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Growing Up in Flames: A narrative exploration of intergenerational trauma and identity in rural Australian adolescents
Dissertation   Open access

Growing Up in Flames: A narrative exploration of intergenerational trauma and identity in rural Australian adolescents

Zachary Jones
University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Doctor of Creative Arts, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
2020
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25907/00082
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Abstract

trauma identity young adult fiction YA literature rural Australia adolescent intergenerational trauma
This Doctor of Creative Arts (Creative Writing) thesis responds to two research questions: What is the relationship between intergenerational trauma and identity formation in adolescents? How can that relationship be evidenced in a young adult (YA) novel set in rural Australia? An examination of current YA fiction reveals that few published novels explore intergenerational trauma in a rural setting or the impact of such trauma upon identity formation in adolescents. The purpose of the creative artefact-the original novel 'Growing Up in Flames'-is to respond to this void. The novel, set in a fictional rural town based loosely on the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales, Australia, portrays the complex interactions of three protagonists who have each suffered distinct traumas. These characters struggle to confront the pasts that haunt and shame them and to rationalise the fragmented pieces of themselves into a coherent identity. 'Growing Up in Flames' is a polyphonic novel that draws from the genres of trauma fiction and Bildungsroman and incorporates contemporary epistolary devices, and it is underpinned by an extended fire metaphor that explores the damage caused by trauma.

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