Browsing by Author "Battis, Jes"

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Open Access
Altering the Pattern: Willing Self-Sacrifice as an Embodiment of Free Will in Guy Gavriel Kay’s The Fionavar Tapestry
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2015-07) Storey, Samantha; Ruddick, Nicholas; Johnnston, Susan; Battis, Jes; Taylor, Dena
This study analyzes the role of willing self-sacrifice in Guy Gavriel Kay’s trilogy The Fionavar Tapestry. I begin by detailing anthropological studies about sacrifice which provide the critical framework for this thesis. I contrast Kay’s trilogy with J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy and claim that they have fundamentally different worldviews. Tolkien’s worldview is primarily providential where every act of free will only reinforces the plan. In Kay’s trilogy, free will is often counter to a divine plan and acts of free will can and do alter that plan for the better. I analyze the trilogy by focusing on specific instances of willing self-sacrifice in each volume and showing how those instances either alter the divine plan, in this case The World Tapestry, or result in its successful completion. I draw the conclusion that Kay approaches the problem of fate and free will differently from other fantasy authors, specifically Tolkien, and that he takes a more secular approach to the ideas of sacrifice and free will.
Open Access
"Big Damn Heroes": Zoe Washburn and the Evolution of the Warrior Women in Firefly
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2019-10) Kosanovich, Peter WIlliam Halverson; Petty, Sheila; Ramsay, Christine; Mather, Philippe; Battis, Jes
This thesis explores the evolution of science fiction television in the United States alongside the disruption of the third wave of feminism as a result of the turn to patriotism and nationalism following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Specifically, I look at the subgenre of space opera, examining how presentations of women characters have changed throughout the subgenre’s history. Where women once occupied juvenile roles such as a damsel in distress, as is the case in Captain Video and His Video Rangers (1949-1955) and Tom Corbet, Space Cadet (1950-1955), they now embody more complex and multifaceted characters. I specifically examine the series Firefly (2002-2003), which emerged in the television landscape following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I focus on the character of Zoë Washburne, a war veteran and smuggler, who represents an evolution of the now-clichéd warrior woman trope in narrative media. Prior to Zoë, television in the 1990s experienced a surge in warrior women, highlighted by characters such as Xena from Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001) and Buffy Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003). These characters strongly reflect values of the third wave of feminism, such as individuality and personal liberation. In discussing these heroines, I heavily draw upon Dawn Heinecken’s book The Warrior Women of Television: A Feminist Cultural Analysis of the New Female Body in Popular Media, where she attempts to create a conversation among herself and other scholars to define and interpret characteristics of warrior women on television. Using Heinecken’s conversation as a blueprint for the warrior woman, I then explore Prudence Chamberlain’s interpretations of fourth wave feminism in her book, The Feminist Fourth Wave. The combination of the warrior woman definition and new interpretations of feminism facilitate the analysis of Zoë as a new type of warrior woman, which I describe as the Volunteer Woman.
Open Access
Celebration Of Authorship Program 2020-2021
(University of Regina Library, 2021) Afolabi, Taiwo; Bates-Hardy, Courtney; Battis, Jes; Bradley, Crista; Brigham, Mark; Carter, Claire; Clausson, Nils; Cote, L. Lynn; Cote, Margaret R.; Coupal, Chelsea; French, Lindsey; Gacek, James; Hanson, Cindy; Hu, Shuchen; Juschka, Darlene; Khan, Tanisha; Macdonald, Iain; Marsh, Charity; Melançon, Jérôme; Morgan, R. Grace; Okimasis, Jean L.; Piercey, Robert; Plummer, David William; Powell, Mary; Purdham, Medrie; Ratt, Solomon; Trussler, Michael; Wolvengrey, Arok
The past year has disrupted many things in both our academic and personal lives, but something that has not changed is the commitment of the University of Regina community to advancing research and sharing knowledge and stories with a world-wide audience. The Dr. John Archer Library and Archives is again proud to unveil our new Celebration of Authorship booklet, highlighting books and other creative works published in-print or electronically over the past year by faculty, staff, students, retirees, and alumni of the University of Regina and its federated colleges.
Open Access
Celebration Of Authorship Program 2022-2023
(University of Regina Library, 2023) Abrams, Kelly J.; Afolabi, Taiwo; Ashton, Emily; Battis, Jes; Bazzul, Jesse; Buchko, Denée M.; Coupal, Chelsea; Crivea, Jocelyn; Dupeyron, Bruno; Eaton, Emily; Fay, Holly; Farney, Jim; Farrell, Issac; French, Lindsey; Fuchs, Jesse; Garneau, David; Gerbeza, Tea; Germani, Ian; Gibb, Ryland; Grimard, Celeste; Harnish, Garett; Hoang Trung, Kien; Horowitz, Risa; Hurlbert, Margot; Jeffery, Bonnie; King, Anna-Leah; Knight, Lindsay; Knuttila, Murray; Kyabaggu, Ramona; Lavallie, Carrie; Lloyd, Kiegan; Lonie, Kelsey; Lundahl, Bev; Lylyk, Stephen; Marsh, Charity; McNeil, Barbara; Moat, Olivia; Moasun, Festus Yaw; Nestor, Jack J.; Novik, Nuelle; Owusu, Raymond Karikari; Panchuk, Kristie; Petry, Roger; Petry, Yvonne; Phipps, Heather; Ratt, Solomon; Ricketts, Kathryn; Riegel, Christian; Robinson, Katherine M.; Rocke, Cathy; Rollo, Mike; Safinuk, Corey; Saul, Gerald; Schroeter, Sara; Schultz, Christie; Wanda, Seidlikoski Yurach; Sirke, Kara; Sterzuk, Andrea; Stewart, Michelle; Szabados, Béla; Tremblay, Arjun; Whippler, Ryan; White, Judy; Wihak, Mark; Zimmer, Jonathon
Archer Library is proud to unveil the 2022-23 University of Regina Celebration of Authorship Program booklet. This downloadable publication highlights University of Regina authors/creators of books, edited proceedings, sound recordings, musical scores and film or video recordings published over the last year in any format (print or electronic). We encourage you to take a moment to view the program booklet and extend your congratulations to all of the University of Regina students, faculty, staff, and alumni who are being celebrated this year.
Open Access
"Cimmerian Steppes: Chasing Shadows"
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2018-10) Stroh, Courtney Michelle; Battis, Jes; Schnell, Melanie; Meban, David; Charrier, Philip
My creative thesis is an immersive historical fantasy novella. As a novella, my work primarily focuses on character development. Novellas are uncommon to the genre, yet Patrick Rothfuss and Mercedes Lackey have standalone and supplemental novellas. My novella challenges pre-existing genre conventions by introducing the ideas such as the hero’s journey, only dash them. My manuscript is set in an alternate world, and features characters exploring liminal spaces where they struggle with the ever-present tension between monstrosity and humanity. My work is influenced by J. R. R. Tolkien, Guy Gavriel Kay, and George R. R. Martin. Kay’s harkening to ages past influences my setting, as antiquity offers more charm than a well-traversed setting; as such, I do not use the romanticised medieval setting. I aim for realism in a genre where fate is often the central plot, like in Harry Potter, where a final clash is prophesized. Works by critics and theorists such as Farah Mendlesohn, Brian Attebury, Lucie Armitt, and Edward James have assisted me with interpreting fantasy in its various forms, which has informed my writing and allowed me to see the common links and twists in the genre. These insights allow me to build upon, or diverge from, traditional narratives; for instance, I don’t use a destiny-driven plot. Feminist fantasy writing informs my writing, and I explore the idea of gender equality within an ancient patriarchy. My creative thesis adds a new voice to the monstrous body of works that is contemporary fantasy, while also doing things half a step differently than more traditional texts, and I hope this will aid in propelling the genre ever onwards.
Open Access
Dirt Pharmacy
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2020-03) Beaulieu Prpick, Zoe; Grande, Troni; Battis, Jes; Purnis, Jan; Sweatman, Margaret
My creative thesis, Dirt Pharmacy, is a historical fiction novella about a murder in seventeenth-century London. As a Renaissance-era crime thriller, my work is influenced by a number of writers who work in the genre and period, such as Patricia Finney, C.J. Sansom, and Rory Clements. Where my work differs from theirs is that I examine early modern crime the other way around; their protagonists are proto-detectives, while Dirt Pharmacy is written from the point of view of the women committing the murder. My aim is to shine a light on two parts of history that typically go unseen, and thus unrecorded: the discreetly accomplished poisoning, and the private lives of women. My novella is a dark comedy, satirising the revenge tragedies popular on the Jacobean stage, written by playwrights such as John Webster, Thomas Middleton, and Philip Massinger. I challenge the overblown gruesomeness of the killings in these plays, as compared to the subtle, somewhat tedious nature of poisoning over a period of several months, as well as the plays’ implicit biases against women and Italians, two of the groups considered likeliest to commit murder by poison according to the Jacobean mentality. The work of critics who have examined the depiction of poison, vengeance, and stereotype in early modern drama and society, such as Miranda Wilson, Tanya Pollard, and Derek Dunne, helped me craft the worldview of a young girl who believes absolutely anything she sees onstage. Dirt Pharmacy offers a new viewpoint to the historical thriller, that of women who exploit their place in the shadows to commit perfect crimes, while also poking fun at the absurdity of theatrical vitriol in Jacobean England. I hope it ushers forth more study of quietly angry women and the havoc they could wreak unnoticed.
Open Access
Facing the Last Enemy: Death, Trauerarbeit, and Harry Potter
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2015-03) Quick, Leah Elizabeth; Chevalier, Noel; Battis, Jes; Sherbert, Garry; Smythe, William
J. K. Rowling’s critically acclaimed and wildly successful Harry Potter series details an orphan hero’s quest to reclaim a lost family, and, yet, very little of the previous scholarship has explored the perennial, overarching grief that spans the length of the series. Death litters the landscape of the text—there are 57 young deaths alone throughout the series—and the story is continually propelled forward as Harry reacts to each new episode of loss. Yet, too little attention has been paid to the depth to which grief colours Harry’s story, and the then necessary and consolatory function of what Freud calls “grief work” (Trauerarbeit). Written in response to her own mother’s death, Rowling attests that, “the books wouldn’t be what they are if she hadn’t died ... her death is on virtually every other page of the Harry Potter books,” and that, “[a]t least half of Harry’s journey is a journey to deal with death in its many forms, what it does to the living, what it means to die ... what survives death. It’s there in every single volume” (“Oprah”). The series is punctuated by numerous episodes that see Harry trying to “assuage his torturing grief” (DH 532), when, almost continuously, he is threatened by “a grief that ... actually weighed on his heart and lungs” (268). And while death falls under the category of natural law, so that one can never wholly reclaim the dead, within this realm, death is not marked by the same sense of permanence, and so familiar mourning practices then change when one can still have fellowship with, and be supported by those that are gone. Interestingly, however, these exceptions simultaneously complicate and ease mourning practices when the dead continue to surround Harry. How then is Harry able to navigate his own mourning, and, ultimately, willingly face his own death? In observing the story through a Freudian lens, this work will offer a hitherto unexplored reading of these iconic texts, as it will provide insight into the nature of mourning and melancholia within the Harry Potter series, and how it is that Harry is able to succeed at this seemingly Sisyphean task. I will examine the varying responses to death and the progression of grief in Lord Voldemort, Severus Snape and Harry Potter. Focusing primarily on these three prominent characters, I will apply Sigmund Freud’s model for organizing and examining the varying stages and categories of grief work to provide a unique perspective by which to study and map the progression of grief, from a state of pathological melancholia, wherein the sufferer remains diseased from one’s “failed grief,” to one of healthy and largely resolved mourning. Freud’s “Mourning and Melancholia” provides unique insight when reading Harry Potter, as the primary tenet of Freud’s mourning philosophy centers on his assertion that mourning is not solely an emotion, a passive experience that sees one patiently waiting for grief to end, but, rather, mourning becomes a performance that requires the grieving subject to actively engage with, and to work through, the reality of what has been lost. This distinction in meaning hinges on the German concept of Trauerarbeit, which contrary to the English term, offers a deeper, and a more labor-centered picture of what it means to mourn. Harry, to a degree unlike any other character in the text, thus sets to work on his mourning, not with the explicit and deliberate purpose for its completion, but more so as the instinctual and necessary means of coping. Thus, Freud’s theory is a useful tool when exploring how it is that Harry is able to successfully navigate his own mourning—within a world that largely inhibits mourning practices—and it ultimately explains how he is able to survive, and earn his title of, “the boy who lived!” (PS 18).
Open Access
handwringers
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2019-12) Fahie, Sarah Dawn; Trussler, Michael; DeCoste, Marcel; Battis, Jes; Ellerhoff, Steven
Lying on his couch, reflecting on his life, Moses E. Herzog “thought awhile of Mithridates, whose system learned to thrive on poison. He cheated his assassins, who made the mistake of using small doses, and was pickled, not destroyed. Tutto fa brodo” (Bellow 4). Saul Bellow’s titular character offers an excellent metaphor for a complicated figure: the schlemiel. Herzog reflects on Mithridate’s inability to die with honor: having fortified himself against poisoning, he botches his suicide. The Italian phrase Bellow uses to describe Herzog’s state of mind is an idiom meaning literally “everything makes broth” suggesting that every little bit helps. In Herzog it is used ironically: every little bit helps self-sabotage; everything that helps is also everything that hurts. A schlemiel’s best efforts will inevitably come to foolishness. handwringers is a collection of short stories which revolve around Jewish identity and the figure of the schlemiel. The critical introduction, “‘Everyday’ Scraps and the Metacomedic Schlemiels of handwringers,” looks at the form of the stories, the genre of metacomedy in relation to the form, and the schlemiel of the collection as a metacomedic character. The stories are short, ranging from 17 to 2020 words. The length of the stories contributes to the theme of mediation, evoking something of a chaotic media experience of clips, soundbites, advertisements, shows, film, and the internet. Moments of epiphany and/or crisis unfold within these short forms. Collectively, these moments suggest a fragmented sense of self, one assembled through bits of cultural information gleaned from various media. Throughout the critical introduction, examples from both my work and the creative and theoretical work of others are used in order to clarify abstract ideas as well as to suggest a matrix of influence. Ultimately, in this collection, Jewishness as understood through pop-culture is manifested in a kind of anxiety around identity, authenticity, religion, and culture.
Open Access
“A Personal Odyssey”: Contrapuntal Heroism in the Works of Diana Wynne Jones
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2014-12) Lucyk, Apolline Nicola; Johnston, Susan; Battis, Jes; Lane, Dorothy; Rosenberg, Teya
This study examines one specific aspect of Diana Wynne Jones’ fantasy fiction— her use of multiple, interdependent character identities to craft heroes whose heroic journeys do not necessitate violence or conformity with preset definitions of heroism. These characters’ heroic journeys are inward ones of self-acceptance and empathy rather than outward ones that lead to external conflict. Because their identities are not always fragmented or divided, I use the term contrapuntal to describe them. Counterpoint, in classical music, refers to pieces crafted from two or more similar melodies interwoven together, and thus is a fitting concept to use in describing Jones’ heroes because her heroes’ selves are all slightly different, yet interdependent, and these characters must integrate their multiple selves to utilize their power fully, and act heroically. I suggest that Jones has crafted an innovative modulation of the traditional hero-type: contrapuntal heroism. I have divided contrapuntal heroism into two clusters, relative and relational. Closely examined, Jones’ heroes all fall into one of these two clusters, though they often contain characteristics of both, as the categories are intertwined. The relative hero is one whose heroic journey is inward as much as outward, centered on the acceptance of his or her own selves, a hero who defeats his or her opponents with wit more often than violence. I have chosen the term “relative” for these heroes, because they are all deemed heroic for acts that, under different circumstances, would not be deemed heroic, or considered exceptional. The relational hero is one whose heroism comes directly from his or her relationships with others. These heroes go through a process of self-discovery just like the relative heroes, but in the central conflict, they must work closely with one or more other relational heroes to defeat the antagonist. The defining characteristic of Jones’ heroes is that they all possess multiple identities or selves, and they must accept and embrace all of these selves in order to be heroic. Jones’ treatment of identity stems from the postmodern concept of the decentered self developed by theorists such as Roland Barthes, who suggests that not only is there no “core self” but that the self, the “I,” is purely a linguistic convention (Barthes 145). Jones’ works, published from 1970 right up until her death in 2011, accept Barthes’ claim in many ways, since her characters, when closely examined, do not have unified, scripted stories and selves. Rather, they have multiple, contrapuntal identities that must be integrated for them to become heroes. This study explores a number of Jones’s notable heroes and villains in order to explain contrapuntal heroism and how it functions in Jones’ works. In the first two chapters, I examine heroes who are deceived about their identity, and heroes who adopt disguises, revealing that it is essential for these characters to embrace all their identities in order to become heroes. Finally, in the third chapter, I examine the relationships between three notable villains and their identities, showing that if characters do the opposite—deny or oppress aspects of their identities—they become the villains rather than heroes. I dissect the construction of her villains in order to further explain her heroes. I argue that, for Jones’ protagonists, the acquisition of agency is directly related to their journeys toward self-acceptance and heroism, and that because Jones writes for children and young adults who are in the midst of their own process of self-discovery, this treatment of identities is meant to suggest to her readers that they must accept their multifaceted, contrapuntal identities in order to become heroes in their own lives.
Open Access
Picturing Wonderland: Filming Fantasy in Adaptations of Carroll's Alice Stories
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2021-05) Polsom, Jonathon Ray; Johnston, Susan; Mather, Philippe; Battis, Jes; Kohit, Franziska
The purpose of this thesis is to provide a corrective to recent approaches to fantasy in adaptation studies that focus on sayable ideas to the detriment of the experience of fantasy as such. A key figure in the definition and exploration of different modes of fantasy is Tzvetan Todorov, and it is via Todorov’s work that I attempt to rethink the study of fantasy in the context not of literature but of cinematic adaptations of literature. Specifically, I use cinematic adaptations of Lewis Carroll’s foundational fantasy novels Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There as a case study in order to examine how different experiences of fantasy, as outlined by Todorov, are adapted into visible form through the art of special effects, emphasizing how different effects techniques lend themselves to the creation of different types of fantasy. In my first chapter, I examine the applicability of Todorov’s theory of the fantastic to Carroll’s Alice stories and its aesthetic connections to the apparatus of cinema. In the second chapter, I utilize the writings of stage magicians Nevil Maskelyne and David Devant alongside the twin principles of simulation and dissimulation, as outlined by Wally Smith, in order to explain how the fantastic can be encoded into cinematic special effects. I then examine how Jan Švankmajer, in his 1988 film Alice, utilizes the effects of puppetry and stop-motion animation in order to create a Wonderland of defamiliarized objects characterized by the Todorovian fantastic. Finally, in the third chapter, I argue that, in his 2010 adaptation of Carroll’s Alice stories, Tim Burton, rather than emphasizing the fantastic as Švankmajer does, instead utilizes CGI’s ability to integrate live-action and animated elements in order to construct a vision of Polsom Wonderland that is characterized by the Todorovian marvellous, transforming Carroll’s Alice stories into a Tolkienian fantasy epic. Burton and Švankmajer’s films represent two distinct approaches to adapting the fantasy elements present in Carroll’s Alice stories, each utilizing different cinematic effects in order to translate the literary experience of fantasy into the aesthetic language of film.
Open Access
The Plastic Castle and Less Obvious Disasters
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2013-06) Wojtowicz, Dorota Vernita; Trussler, Michael; Battis, Jes; Wall, Kathleen; Lynes, Jeanette
This creative project is a manuscript of short fiction works, which explores the style of literary minimalism and its affiliate, ‘dirty realism’. The stories utilize compact sentence structure, the element of exclusion, and compressed meaning to convey their significance. As well, several of the works in the manuscript employ ekphrasis, as a tool to expand and reflect the narrative.
Open Access
Prominent Social Anxieties Adapted: Three Film Adaptations of H.G. Wells’s The Time Machine
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2015-07) Randell, Maxx; Ruddick, Nicholas; Johnston, Susan; Battis, Jes; Mather, Philippe
My thesis is concerned with three different film adaptation of H.G. Wells’s classic novella The Time Machine (1895). These adaptations are George Pal’s feature The Time Machine (1960), Henning Schellerup’s telefilm The Time Machine (1978), and Simon Wells’s Hollywood blockbuster The Time Machine (2002). There are certain elements in the source text that I identify as important that a film should engage with if it is likely to be considered an adaptation of The Time Machine. Absolute fidelity to the source text is not a requirement, I believe, to be an effective adaptation, but adaptations do need to respect the source text, especially an admired classic like The Time Machine. Like The Time Machine itself, each adaptation is a product of the historical context that it was created in. Accordingly, each adaptation, to be effective, should update its characters and plot to engage with a prominent social anxiety that is relevant to its audience at the time of production. Despite this updating, each adaptation should pay respect to the source text, and prior effective adaptations where appropriate. While I conclude that all three adaptations achieve a measure of aesthetic success, this success decreases as we approach the present.
Open Access
The Shift
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2021-07) Stephenson, Coby Dawn; Trussler, Michael; Battis, Jes; Johnston, Susan; Cariou, Warren
The Shift, a novella written in four parts: “Meredith,” “Breckenridge,” “The Letters,” and “Coda” examines the relationship between a mother and her daughter during an eco-apocalypse in Regina, Saskatchewan. This manuscript challenges the traditional conventions of the novella while exploring melancholy, estrangement, solastalgia, aspects of the Anthropocene, and one’s connection to the land. The Shift also examines definitions of dystopian fiction and emotional realism while drawing inspiration from prominent Canadian women writers.
Open Access
The Spaces of Addiction in Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2020-05) Kaus, Destiny Wynnelle; Battis, Jes; Johnston, Susan; Clausson, Nil; Rogers, Randal
My thesis focuses on the role of opium and addiction in Dorian Gray. Opium is present throughout the entire novel, and this particular drug is very significant in Dorian’s life, yet the significance of this drug is often overlooked by critics. Up to this point, the main focus of commentary on Dorian Gray has been about the painting and its supernatural qualities, theatre in late Victorian London, and Dorian’s homoerotic desires. My thesis builds on these current academic contributions by arguing that opium is Dorian’s central addiction in the text, influencing his secondary addictions to aesthetic pleasure and sex and drastically affecting how Dorian relates to other people. These addictions are also connected to unique spaces of addiction: Dorian’s opium addiction connects to the space of the opium den; his addiction to aesthetic pleasure connects to the space of the theatre; and, his sexual addiction connects to the queer spaces in London, such as molly houses. These physical spaces are important to my discussion because they all provide a space that Dorian can escape to so he can indulge in his addictions. Just as his addictions to opium, aesthetic pleasure, and sex allow Dorian to escape from himself, the physical spaces allow him to escape from himself as well; they too act like a drug in this way. Dorian’s opium abuse causes him to filter other pleasures, such as aesthetic pleasure and sexual pleasure through an addictive lens. I show that after Dorian succumbs to Lord Henry’s philosophy of New Hedonism, Dorian’s opium addiction enhances his secondary addictions and causes him to view them as outlets for escape as well. All three kinds of addictions cause Dorian to degenerate morally as they turn from pleasures to pain. To help us gain a fuller perspective on Dorian’s opium addiction and how that particular addiction manifests in the text, I draw on work by Walter Pater, Jacques Derrida, and Sigmund Freud in order to clarify the role of opium in Wilde’s novella. Combining the theories of Pater, Derrida and Freud to analyze this text offers a valuable perspective on Dorian’s character, how his addictions affect his character, and how his addictions affect all of his relations with other people. Pater provides one of the reasons why Dorian chases pleasure through his addictions—to achieve a state of ecstasy where he can escape from himself. We can also understand Dorian’s patterns of addictive behaviour through Derrida’s notion of the pharmakon and Freud’s theory of repetition. Pater adds to this discussion with his philosophy of life and art, which is very similar to Lord Henry’s theory of New Hedonism, and Derrida’s notion of the pharmakon helps us see the two sides—pleasure and pain—that each of Dorian’s addictions includes. With his theory of repetition Freud adds to my discussion as well by giving us a pattern through which we can track and explain Dorian’s own addictive behaviour. I contend that once we grasp the significance of opium in Dorian’s life, we have a lens by which to view the importance of aesthetic pleasure and sexuality in his life as well.
Open Access
The many worlds of Liz Jordan
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2023-08) Duffield, Emily Jane; Battis, Jes; Riegel, Christian; McDougall, Aislinn; Pohl-Weary, Emily
My creative thesis, The Many Worlds of Liz Jordan, is an urban-portal fantasy about authors who travel to secondary worlds , experience stories 1 first-hand, and only then write them up as “fiction.” The work is influenced by a number of writers, such as Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, and James Riley. Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels influenced my world’s overall tone. The boundaries of his creation allow for incredible adventures but promise an ultimately hopeful conclusion and outlook, and I have attempted to do the same here. As a sensitive reader myself, it is important that Liz Jordan’s world not betray my own sensibilities. The Many Worlds of Liz Jordan is a story about stories, both their origins and their ultimate purpose. Fresh from the defiant optimism of a graduate degree, the titular character is offered a paid internship as a writer. Only then is she told that professional authors no longer make up “fiction.” The artistic process is all but dead, replaced with first-hand experiences to streamline the commodification of the written word. New York City is the urban heart of Liz’s story, chosen for its publishing history and formidable subway system. From the hustle culture of Manhattan, Liz is assigned to the south of England in World War II and finds herself completely immersed in its reality. There she questions the boundaries of reality and fiction while coming to grips with her own mortality and influence in these literary spaces.
Open Access
University of Regina Community Authors 2014-2015
(University of Regina Library, 2015) Aluma, Ponziano; Blake, Raymond; Bowman, Donna; Carlson Berg, Laurie; DeCoste, D. Marcel; van Eijk, Jan; Elliott, Patricia W.; Hepting, Daryl H.; Garneau, David; Yeh, Clement; Hilabold, Jean R. (pen name: Jean Roberta); Hill, Gerald; Jeffery, Bonnie; Johnston, Susan; Battis, Jes; Lankauskas, Gediminas; MacDonald, Alex; Marchildon, Gregory P.; Anderson, Carl; Kubik, Wendee; McFadzean, Cassidy; McNeil, Barbara; Nolan, Kathleen T.; Önder, Nilgün; Petty, Sheila; Polster, Claire; Pridmore, Helen; Purdham, Medrie; Trussler, Michael; Qu, Amy; Ramsay, Christine; Rogers, Randal; Ratt, Solomon; Rheault, Sylvain; Stevens, Andrew; Szabados, Bela