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Abstract

The novels, Saltwater (Sceptre, 2019) and Milk Teeth (Sceptre, 2022) alongside the accompanying exegesis, construct an embodied language or 'affective bodily economy' to represent working-class, millennial womanhood through innovative literary methods.

The exegesis examines the author's use of form, structure and language in her novels to express a somatic articulation of class and gender shame. Through analysis of Eimear McBride’s use of embodied language to represent the effects of socio-political, religious and physical violence in her first two novels, 'A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing' (Gallery Beggar Press, 2013) and 'The Lesser Bohemians' (Faber, 2016) the author discuss the ways in which her novels build on these techniques to construct a new bodily lexicon and 'affective emotional architecture' to convey the indirect effects of class and gender oppression.

This body of work interrogates the power of language and articulation in representing embodied experience as a means of deconstructing power hierarchies and refuting class and gender shame.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Additional Information:	This PhD by Prior Publication is comprised of the critical exegesis above, alongside the novels Saltwater (Sceptre: 2019) and Milk Teeth (Sceptre: 2022) by Jessica Andrews. Due to copyright, these novels have been redacted from the publicly accessible version of this work.
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN0080 Criticism P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Departments:	School of Communication & Creativity > Media, Culture & Creative Industries > Media & Communications School of Communication & Creativity > School of Communication & Creativity Doctoral Theses Doctoral Theses

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