E-Thesis 214 views
The Crow: How trauma and grief can be processed through the medium of storytelling / RACHAEL SANDIFER-SMITH
Swansea University Author: RACHAEL SANDIFER-SMITH
DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.69852
Abstract
In The Crow: How trauma and grief can be processed through the medium of storytelling, I interrogate how suicide and suicide loss is presented in YA and Middle-Grade literature, with a focus on how grief and trauma can be processed and understood through a medium of fairy tales and storytelling. The...
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Swansea, Wales, UK
2025
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| Institution: | Swansea University |
| Degree level: | Doctoral |
| Degree name: | Ph.D |
| Supervisor: | Bilton, Alan ; Kohlke, Mel |
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69852 |
| Abstract: |
In The Crow: How trauma and grief can be processed through the medium of storytelling, I interrogate how suicide and suicide loss is presented in YA and Middle-Grade literature, with a focus on how grief and trauma can be processed and understood through a medium of fairy tales and storytelling. The novel concerns Emyr, am eleven year-old boy who leaves the regular world and enters Esrever, a magical otherworld. In his travels through this other plane, he is guided by an anthropomorphic crow, in search of Aeris, a demon who greatly resembles Emyr. The critical essay explores the history and cultural influences of fairy tales, with a particular stress on the form as a didactic, ethical tool for children. It also discusses the theme of suicide in young people’s fiction, and the importance of avoiding any elements that could be seen as inflammatory or offensive. |
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| Keywords: |
family, suicide, storytelling, fiction, folklore, mythology |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |