Killing Daniel and Reasons for Killing Daniel : a critical reflection

• Main Author: Dobbs, Sarah-Jane
• Published: Lancaster University 2011
• Subjects: 823.92
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.618735

This thesis is comprised of a novel and a critical exegesis with an 80/20 split. The novel is called Killing Daniel and is a literary crime which investigates the impact of Daniel's death on the main character, Fleur. The critical exegesis is called Reasons for Killing Daniel and considers my reasons for writing the novel. This thesis explores the relationship between text and writer and between text and reader. It considers how the implied reader (Iser 1980) might actualise the text. Furthermore, it explores the similarity between the representation of coma in the novel and the way in which the reader constructs the actualised text from the 'gaps ... blank[s]' and 'indeterminac[ies]' (Iser: 167) put in place by the author. It also explores how the construction of time in a narrative can inform the reader's response. The second main concern of the thesis is the exploration of the relationship between character and crime. It examines how an appreciation of the crime genre can heighten our understanding of the characters and tensions at play in this particular novel. It considers the significance of the doubling of characters with reference to cultural parallels between these characters and the UK and Japan. The thesis analyses how consciousness is constructed within the novel and how the coma state can be used to explore the different states of consciousness. It utilises Dorrit Cohn's (1984) analysis of narration to explore how POV can be used to represent consciousness. Finally, it investigates the construction of narrative. It considers various drafts of the novel, exploring how these choices inform our understanding of male and female stereotypes in the text.