This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine

Flanagan, N; Joseph, S

This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine

Flanagan, N Joseph, S

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Publisher:: ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: New Writing, 2025, 22, (2), pp. 199-214
Issue Date:: 2025-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Flanagan, N
dc.contributor.author	Joseph, S https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4978-6633
dc.date.accessioned	2025-08-06T04:08:22Z
dc.date.available	2025-08-06T04:08:22Z
dc.date.issued	2025-01-01
dc.identifier.citation	New Writing, 2025, 22, (2), pp. 199-214
dc.identifier.issn	1479-0726
dc.identifier.issn	1943-3107
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/189176
dc.description.abstract	This paper is co-authored by a Ph.D. candidate and one of his supervisors. While the narrative belongs to the candidate, the co-authorship is an exercise in understanding the extent of his creative work towards further healing–or further traumatisation–through trauma-informed pedagogy narrative inquiry. It examines the conscious and unconscious processes that informed the creation of the screenplay, Burning Time, and the candidate’s Ph.D. TV series, Say When, evaluating their therapeutic properties and power, drawing on scholar Jill Littrell’s 2009 foundational research. It charts the journey of Burning Time–a personal story of child sexual abuse and parental neglect–from its inception as a play, and then its evolving incarnation into a screenplay on its way to production across a 30-year period. It also examines the analogous drivers underpinning the candidate’s writing of his TV series Say When, set within Alcoholics Anonymous. These works are the nexus of rendering trauma to create and writing to heal, framed by autoethnography. Through narrative inquiry of 12 semi-structured questions as elements of trauma-informed pedagogy, the supervisor explores with the candidate the effect the undertaking of his Ph.D. and professional writing has had on his sense of self and mental wellness.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
dc.relation.ispartof	New Writing
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/14790726.2025.2455704
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy, 1904 Performing Arts and Creative Writing, 2005 Literary Studies
dc.subject.classification	3602 Creative and professional writing
dc.subject.classification	3901 Curriculum and pedagogy
dc.subject.classification	4705 Literary studies
dc.title	This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	22
utslib.for	1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy
utslib.for	1904 Performing Arts and Creative Writing
utslib.for	2005 Literary Studies
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/School of Communication
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design and Society
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design and Society/School of Communication
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2025-08-06T04:08:20Z
pubs.issue	2
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	22
utslib.citation.issue	2

Abstract:

This paper is co-authored by a Ph.D. candidate and one of his supervisors. While the narrative belongs to the candidate, the co-authorship is an exercise in understanding the extent of his creative work towards further healing–or further traumatisation–through trauma-informed pedagogy narrative inquiry. It examines the conscious and unconscious processes that informed the creation of the screenplay, Burning Time, and the candidate’s Ph.D. TV series, Say When, evaluating their therapeutic properties and power, drawing on scholar Jill Littrell’s 2009 foundational research. It charts the journey of Burning Time–a personal story of child sexual abuse and parental neglect–from its inception as a play, and then its evolving incarnation into a screenplay on its way to production across a 30-year period. It also examines the analogous drivers underpinning the candidate’s writing of his TV series Say When, set within Alcoholics Anonymous. These works are the nexus of rendering trauma to create and writing to heal, framed by autoethnography. Through narrative inquiry of 12 semi-structured questions as elements of trauma-informed pedagogy, the supervisor explores with the candidate the effect the undertaking of his Ph.D. and professional writing has had on his sense of self and mental wellness.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/189176