Stephenson, Shirley (2025) Writing the Double: Critical Explorations of Uncanny Childhood. Doctoral thesis, York St John University.

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Abstract

Novel: Stranger Like You

Stranger Like You is a novel about fraternal twins Lila and Noah Clearwater who are on the cusp of adolescence. When their estranged Uncle John returns home after ten years absence, the flamboyant and confident Noah is enamoured, whereas the emotionally detached Lila is hesitant. As Uncle John charms his way into Noah and her mother’s life, Lila finds herself caught up in the shade of the Clearwater family history, as their behaviours, lies and secrets resurface. When she discovers the unspeakable childhood incident which affected the course of her father and uncle’s lives, she worries for Noah’s safety, although from whom she isn’t certain.

The novel investigates inherited legacies and trauma, transgressions within families and how one event can change the course of a life.

Writing the Double: Critical Explorations of an Uncanny Childhood

Writing the Double is a critical exploration of the aesthetic elements which have influenced the creation of Stranger Like You and its focus is primarily the process undertaken. The critical research explores writing an uncanny repetitious double and incorporates analyses of fictional and cultural influences which relate to ideas of failed mourning, inherited trauma, representations of psychic crypts, phantasmic landscapes, and nachträglichkeit. As the novel is set in the 1980s, I look at May’s ideas of encounter in order to incorporate some conscious insights into what has been unconsciously written in terms of era, topography, cultural influences and major events. I examine my creative process with a focus on Royle’s ideas of telepathy as a ‘reading-effect’ and explore these in the form of ‘writing-effect’ and ‘double-voicing.’

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Status:	Published
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General)
School/Department:	School of Humanities
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/13069

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