Sweetie and the invisible malady: writing and reading type 2 diabetes

Sweetie and the Invisible Malady: Writing and Reading Type 2 Diabetes is a two-part creative writing PhD thesis that addresses a paradox in contemporary literature: type 2 diabetes, one of the most common chronic health conditions, which affects 589 million people worldwide and is responsible for 3.4 million deaths annually, is rare in novels. The gap is puzzling, given the number of people involved and literature’s engagement with other illnesses, from tuberculosis and cancer to HIV/AIDS and even conditions such as Huntington’s Disease, which affects a mere 0.003% of the global population and yet appears more frequently. The thesis begins with a personal essay explaining the personal stakes involved and how a diagnosis and subsequent reversal of type 2 diabetes provided the impetus for this research. It continues with three academic chapters that explore literary representations (and the absence thereof) of type 2 diabetes. The thesis finishes with a creative work – a novel that seeks to address the representational gap. All parts are grounded in the conviction that literary representation matters, that cultural oversight is isolating, and that representations can build a sense of inclusion and community. The academic portion is guided by three central questions: Why is there a dearth of representations of type 2 diabetes in contemporary fiction? How do novels inform how we think about and navigate type 2 diabetes? And how do depictions of a character’s free will versus determinism in representations of type 2 diabetes offer or deny hope? The first chapter examines reasons for the scarcity of type 2 diabetes in contemporary novels and surveys and classifies the portrayals this study identified. The second chapter employs a comparative approach, examining a novel that depicts type 2 diabetes alongside a second that depicts type 1, to explore perceptions of the disease, associated stigmas, and its suitability as a literary theme. The final chapter investigates remission, whether diet-based or pharmaceutical, through the lens of free will and determinism. Due to the complete lack of diabetes remission narratives in contemporary novels, this section necessarily focuses on memoir. The creative component, Sweetie, is a novel featuring four interlinked narratives that explore aspects and experiences of type 2 diabetes. The first storyline follows an older couple living with advanced disease as they confront mortality. It engages with themes of ageing, decline, fantasies of escape from bodily deterioration, love, and acceptance. The second centres on an Irish-language poet suffering vascular dementia caused by diabetes and considers the particular tragedy of losing language—her most valuable creative asset. The third chronicles the life and sudden death of a baker with undiagnosed diabetes. The final narrative depicts two doctors who have concealed their respective diagnoses from each other, and explores themes of shame, love, and betrayal. Through both critical analysis and creative practice, this thesis seeks to illuminate the silence surrounding type 2 diabetes in contemporary fiction and to demonstrate ways of narrating a common yet largely invisible disease. It questions societal perceptions while exploring how literary representation can reinforce or contest individual and societal beliefs about the illness. Ultimately, the thesis argues that filling the representational gap is necessary to help us collectively understand, experience, and create meaning around a disease that affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

Grantor dc:publisher

University College Cork

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Murphy, Kieran Fionn

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Denton, Danny
• Gibbs, Alan

• Creative writing
• Type 2 diabetes
• English
• Contemporary literature
• Novel
• Diabetes
• Narrative
• Illness

Statement dc:rights

• © 2026, Kieran Fionn Murphy.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10468/18917

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:cora.ucc.ie:10468/18917