Water, Mud, Ink, Blood

Date of Award

5-2026

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

English

First Advisor

Thisbe Nissen, M.F.A.

Second Advisor

Alen Hamza, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Shonda Buchanan, M.F.A.

Fourth Advisor

Sakinah Hofler, Ph.D.

Keywords

Fabulism, fiction, horror, short story

Abstract

Water, Mud, Ink, Blood is a dark fabulist short story collection. Themes under examination through the stories in the collection are diaspora, Islamophobia, migration, mixedrace identity, mental illness as disability, aging, gender dynamics, and violence against women. Each of the stories in the collection contains imagery associated with four elements of creation (water, mud, ink, and blood). The ethical positioning of the point-of-view characters in these stories is dubious, with many falling in a moral gray area. This story collection uses craft strategies such as slipstream, stream-of-consciousness, and second-person point-of-view to instill a sense of discomfort and complicity in the reader.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Abstract Only

Restricted to Campus until

5-1-2036

This document is currently not available here.

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