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英语文学途径资金并于2020年1月正式进入博士学习以来，我有时间显着发展我的项目目标，产生了一个完全不同的建议，该建议源于我对跨学科文学技术的公认兴趣，正如Ashworth博士的个人论文创意写作MA模块所建立的那样。因此，去年的提案完全是基于研究，这个博士学位还利用我的混合创造性/批判性实践的增长，为虚构和事实文学做出原创性贡献。它采取了历史，书信体小说的小说长度工作的形式，围绕约翰·罗斯金的生活在布兰特伍德楼，科尼斯顿，1890年至1900年，以及随之而来的反思和批判性论文探索的创造性项目的关键基础和它的写作过程。使用虚构的信件和解释的象征灵感来自罗斯金的书信在罗斯金中心，兰开斯特大学，它测试了叙事结构的“先知的旅程”。这种结构类似于坎贝尔的“英雄之旅”，但受益于整合丰富的圣经类型学和概念的优先级与性能。我将通过想象中的个人通信来探讨这些问题，探讨罗斯金在19世纪术语概念的形成中所发挥的积极作用，这些术语传统上是在死后使用的：“先知”和“预言家”。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的形式来传达身份与表演之间的紧张关系？这种动态如何随着显性和隐性读者群的变化而变化？2.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.结合《圣经》中的人物和人物，以及“英雄之旅”的结构设计，会产生什么样的效果？我将如何构建一个“先知的旅程”-灵感来自以西结，以利亚，摩西等的生活圣经记录-插入罗斯金？4.为一个历史人物提供一个“想象的”身份会带来什么样的伦理挑战？我将如何利用传记、散文和自传的手段来实现我所期望的创造性和批判性的“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'?