are in focus: narrative perspective and story format. These categories are signified due to contemporary American authors' experimentation with these devices and due to their inclusion in literary theory on reader empathy and fiction, namely Suzanne Keen's theory of narrative empathy. She focuses on the importance of reader empathy (namely, the effects that fiction can have on a reader in reality) and discusses devices that writers have used to possibly evoke these emotions. Keen explores the relationship between a reader and character identification, with a further emphasis on reader empathy and reader altruism in an inter-disciplinary setting, stating that reader empathy may lead to reader altruism; however, little to no research has been conducted on the creative implementation of writing techniques in regards to reader empathy from the perspective of a creative writer. Through creative application, this thesis aims to show the ways in which devices explored by narrative theorists can create the possibility for reader empathy. Therefore, the thesis takes into account first-, second-, and third-person narrative perspectives and question and answer (Q&A), short-short (a.k.a. flash fiction), and segmented formats through literary analysis of contemporary short fiction and through writing experimentation in the form of a short story collection. The thesis aims to explore the creative use of these devices and their linkage to reader reaction by the production of a short fiction collection entitled Fragmented Perceptions: A Collection of Characters. This creative work intends to implement the specified devices researched in order to experiment with perspective and format in relation to a possible empathetic connection of the reader to a character. Finally, by analysing possible effects on reader empathy through devices employed in the creative work, the thesis explores ways in which authors can use narrative perspective and format to discover various ways in which a writer can implement devices to affect reader empathy through short fiction. i Acknowledgments The experience as a PhD research student has been both challenging and enriching. Throughout the many sleepless nights, the lack of weekends, and a work day that often stretched into twelve hours, I have been blessed with those around me who have supported me along the way. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr. Kerry Featherstone and Dr. Paul Jenner, for their encouragement and support, especially when finagling with technology in order to speak to one another. I will always be grateful for the help and the laughs, and for excessive talks of coffee and cats. On a serious note, I believe both of you have pushed me to excel as a researcher and a writer. You have helped me to improve extensively, especially in regards to my analytical skills and my patience, and I hope that you survived the years being subjected to my Americanisms and Americanness! I would also like to thank my family. My mom and dad, Lori and Jon Bigler, and my sisters, Erin and Elyse Bigler, have made it possible to finish my research while holding on to some segment of my sanity. From long talks on the phone to Skype sessions and those rare face-to-face instances, all of you have made me feel as if I am not alone. Especially through the more stressful periods and times in which I thought I would not succeed or finish, having you there gave me the strength and confidence to take a deep breath and kick at least some of the anxiety. I know my family is there for me. Always has been; always will be. I've come such a long way in life, and I owe that to each of you. I love you all so much. Finally, I would like to thank my rock, my best friend, my teammate, and my husband. Alexis Alamel, you are the reason I pursued a PhD in the first place. You constantly believe in my intelligence, and you challenge me every single day to learn and grow. You have always believed in my ability to pursue this colossal life experience and have never once doubted me. Through the tossing and turning at night, the tears, the panic attacks, the frustration, the fatigue, and the lack of confidence, you have always been there to make sure I don't ever doubt myself. I'm honored and so lucky to have you by my side. Merci et je t'aime. ii Table of Contents Abstract i Acknowledgements ii Table of Contents 1 I. Introduction 3 i. Narrative Theory and Creating Empathy 3 ii. Contemporary Short Fiction Experimentation 9 iii. Narrative Perspectives 11 iv. Short Fiction Format 14 v. Creative Short Story Collection 16 II. Narrative Perspectives and Empathy in Short Fiction 18 i. Introduction 18 ii. First-person Narration 19 iii. Second-person Narration 25 iv. Third-person Narration 29 v. Conclusion 35 III. Short Fiction Formatting and Empathy 36 i. Introduction 36 1 ii. Segmented Format 36 iii. Q&A (Question and Answer) Format 42 iv. Short-short Story Format 47 v. Conclusion 54 IV. Fragmented Perceptions: A Collection of Characters 55 V. Narrative Perspectives in Practice 153 i. First-person Narration 153 ii. Second-person Narration 161 iii. Third-person Narration 167 VI. Formats in Practice 175 i. Segmented Format 175 ii. Q&A Format 181 iii. Short-short Story Format 185 VII. Conclusion 196 VIII. Works Cited 199 IX. Bibliography 206 2 I. Introduction i. Narrative Theory and Creating Empathy In contemporary narrative theory, the term "narrative empathy", defined as "the sharing of feeling and perspective-taking induced by reading, viewing, hearing, or imagining narratives of another’s situation and condition" (Keen 2013, 2) has become a prevalent topic of discussion to American literary theorists. This is, in part, due to contemporary narratologists' increased interest in exploring empathy in literature. A particular aspect of this exploration is the recognition and study of narrative devices that can evoke empathetic responses. One focus of Suzanne Keen's research that will be explored in this thesis is writing devices that can lead to empathy for a character or situation. Keen's work, which is referenced by both Eva Dadlez (e.g. What's Hecuba to Him?: Fictional Events and Actual Emotions) and Mary-Catherine Harrison (e.g. "The Paradox of Fiction and the Ethics of Empathy”), looks at ways in which narrative perspective and story format can evoke emotional responses. She is considering empathy in that she believes it might lead to altruism. I am focusing on her discussion of writing devices in order to experiment with how writers might implement these devices to evoke an emotional reaction. Elements of Keen's work I consider are studies of narrative perspective and structural devices that writers can utilise regarding writing empathy. Dadlez references Keen's observations on empathy with a section of her work on altruistic actions towards humankind after experiencing empathy to a character, and finally Harrison discusses empathic bias for similarity (a.k.a. similarity bias) (e.g. feeling more empathetically inclined to a character that has a similar background or experience) and uses Keen's studies on narration and empathy to examine how a writer might influence the overcoming of similarity bias through fiction; however, little analysis has been done to address how a writer might create the opportunity to connect empathetically with a character through both perspective and format.1 In this thesis, I explore Keen, Dadlez, and Harrison's studies on empathy in order to explore writing devices that could be used in creative writing to structure an empathetic response. The perspectives of reader response theory and creative writing theory have been taken into account. As this thesis focuses on the creative implementation of devices that have the potential to influence the empathetic nature of a character or situation, reader response is not necessarily in focus. Both writers and readers' responses can be considered subjective (as each 1 Coined by Martin Hoffman, "similarity bias" is defined by Harrison as "our unwillingness or inability to empathize with people who are not like ourselves" (Harrison 2011, 257). 3 person has his or her own perception of a situation), therefore attempting to create an empathetic response tailored to a specific reader is not necessarily pragmatic. Addressing both Wolfgang Iser and Umberto Eco's concept of the "model reader", there exists the issue of the writer assuming the reader's background and responses, which is not a universal representation of readership. Eco states that "a text is the result of two components, the information which the author supplies and the information which the model reader adds and which is more or less strictly determined by the author’s input" (Eco 206).