Back to Normal: A study of recovery narratives

This project explores the "recovery narrative" within anglophone writing through a creative piece of nonfiction, as well as a critical reading of contemporary "illness memoirs". Representations of recovery in literature largely follow a particular, teleological, narrative arc. My research investigates the implications of using this form, the ways in which it perpetuates preconceived notions of recovery, and what alternative narratives might be available. Within the critical component, I will study creative-critical texts by Anne Boyer, Jenn Ashworth, Alice Hattrick, Kate Zambreno and Johanna Hedva, examining how recovery is portrayed through non-linear forms. The creative project will take inspiration from these alternative texts by being similarly formally inventive, focusing on my experience with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I will write a fragmentary illness memoir that incorporates a variety of narrative modes, thus questioning the concept of linear recovery.