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，我有时间来显著地发展我的项目目标，产生了一个完全不同的建议，该建议来自我在阿什沃思博士的个人论文创意写作硕士模块中建立的跨学科文学技术的公认兴趣。因此，在去年的提案仅仅是基于研究的基础上，这个博士学位还利用我的混合创作/批判实践的增长，对虚构和事实文学做出原创性贡献。它采取了小说长度的历史，书信体小说的形式，围绕约翰·罗斯金的生活在布兰特伍德大厦，康尼斯顿，1890-1900年，并伴随反思和批判的论文探索的关键基础的创作项目和过程中，它的写作。在兰开斯特大学的罗斯金中心，它使用虚构的信件和受罗斯金书信启发的符号学解释，测试了“先知之旅”的叙事结构。这种结构类似于Campbell的“英雄之旅”，但受益于整合丰富的圣经类型学和内在与表现的概念。我将通过想象的个人通信来探讨这些问题，处理罗斯金在19世纪对传统上死后使用的术语概念的形成中的积极作用：“先知”和“预言”。通过研究和创作，我将探索这些核心问题：1。我将如何运用书信体小说的形式来传达内在与表现之间的张力？这种动态是如何随着显性读者和隐性读者的变化而变化的？我如何在准确性和真实性与历史小说参与当代问题的需要之间取得平衡？3. 使用圣经的类型和人物与“英雄之旅”的结构装置相结合的效果是什么？我对“先知之旅”的构建——灵感来自圣经中对以西结、以利亚、摩西等人生活的记录——将如何插入罗斯金？4. 为历史人物提供“想象的”内在性，会产生什么样的伦理挑战？我将如何利用传记、散文和自传体小说的手段来实现我想要的创造性和批判性的“传记”的融合？

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'?