Author: Sharyn Kaesehagen
Kaesehagen, Sharyn, 2018 To be fully herself: Autobiographies of Trauma, Flow, and Resilience in Knitting Literature (Knit Lit), Flinders University, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
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Knit Lit Autobiographies of trauma, flow, and resilience are categorised as nonfiction knitting literature: a field dominated by US author/knitters. While knitting literature is a valuable resource for interdisciplinary knitting scholarship, it is often absent as an inquiry subject. This thesis seeks to address this gap.
In this creative doctoral thesis, as an original contribution to knowledge, the critical exegesis defines autobiographical Knit Lit situating it within the broader context of autobiography, and further asks the question: Do these Knit Lit autobiographies—from 1998 to 2017—position knitting as a source of flow that acts as a positive catalyst for the growth of resilience after traumatic events?
As a result of practice-led research the project includes ‘To be fully herself’, an original creative writing manuscript—a South Australian Knit Lit memoir of posttraumatic growth after multiple adverse experiences, including childhood trauma in the 1950s. The memoir gains texture from immersion research of knitting traditions. The choice of Norway as a site of inquiry was inspired by a Norwegian folk tale’s characters that were imaginary companions in childhood. Ethics-approved research trips and interviews to England, Scotland, including The Shetland Islands, and Ireland, especially The Aran Islands, inform the project.
Collectively, the study finds that the majority of these autobiographies do position knitting, in part, as a source of flow that acts as a positive catalyst for the growth of resilience after traumatic events. It offers literary evidence of therapeutic benefit from knitting to the field of interdisciplinary research, and presents models of the process.
Keywords: Practice-led research, autobiography, trauma, flow, resilience, knitting, knitting history, knitting literature, Knit Lit, childhood sexual abuse, disability, PTSD, therapy, healing, posttraumatic growth, transformation, journey, creative writing, creative nonfiction, autobiography, memoir, life writing, lyric essay, South Australia, ANZAC, Norway, England, Scotland, Fair Isle, Oliver Henry, fair isle knitting, lace knitting, Ireland, Jean Moss, Aran Islands, aran knitting, Beatrix Potter, Betty Mouat, Mary Queen of Scots, Frida Kahlo, Joice Nankivell Lock, Susan Gordon Lydon, Bernadette Murphy, Perri Klass, Ann Hood, Annie Modesitt, Adrienne Martini, Kyoko Mori, Leslie Moise, Rachel Herron, Lee Gant
Subject: Creative Arts thesis
Thesis type: Doctor of Philosophy
Completed: 2018
School: College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Supervisor: Professor Kate Douglas