THE VOICE OF ONE CRYINGIN THE WILDERNESS: AN EPISTOLARY NOVEL ON THE INTERIORITY, PERFORMANCE, AND PROPHECY OF JOHN RUSKIN, 1871-1900

自从去年申请+3 NWCDTP英语文学路径基金并于2020年1月正式进入博士学习以来，我有时间显著发展我的项目目标，产生了一个截然不同的提案，这源于我对跨学科文学技术的认可兴趣，正如阿什沃斯博士的个人散文创意写作MA模块所确立的那样。因此，在去年的提案完全基于研究的情况下，这个博士学位另外利用了我的创作/批评混合实践的增长，提出了对虚构和事实文学的原创贡献。它的形式是一部长篇小说的历史书信体小说，围绕约翰·拉斯金1890-1900年在康尼斯顿布兰特伍德庄园的生活，以及伴随而来的反思和批判性论文，探索创作项目的关键基础和写作过程。在兰卡斯特大学拉斯金中心，它使用虚构的信件和受拉斯金书信启发的解释符号学，测试了一种“先知之旅”的叙事结构。这种结构类似于坎贝尔的《英雄之旅》，但得益于整合了丰富的圣经类型学和内在与表现的概念。我将通过想象中的个人通信来探讨这些问题，讨论拉斯金在19世纪传统上被用于死后的术语的概念的形成中所扮演的积极角色：先知和预言。通过研究和创作，我将探讨这些核心问题：1.我将如何运用书信体小说形式来传达内部和表现之间的紧张关系？这种动态如何随着显性和隐性读者的变化而变化？2.我如何在准确性和真实性与历史小说对当代问题的需求之间取得平衡？3.将圣经中的类型和人物与《英雄之旅》的结构设计结合起来，会有什么效果？我对“先知之旅”的构建--灵感来自圣经对以西结、以利亚、摩西等人的生活记录--将如何插足拉斯金？4.为历史人物提供一种“想象中的”内在特征会带来什么伦理挑战？我将如何利用传记、散文和自传中的工具来实现我想要的创造性和批判性的结合--《生物小说》？

Since applying for +3 NWCDTP English Literature pathway funding last year and formally entering PhD study in January 2020 I have had time to develop my project aims significantly, producing a radically different proposal that emerged out of my recognised interest in interdisciplinary literary technique as established in Dr Ashworth's Personal Essay creative writing MA module. Accordingly, where last year's proposal was solely research based, this PhD additionally utilises the growth of my hybrid creative/critical practice to present an original contribution to both fictional and factual literature. It takes the form of a novel-length work of historical, epistolary fiction, centring around John Ruskin's life at Brantwood House, Coniston, 1890-1900, and an accompanying reflective and critical thesis exploring the critical underpinnings of the creative project and the process by which it was written. Using fictionalised letters and interpreted symbology inspired by Ruskin's epistles in The Ruskin Centre, Lancaster University, it tests a narrative structure of 'the prophet's journey'. This structure is similar to Campbell's 'hero's journey', but benefits from integrating rich biblical typologies and conceptions of interiority versus performance. I will explore these through imagined personal correspondence, tackling Ruskin's active role in the formulation of nineteenth-century conceptions of terms that have traditionally been applied posthumously: 'prophet' and 'prophecy'. Through research and creative composition, I will explore these core questions:1. How will I employ the epistolary novel form to convey tension between interiority and performance? How does this dynamic change with variations of explicit and implied readership?2. How can I balance accuracy and authenticity with the need for historical fiction to engage in contemporary issues? 3. What is the effect of utilising biblical types and figures in conjunction with the structural device of 'the hero's journey'? How will my construction of a 'prophet's journey' - inspired by scriptural records of the lives of Ezekiel, Elijah, Moses, etc.- interpolate Ruskin? 4. What ethical challenges emerge from supplying a historical figure with an 'imagined' interiority? How will I utilise devices from biography, essay, and autofiction to realise my desired amalgam of the creative and critical, 'biofiction'?