Upwelling

Abstract

My thesis consists of the first three chapters of Upwelling, a literary fantasy novel examining the intersection of relationships, power, and storytelling through the narrative of a mermaid coming to live on land. The manuscript is a contested document; three narrators each present versions of the central story and, to varying extents, comment on each other’s interpretations. These early chapters primarily recount the mermaid protagonist’s background and the formation of her relationships, both in the sea with fellow merfolk and on land with two humans. However, the other narrators influence her story through the inclusion of translator’s notes and footnotes, which indicate their divergent goals. While the “translator” exoticizes and personalizes the protagonist’s narrative as he pursues a romantic relationship, the editor in the footnotes seeks to contextualize the protagonist’s experiences to promote a more nuanced picture of her friend. In Upwelling, control over one’s own story is connected to personal agency and empowerment, which manifests not only in the narrators’ contestations and collaborations, but also in the world surrounding these characters: which family histories are valued and which ones disappear, which romances are valorized and which ones are silenced, which marginalized groups give testimony and which ones are condemned to archival silence.