Browsing by Subject "narrative theory"

This thesis explores what can be learned from the literary features and choices made by authors in their post-terminal diagnosis writing. The author argues that terminal diagnosis impacts the work of authors and can be studied in comparison to works produced before they received their terminal diagnosis. The research aims to reveal commonalities among multiple authors in response to terminal diagnosis and to determine a shared conceptual understanding of how authors respond to terminal diagnosis. The study focuses on the writing of George Orwell, Katherine Mansfield, and Bruce Chatwin, and analyzes their works using Wayne C. Booth’s implied author theory to reveal how the rhetorical and literary choices they made in their post-terminal diagnosis works were deliberate attempts to adjust their legacy in their final writings. The findings of this research provide insights into how authors approach the creative process after being diagnosed with a terminal illness and could enrich future readings of the works of these authors and authors in general by exploring the connection between the authors’ biographical and historical backgrounds and the implied authorial “second selves” depicted in their works. The study highlights the literary significance of authors’ last words and how they tackle the problem of achieving a linguistically meaningful death.