I begin this study with the formalistic essays of Michael Oakeshott and Susan Sontag, observing the precarious position of aesthetics in contemporary literary discourse. Rather than fit the novels Under the Volcano and the Alexandria Quartet into normative Kantian or New Critical frameworks, I follow the course of alchemical allusions in Lowry’s novel and relate them to the troubled theme of modern love in Durrell’s, writing in an experiential, plot-driven manner towards a narrative describing the effects of these texts upon my fiction. After I discuss the traces of Sade in Durrell, the metafictional novelette “Dolor” concludes the project, betraying numerous critical themes: the decentered subject, anxieties of authorship, and writing the body as text. My aim is to suggest that if literature is not beholden to logical truth, criticism might follow a more literary course by exposing itself to the elements of fiction—whose assimilative revenge upon theory seems long overdue.
","abstract_html":"<p>I begin this study with the formalistic essays of Michael Oakeshott and Susan Sontag, observing the precarious position of aesthetics in contemporary literary discourse. Rather than fit the novels <em>Under the Volcano</em> and the <em>Alexandria Quartet</em> into normative Kantian or New Critical frameworks, I follow the course of alchemical allusions in Lowry’s novel and relate them to the troubled theme of modern love in Durrell’s, writing in an experiential, plot-driven manner towards a narrative describing the effects of these texts upon my fiction. After I discuss the traces of Sade in Durrell, the metafictional novelette “Dolor” concludes the project, betraying numerous critical themes: the decentered subject, anxieties of authorship, and writing the body as text. My aim is to suggest that if literature is not beholden to logical truth, criticism might follow a more literary course by exposing itself to the elements of fiction—whose assimilative revenge upon theory seems long overdue.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Burlingame, Mark"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"English Language and Literature","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Paul Bruss, PhD, Chair","Charles Cunningham, PhD","Christine Neufeld, PhD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2010,"date_issued":"2010-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2010-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:36Z","subjects":["aesthetics","Lawrence Durrell","Malcolm Lowry","creative writing"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/295","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Paul Bruss, PhD, Chair","Charles Cunningham, PhD","Christine Neufeld, PhD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Burlingame, Mark"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2011-02-10T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English Language and Literature"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["aesthetics","Lawrence Durrell","Malcolm Lowry","creative writing"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/295"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["I begin this study with the formalistic essays of Michael Oakeshott and Susan Sontag, observing the precarious position of aesthetics in contemporary literary discourse. Rather than fit the novels Under the Volcano and the Alexandria Quartet into normative Kantian or New Critical frameworks, I follow the course of alchemical allusions in Lowry’s novel and relate them to the troubled theme of modern love in Durrell’s, writing in an experiential, plot-driven manner towards a narrative describing the effects of these texts upon my fiction. After I discuss the traces of Sade in Durrell, the metafictional novelette “Dolor” concludes the project, betraying numerous critical themes: the decentered subject, anxieties of authorship, and writing the body as text. My aim is to suggest that if literature is not beholden to logical truth, criticism might follow a more literary course by exposing itself to the elements of fiction—whose assimilative revenge upon theory seems long overdue.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Towards a Literary Criticism: Lowry, Durrell, Dolores, and the alchemical balance between critical and creative writing"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Paul Bruss, PhD, Chair","Charles Cunningham, PhD","Christine Neufeld, PhD"],"dc:creator":["Burlingame, Mark"],"dc:date.available":["2011-02-10T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["I begin this study with the formalistic essays of Michael Oakeshott and Susan Sontag, observing the precarious position of aesthetics in contemporary literary discourse. Rather than fit the novels Under the Volcano and the Alexandria Quartet into normative Kantian or New Critical frameworks, I follow the course of alchemical allusions in Lowry’s novel and relate them to the troubled theme of modern love in Durrell’s, writing in an experiential, plot-driven manner towards a narrative describing the effects of these texts upon my fiction. After I discuss the traces of Sade in Durrell, the metafictional novelette “Dolor” concludes the project, betraying numerous critical themes: the decentered subject, anxieties of authorship, and writing the body as text. My aim is to suggest that if literature is not beholden to logical truth, criticism might follow a more literary course by exposing itself to the elements of fiction—whose assimilative revenge upon theory seems long overdue.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/295"],"dc:subject":["aesthetics","Lawrence Durrell","Malcolm Lowry","creative writing"],"dc:title":["Towards a Literary Criticism: Lowry, Durrell, Dolores, and the alchemical balance between critical and creative writing"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English Language and Literature"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:36Z"}