EXAMINING THE VALUE OF FICTOCRITICISM

THE MEANDERING NARRATIVES OF A CREATIVE WRITING PHD STUDENT

Abstract

This article reflects on the construction of a doctoral project relating to the ‘self’, with attempts made to contextualise the author’s work in the vein of autobiographical writing. The methodology of fictocriticism is implemented into the paper in an attempt to contribute to knowledge within the discipline, both via the inclusion of original creative writing pieces and a revisiting of the usefulness of fictocriticism as a creative writing strategy. A brief overview of fictocriticism is given also. This paper questions if fictocriticism can be innovated on, and contends there is a paradox between the theory surrounding fictocriticism suggesting how ‘freeform’ it is, and how non-freeform it still seems to be due to its lack of theoretical boundaries. The theme of journeys is used as a strategy to convey the methodology of fictocriticism overall, as an untapped way of writing both personally and theoretically, with a unified and engaging ‘double-voice’. Attempts at pushing the threshold and parameters, in differing experimental creative works, advocate for what fictocriticism could be, and if it can be reinvented or innovated on, into something more stable, yet still evolve into a mode of writing that is engaging, identifiable and prominent within the academy.