Semester of Graduation
Summer 2018
Degree
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
Department
English
Document Type
Thesis
Abstract
Rapunzel Has Insomnia is part story collection, part fairy tale vignette, and part personal memoir, dealing with themes of mental illness and inheritance, the complexity of mother daughter relationships, and childhood trauma. Similar to the structure of a novelin-- stories, Rap unzel ’s connective tissue is made up of memoir, specifically dealing with the aftereffects of my mother’s Bipolar One disorder and subsequent psychiatric commitments throughout my childhood and young adult years. The other more peripheral narratives are magicalrealist in nature, which are made up of fabulist fiction stories. Both of these narratives are then tied to an over arching theme of “the fairy tale”, where tropes are subverted and the nature of reality is questioned. In essence, Rapunzel is a love letter to madness, my mother, and my own struggle with inheriting both my love and affinity for writing as well as mental illness from her, respectively. iii
Date
7-13-2018
Recommended Citation
Sellers, Mary Buchanan, "Rapunzel Has Insomnia: Stories" (2018). LSU Master's Theses. 4778.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/4778
Committee Chair
Davis, Jennifer
DOI
10.31390/gradschool_theses.4778