Date of Award
7-7-2020
Publication Type
Master Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
English Language, Literature, and Creative Writing
Supervisor
Nicole Markotic
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Beehive and Icci is a novel chronicling the adventures of its titular animal protagonists. The novel focuses on the characters of Beehive, an anxious bear, and Icci, a sociable bird, throughout their travels within a forest of anthropomorphized animals. This animal narrative is framed by the story of its fictional author, Wilhelm of Aurgarten, whose own eccentricities influence the shape of Beehive and Icci’s goals and inner conflicts. The story of the author is communicated through occasional footnotes, which serve as either informative or humorous anecdotes surrounding the novel’s writing process. Beehive and Icci — and, by extension, Wilhelm and his adopted niece, Mariena — explore questions regarding the value of life, how authority, social norms, and mental illness construct identity, and what it means to be a “person,” regardless of humanity or animality. By exploring human issues through animal characters, Beehive and Icci blurs the boundaries between how we perceive ourselves and others.
Recommended Citation
Charlton, Nicolas, "Beehive and Icci" (2020). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 8352.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/8352