Graduate Program

English

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

Summer 2022

Thesis Director

Colleen Abel

Thesis Committee Member

Marjorie Worthington

Thesis Committee Member

Jeannie Ludlow

Abstract

Twenty-Nine Delusions Concerning Love is the story of my relationship. I narrate the relationship's unfolding through the contexts of philosophy and cultural theory, and through artifacts of my own work rendered since the relationship's inception in December of 2020. The purpose of this project was to identify a gap in the autotheory genre, and to fill that gap with my own meaningful contribution -- a book which hybridizes life writing with prose and poetry. This piece is both a narration of my own experience, and an investigation into hookup culture and the way technology has redefined the modern romantic relationship. My inclusion of theory and research allows me to expand on my private experience into larger public discourse and make a statement about societal view, expectations, and institutions which all work to constrain the behaviors, bodies, and identities of women. Additionally, the theme concealment and exhibition is illustrated by my inclusion of actual events, phone, and text message conversations. Through research, I explored these questions: In the wake of #MeToo and the movement towards the naming and shaming of public figures, should writers conceal the identities of the people they write about? Who has access to theoretical discourse and the lyric mode?

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