Academia Letters Papers (Peer Reviewed) by Ross Turner
Academia Letters, 2021
Lakoff and Johnson (2003, pp. 3-6) discuss the use of metaphor to represent conceptual systems, a... more Lakoff and Johnson (2003, pp. 3-6) discuss the use of metaphor to represent conceptual systems, and Grady (2005, pp. 1595-1614) discusses metaphoric blends, and how conceptual integration 'seeks to unify an extremely broad variety of conceptual phenomena', treating them as the products of closely related cognitive processes. The Network Model superimposes ideas in conceptual packets called 'mental spaces', which are 'connected to long-term schematic knowledge called "frames"' (Fauconnier & Turner, 2003, p. 40). As discussed by Fauconnier & Turner (2003, pp. 39-50), the model allows cross space mapping of these input mental spaces to connect counterparts, which leads to a 'generic space' containing what the two inputs have in common. Then, projection into the fourth mental space, the 'blend space', allows mapping of both individual input and generic input components, which produces 'emergent structure'. This enables the integration of input element components, which reveals relations not explicit in the separate inputs. Completion using additional structure, which allows reverse-mapping into input spaces, then yields previously unseen connections across mental spaces-what Fauconnier & Turner (2003, p. 44) call a 'flash of comprehension'. Whilst this serves to analyse metaphorical concepts with two input mental spaces, as examined by Brandt and Brandt (2005, pp. 216-249), Turner and Fauconnier (1995, pp. 183-204) further pursue conceptual blending in the 'many-space' model, examining multiple areas of cognition and action. It could also be argued that four independent cognitive spaces cause unnecessary ambiguity (Ritchie, 2004, pp. 31-50). Brandt and Brandt (2002, cited in Coulson & Oakley, 2005, pp. 1510-1536) argue that 'semiotic space' should be a compulsory rather than optional element of the blending model, which would better allow the marking of sign processes, encompassed within the situational relevance of the phenoworld (the world in
Dissertations by Ross Turner
The Berlin Division, 2022
The Berlin Division is a fragmented or composite novelette, operating in very specific ways in an... more The Berlin Division is a fragmented or composite novelette, operating in very specific ways in an attempt to strike through the definitional quagmire surrounding short story cycles, sequences, composites, and myriad of other seemingly synonymous terms. The piece connects multiple characters through their esoteric world, creating a coherent whole from multiple, fragmented perspectives, but presents what could be considered a false unity – an element perhaps unique to this genre. The reflective critical understanding explores the working
definitions (in all their complexity) of the genre, and unpicks The Berlin Division’s stitches, discussing elements such as false unity, some more technical limitations of point of view, how the story’s fragmentary nature affects its own circularity, and how specific themes emerged through my style of writing.
Undergraduate Dissertation, 2020
Stereotypes and archetypes are easily recognisable in fantasy fiction; ‘The Guąrdian Chronicles’ ... more Stereotypes and archetypes are easily recognisable in fantasy fiction; ‘The Guąrdian Chronicles’ is an original, stereotypical opening to a fantasy fiction novel, and ‘Snake Charmer’ is a contemporary version of the same opening. A critical commentary is provided throughout both openings, remarking on how, and to what effect, fantasy stereotypes, archetypes and tropes have been utilised and altered. It also reflects on the use of those devices within the wider fantasy genre, highlighting pitfalls and notable exceptions found within the canon. The reflective critical understanding explores the working definition and purpose of the genre, and its most critical element of all: maps. It draws conclusions about archetypes as the main components of the fantasy genre, stereotypes as the result of lazy thinking, and the varying uses of fantasy fiction as a critical, allegorical tool.
Popular Culture by Ross Turner
Write Stories with Depth using Motifs - Considering Annie Proulx's 'Brokeback Mountain', 2023
Writers could learn an awful lot from Annie Proulx's expert use of motifs in perhaps her most fam... more Writers could learn an awful lot from Annie Proulx's expert use of motifs in perhaps her most famous work, 'Brokeback Mountain'. This series of three informal essays analyses 'Brokeback Mountain', considering Proulx's use of physical and abstract motifs, and landscape as motif. The essays also offer insights into how the reader might apply some of the techniques Proulx utilises in different ways in their own prose.
Choose-Your-Own Popular Culture Essay, 2022
This essay explores a fictional lockdown scenario, based on that of the Covid-19 lockdown procedu... more This essay explores a fictional lockdown scenario, based on that of the Covid-19 lockdown procedures, taking the reader on a choose-your-own-adventure style journey wherein they can experience an academic version of lockdown life. Like the popular, 1980s, choose-your-own-adventure books, this essay can be read entirely non-chronologically, allowing the reader to choose their own path, and reach one of two conclusions.
Mapping out Fantasy: A Genre Study, 2021
The fantasy genre is easily recognisable, but not easily definable. Nonetheless, it is an essenti... more The fantasy genre is easily recognisable, but not easily definable. Nonetheless, it is an essential part of our lives, able to 'show us things we have seen so many times that we never see them at all, for the very first time'. I propose that, in the simplest terms, maps make fantasy – despite whether they are explicitly drawn or implicitly described or imagined – in a world that is so difficult to write about, engage with, and provide commentary on.
I took a keen interest in studying fantasy as an undergraduate student, and have condensed some of my ideas from my undergraduate dissertation into this essay. There is a lot here that might benefit from further research and, now that I have the time, I am eager to continue to develop my ideas.
A discussion of Angie Thomas's 'The Hate U Give', exploring how it uses an inciting incident and its consequent aftermath to comment on police brutality in relation to race, whilst failing to address underlying issues of gun culture in the current American climate, compared to in other countries, 2019
Firearms are so ingrained in American culture that, following the inciting shooting in Thomas’s '... more Firearms are so ingrained in American culture that, following the inciting shooting in Thomas’s 'The Hate U Give', the only unquestioned element is the weapon itself. Thomas places great emphasis on officer Cruise’s actions being excessive, unjustified, and driven entirely by race-prejudice; but perhaps she does not delve deeply enough into the matter at hand, and instead focuses solely on other elements of social culture, whilst ignoring deep-seated gun culture issues within America.
A discussion of the methods employed by Neill Blomkamp's 'District 9', suggesting our species is philosophically anti-human in nature, 2017
The methods employed by 'District 9' suggest our species is largely anti-post-human in nature. Vi... more The methods employed by 'District 9' suggest our species is largely anti-post-human in nature. Violent and immoral philosophies are adopted towards non-humans. These actions are callously undertaken on the basis of mundane, pointless premises, mimicking attitudes of the racist Apartheid system in South Africa. It is possible that the fundamental nature of human beings will never change, and will remain, as District 9 suggests, anti-post-human and therefore philosophically anti-human in nature. But as our species continues to evolve, becoming ever more post-humanistic, as is highlighted by Blomkamp’s work, this way of thinking will surely clash with our natural progression.
A discussion of the Portrayal of Vikings in Bernard Cornwell's 'The Last Kingdom', and how Cornwell reflects contemporary popular culture’s opinions of Viking culture compared to our own, 2020
Contemporary popular culture’s misconstrued, romanticised views of Vikings seem almost to have be... more Contemporary popular culture’s misconstrued, romanticised views of Vikings seem almost to have become accepted as truth but, even if, at first glance, 'The Last Kingdom' seems only to mirror contemporary popular culture’s opinions of Viking culture, the methods Cornwell employs to reveal his true, underlying meaning overlap like a shield wall; his exciting, romanticised cover of Viking barbarism reflects contemporary popular culture opinions, but is merely a tool he employs to drive his commentary.
Short Stories and Short Story Cycles by Ross Turner
Yoko Ogawa’s Revenge and Interconnected Circularity in Short Story Cycles, 2023
There is ongoing disorientation as to what a short story cycle actually is, and what makes it dif... more There is ongoing disorientation as to what a short story cycle actually is, and what makes it different to a short story sequence, composite, collection, or different again from a composite, fragmented, polyphonic, or networked novel, or even from a novel-in-stories, or anti-sequence. Yoko Ogawa’s (2014) Revenge captures truths about the human condition and provides interlinked short stories that modify the reader’s experience of every other story. Yet, Revenge seems to go further, providing the reader with something more; the work’s interconnected circularity has a striking effect on the reader, perhaps suggesting that all cycles, sequences, composites, etc, whilst synonymous, are not equal.
Creativity by Ross Turner
'Art is Limitation; The Essence of Every Picture is the Frame', 2022
Creativity is a broad, multi-faceted topic, containing many theories, and much discussion of limi... more Creativity is a broad, multi-faceted topic, containing many theories, and much discussion of limitations and boundaries, but perhaps creativity's future lies within those environmental constraints (with 'environments' taking on many labyrinthine forms). If, as Chesterton (2005) suggests, ‘the essence of every picture is the frame’, it seems there are many ways individuals’ and organisations’ creative environments could enhance creativity. Some of these creativity-enhancing elements are already in place, such as specific types of conflict and styles of leadership, but others seem to be lagging – if traditional environments cannot evolve, and seamlessly incorporate new technological innovations into organisations (from grassroots level upwards), future innovation will surely suffer.
Autoethnography by Ross Turner
The Value of Experience, 2021
This autoethnographic essay discusses my own experiences and understanding of internships within ... more This autoethnographic essay discusses my own experiences and understanding of internships within the Creative Industries. I find myself in the fortunate position to not be seeking an internship, but instead to be offering one, through my own Creative Industries endeavour, a short story literary journal.
Teaching & Learning by Ross Turner
Creative Writing Cannot be Taught but it Can be Learned – Creative Writing in Higher Education, 2022
The University of Iowa’s graduate Writers’ Workshop is ‘often considered the best MFA program in ... more The University of Iowa’s graduate Writers’ Workshop is ‘often considered the best MFA program in the country’ (Heimbach, 2021). However, despite Iowa providing the ‘founding model’ (Wandor, 2012, p. 51) for creative writing study, Menand (2009) discusses the premise’s scepticism, ‘that creative writing is something that can be taught’, and quotes the school themselves: ‘the fact that the Workshop can claim as alumni nationally and internationally prominent poets, novelists, and short story writers is, we believe, more the result of what they brought here than of what they gained from us’ (The University of Iowa, 2022). It is also interesting to consider how, as Laurillard (2012) discusses, for many years the university teaching pedagogy had been that of ‘imparting knowledge’, which ‘has usually been only a partially successful teaching activity’ (p. 11). If research is the ‘careful study of a subject, especially in order to discover new facts or information about it’ (Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, 2022), then creative writing students in higher education might learn as much, if not more, from their own research, as from lecturers/tutors.
Poetics by Ross Turner
An analysis of Ted Hughes's 'The Thought-Fox' using Conceptual Integration Theory (Blending), 2020
An analysis of Ted Hughes's ‘The Thought-Fox’ using the Network Model to show how a fox is used a... more An analysis of Ted Hughes's ‘The Thought-Fox’ using the Network Model to show how a fox is used as a concrete metaphor to represent a poem, and even the more abstract process of thought.
Uploads
Academia Letters Papers (Peer Reviewed) by Ross Turner
Dissertations by Ross Turner
definitions (in all their complexity) of the genre, and unpicks The Berlin Division’s stitches, discussing elements such as false unity, some more technical limitations of point of view, how the story’s fragmentary nature affects its own circularity, and how specific themes emerged through my style of writing.
Popular Culture by Ross Turner
I took a keen interest in studying fantasy as an undergraduate student, and have condensed some of my ideas from my undergraduate dissertation into this essay. There is a lot here that might benefit from further research and, now that I have the time, I am eager to continue to develop my ideas.
Short Stories and Short Story Cycles by Ross Turner
Creativity by Ross Turner
Autoethnography by Ross Turner
Teaching & Learning by Ross Turner
Poetics by Ross Turner
definitions (in all their complexity) of the genre, and unpicks The Berlin Division’s stitches, discussing elements such as false unity, some more technical limitations of point of view, how the story’s fragmentary nature affects its own circularity, and how specific themes emerged through my style of writing.
I took a keen interest in studying fantasy as an undergraduate student, and have condensed some of my ideas from my undergraduate dissertation into this essay. There is a lot here that might benefit from further research and, now that I have the time, I am eager to continue to develop my ideas.