AustLit

'Within a framework of trauma theory and its relationship to literature, this paper proposes a number of writing strategies that may enable crime fiction, in particular the domestic noir sub-genre, to portray narratives of trauma using textual cues that invite readers to enter the text in similar ways to trauma fiction. Despite the central role trauma plays in crime stories, the capacity for crime fiction to serve as a vehicle for representing trauma and to act as a catalyst for personal and social change has not been explored in any depth by critics or scholars. By employing an exegetical reflection and case study analysis of the writing of my completed PhD novel, Ebb and Flow, I show how analysis of these strategies can be aligned with the structure and literary devices typical of crime fiction This analysis offers tools to write a form of crime fiction that may deliver similar benefits to readers as trauma fiction. This leads the way for further research into the power that crime narrative has to evoke change through psychological and emotional growth and other inherent benefits for a genre fiction audience, as well as a potential new arts and health market for crime fiction writers.'  (Publication abstract)

'While we can’t change the past, we can change the way we view the past and the story we tell about it, which can transform identity. This is the premise of narrative therapy. However, some writers choose to work with fictionalised traumatic experience because of the difficulty of exposing hidden subject matter in an autobiographical work. Creating a fictional work may allow reflection on traumatic experiences with similar emotional aftereffects, but with the emotional distance to be able to write with a deeper exploration of the subjects writers are reluctant to confront autobiographically. This article proposes that writing a fictional account of traumatic experiences might achieve similar benefits as the personal accounts relied upon in narrative therapy. It further deduces that the hero-journey model could provide a metaphor for writers to become the hero in their own post-traumatic growth journey through creative writing. The culmination of this article is a mapping of the commonalities between White’s maps of narrative therapy steps and Campbell’s Hero’s Journey stages, and a case study of how this framed my post-traumatic journey through creative writing. This framework may be useful for other creative writers embarking on a similar writing journey for post-traumatic recovery.'  (Publication abstract)