This project explores the conditions and qualities of the American South, through an abstract lens of absurdism, surrealism, and magical realism. It seeks to understand and illustrate the function of the narrative voice and perspective in literature, and how these tools are effective in creating a sense of identity found in literary works. The critical introduction of this piece makes use of primary sources, involving Rick Bass, Ron Carlson, Jonathon Culler, Jennifer Egan, John Gardner, James Joyce, Ursula Le Guin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Haruki Murakami, and James Wood. Some of these authors and critical theorists are used to provide foundational support on terminology and structure, involving voice and narrative, while others are cited as examples of stylistic success involving literary identity. This work also contains several original stories, developed and created with the techniques and ideas of the critical introduction in mind.
","abstract_html":"<p>This project explores the conditions and qualities of the American South, through an abstract lens of absurdism, surrealism, and magical realism. It seeks to understand and illustrate the function of the narrative voice and perspective in literature, and how these tools are effective in creating a sense of identity found in literary works. The critical introduction of this piece makes use of primary sources, involving Rick Bass, Ron Carlson, Jonathon Culler, Jennifer Egan, John Gardner, James Joyce, Ursula Le Guin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Haruki Murakami, and James Wood. Some of these authors and critical theorists are used to provide foundational support on terminology and structure, involving voice and narrative, while others are cited as examples of stylistic success involving literary identity. This work also contains several original stories, developed and created with the techniques and ideas of the critical introduction in mind. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Torres, Joseph Andrew"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Master of Fine Arts (MFA)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"English and Theatre","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2018-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:47Z","subjects":["American Literature","Comparative Literature","Creative Writing"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2018 Joseph Andrew Torres"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/584","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Torres, Joseph Andrew"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English and Theatre"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Fine Arts (MFA)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["American Literature","Comparative Literature","Creative Writing"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2018 Joseph Andrew Torres"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/584"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This project explores the conditions and qualities of the American South, through an abstract lens of absurdism, surrealism, and magical realism. It seeks to understand and illustrate the function of the narrative voice and perspective in literature, and how these tools are effective in creating a sense of identity found in literary works. The critical introduction of this piece makes use of primary sources, involving Rick Bass, Ron Carlson, Jonathon Culler, Jennifer Egan, John Gardner, James Joyce, Ursula Le Guin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Haruki Murakami, and James Wood. Some of these authors and critical theorists are used to provide foundational support on terminology and structure, involving voice and narrative, while others are cited as examples of stylistic success involving literary identity. This work also contains several original stories, developed and created with the techniques and ideas of the critical introduction in mind.
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