Date of Award
2014
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Bucak, Ayse Papatya
Abstract
Inspired by the baroque prose of Melissa Pritchard, The Animalcules of Adam: & Other Small Tales is a genre-bending short story collection that incorporates elements of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and translation. Spanning in subject and setting, from the primitive bear rituals of Finland to the coroner’s inquests of 19th century England, the purpose of this thesis project is to develop a uniquely immersive voice, while ostensibly investigating the origins of curious inventions, including the microscope, the kaleidoscope, and the first English dictionary. This collection borrows from, and deliberately manipulates, the texts of important historical figures, such as Walt Whitman, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek and Robert Cawdrey, in an effort to make a home in the voice of another. It is a playful and linguistically sensitive study of the nature of invention; a meta-fictional commentary on the anxiety (and ecstasy) of influence; and above all else, a celebration of the written word.
Extent
121 p.
Recommended Citation
von, Kursell Mikaela, "The animalcules of Adam: & other small tales" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019. 1106.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_6/1106
Identifier
FA00004170
Comments
Includes bibliography.|Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014..|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.