DEPT/SUBJECT AREA: Creative Writing (Screenwriting, Science Fiction)
SUPERVISORS: Dr Alan Bilton and Prof David Britton
RESEARCH DEGREE: PhD Creative Writing Research Science-Fiction Screenwriting
THESIS TITLE: Oer - Developing One’s Voice: A Heroine’s Journey to Literary Individuation in Speculative Fiction
Oer Developing One’s Voice consists of a feature film speculative fiction screenplay and other science fiction shorts works (stage play, short film script and produced short films) accompanied by a critical commentary examining and relating researcher-screenwriter creative practice to the literary individuation process. The original science fiction works include a feature-length screenplay and two short film scripts. The work postulates that author voice development is a reflection of creative writing principium individuationis, that emergement of Jung’s ‘totality of all psychic processes’, and a natural evolution of ego advancement.
In the female screenwriter, this Jungian evolution of the 'self' involves shadow integration of disowned aspects of being and cultivation of the animus or ‘soul-image’ emergence and ultimately leads the screenwriter to artistic wholeness. The creative practice research analysis comments on the author’s monomyth or journey to voice and literary individuation or creative potential fulfilment within the conceptual frameworks of human evolution, childhood development, and advancement of the individual female psyche and personality.
The commentary proposes that voice development directly relates to critical issues of attachment and identity and that an adult creative may cultivate the literary individuation process. Additionally, the text demonstrates that narrative elements organically embedded within the sci-fi screenplays, including story structure, plot, theme, character, landscape, and symbols, are pertinent to and mirror the screenwriter researcher’s heroine’s journey toward psyche integration and literary individuation.
