Part
I of “Peake in Print”
Dissertations and theses on Mervyn Peake
When complete, each item is formatted as follows: writer’s name; title of dissertation; degree awarded; institution [the country is Great Britain unless otherwise indicated]; date of completion/acceptance; length (typed pages or, for essays, number of words); where a summary can be found (e.g. in Dissertation Abstracts Index (DAI) or some other publication, such as the Mervyn Peake Review (MPR)); and a line or two of further explanatory information when available. For other abbreviations, see the separate list.
This listing is not complete, I am sure. If your dissertation or thesis is not here, please send me details, formatted as above. Many thanks. GPW
- Marleen
Naudts
- Nature in TG by MP. Licentiaat (i.e. BA), Louvain, Belgium, 1972. 69p.
- Edmond
Nys
- Aspects of space in TG. Licentiaat (i.e. BA), Louvain, Belgium, 1972. 101p.
- Joseph
Lee Sanders
- Fantasy
in the 20th century British novel. Ph.D., Indiana University, USA, 1972. 253p.
On Tolkien, Golding, and MP. Chap.4, pp.182-233, is devoted to Peake. Abstracted in DAI.
- Rosemarie
Tindemans
- TG: an evolution towards maturity. Licentiaat (i.e. MA), Louvain, Belgium, 1972. 66p.
- J.
G. D. Blakely
- Fantasy
in British fiction: 1930-1960. MA, Manchester, 1973.
On C. S. Lewis, Tolkien, and Peake.
- Sally
Jacquelin
- The theme of eccentricity in the Gormenghast novels of MP. Maîtrise (MA), Paris, France, 1973. 92p.
- Raymond
William Thomas Miller
-
Journey through Gormenghast: a study of MP’s trilogy. MA, Memorial University
of Newfoundland, Canada, 1974. 162p.
Summarized in MPR 1:23–24.
- Laurence
Bristow-Smith
- Isolation
as theme and device in the Gormenghast Trilogy of MP. BA, Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
1975. 120p.
Summarized in MPR 4:37.
- Bruce
U. Hunt
- Vast
alchemies: form and meaning in MP’s trilogy. MA, Calgary, Canada, 1975. 151p.
Summarized in MPR 3:33.
- Stacey
Schlau
- Modern
romance: a study of techniques and themes. Ph.D., City University of New York,
USA, 1975. 245p.
On William Morris, Lord Dunsany, Tolkien, and Peake. Abstracted in DAI.
- Colin
Greenland
- Titus
unbound. BA, Pembroke College, Oxford, 1976.
Summarized in MPR 4:38.
- Emil
Karafiat
- The
ritual system and the principle of ritual in MP’s Titus books. Lizentiat
(i.e. BA), Zurich, Switzerland, 1977. 85p.
Summarized in MPR 4:38.
- Desmond
Mason
- For
everything comes to Gormenghast. MA, Leicester, 1977.
Summarized in MPR 5:41.
- Richard
Sisson
- MP’s
artistic outlook as particularly exemplified by his poetry. MA (Part 1), Christ’s
College, Cambridge. 1977.
Summarized in MPR 5:41.
- Ingrid
Waterhouse
- The
moral vision of MP. MA, University College of North Wales, 1977. 81p.
Summarized in MPR 5:42.
- Fiona
Bateman
- Fantasy and reality in the imaginative worlds of Gormenghast and Arcturus. BA, Sterling, Scotland, 1979.
- Rosa
Gonzalez
- Aspects of MP’s literary work. Ph.D., Barcelona, Spain, 1979. In Spanish.
- D[avid]
C. Sutton
- Mythological
writing in the modern novel. Ph.D., Polytechnic of Central London, 1979.
On Beckett, Peake and Durrell. Summarized in MPR 5:41–2.
- Laurence
Bristow-Smith
- A
critical study of the novels of MP. Ph.D., Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1980. 334p.
Summarized in MPR 11:47.
- Elizabeth
Shaw
- Gormenghast:
a world of words. BA Hons (Part II), Trinity Hall, Cambridge. 1980. 23p.
Mentioned in MPR 11:47.
- Pamela
Simpkin
-
Isolation in TG and G. BA (Hons) in librarianship, City of Birmingham Polytechnic,
1980.
Mentioned in MPR 11:47.
- Sabbar
S. Sultan
- MP: a critical study of his novels. M.Phil., Glasgow, Scotland, 1980.
- Beverley
M. M. Waring
- The
works of MP. B.Ed. (Hons), Bretton Hall College, Yorkshire. 1980. 6–7000
words.
Noticed in MPR 11:47.
- Lesley
Marx
- The dark circus: an examination of the work of MP. MA thesis, Cape Town, S. Africa, 1983. 290p.
- Margaret
Ochocki
- A visual and verbal examination of the creative role of childhood within the works of selected artists and writers. M.Phil., Sunderland Polytechnic. Submitted February 1983; accepted December 1984.
- Gary
Collins
- Manifestations
of evil in man and society, as portrayed in MP’s Titus novels. BA, Rolle
College, Exmouth, 1984.
Summarized in MPR 18:48.
- Frances
Fowle
- Subversive
elements in MP’s Titus books and Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and
Margarita. M.Sc. in comparative and general literature, Edinburgh, 1984. 50p.
Mentioned in MPR 18:48.
- Iain
G. Beaton
- The
vision of Gormenghast: an examination of six illustrators and their illustrations
for the Titus books by MP. MA, St. David’s University College, Wales, 1984.
60p.
The basis for his article in MPR 20.
- James
van den Heever
- A
critical study of MP’s novels in a literary context. M.Litt., Merton College,
Oxford, 1984. 179p.
Summarized in MPR 18:47.
- Elzbieta
Pustulka
- MP’s stories as an example of fantastic fiction. MA, Jagiellonian University of Cracow, Poland, 1984. 117p.
- Elizabeth
Huyck
- “While the Gods laugh”: the Titus books of MP. Honors paper. Mount Holyoke College, USA, 1986. 155p (appendices, 156–220).
- Sally
Jacquelin
- La trilogie de MP dans la tradition du “romance” anglais. Thèse d’Etat (i.e. Ph.D. thesis), Paris 8, Nanterre, France, 1986. 725p. In French.
- Tanya Gardiner-Scott
- MP: the
evolution of a dark romantic. Ph.D., Toronto, Canada, 1986. 421p.
Revised as a book, title unchanged, published in 1989 by Peter Lang, New York, in their series of American University Studies.
- Richard
Harman
- Characteristics
of MP’s illustrations to classic literature. MA, St David’s University
College, Wales, 1987.
Explores sequence, point-of-view, subject-matter, and narrative in MP’s illustrations, noting his creation of fantasy-characters and the relation of his technique to British music-hall and cinema conventions.
- Georgina
Warden
- The razor’s edge between passion and intellect: a critical study of the relationship between the literary technique of MP and his art in the Titus novels. Durham, 1988. 40p.
- Christopher
Walmsley
- [title not known] Manchester, 1989? 60p.
- Robert
Copp
- Secret gods: epic revelations of the aesthetic imagination. An investigation into the epic and the novel as exemplified by MP’s postmodern “pantechnicon”, TG, G, and TA. MA Canada, 1989 or 1990.
- Guy
Garnett
- Aspects of MP’s Titus stories, TG, G, & TA, related to the romantic tradition. BA (Hons), Manchester, March 1991. 15,000 words.
- Violetta
Risi
- La Gormenghast Trilogy di MP. Equivalent to BA, “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy, 1991. 195p. In Italian.
- Ann
Yeoman
- The Titus books: archetype and image in MP’s narrative of the fantastic. Ph.D. University of York, Toronto, Canada, 1991. 322p.
- Rod
Chamberlain
- The illustrated writings of MP. BA Hons in Fine Art (sculpture), Staffordshire Polytechnic, 1992.
- Luisella
Ciambezi
- Viaggio a Gormenghast: la fantasy nella trilogia di MP. equivalent to BA, Bologna, Italy, 1992. 91p plus bibliography. In Italian.
- Dominic
Pettman
- “Climates
of the Mind”: the post-modern poetics of MP. MA, Melbourne University, Australia,
1992. 15p, plus bibliography and notes.
Situates MP’s Titus books as post-modern meta-Gothic, a sub-genre of fantasy, using reason and unreason as the main analytical thread.
- Miles
Fielder
- From
a problematics towards a poetics of Peake. MA, University of Central Lancashire,
1993. 44p, plus bibliography.
The essence is contained in the article of the same title in PS, Vol.4, No.2, Spring 1995.
- Mark
McGuinness
- The
vision of MP. BA, Brasenose College, Oxford, 1992. 6000 words.
Printed, almost complete, in Peake Papers I, pp.83–95 (F8).
- Sophie
Aymès
-
Architecture et écriture dans Gormenghast. DEA, Paris, France, 1994. 117p plus
bibliography. In French.
Summarized in PS 4:ii, Spring 1995.
- Rosemarie
Diplock
- The
treatment of alienation in selected works by MP. BA Hons, Brunel University College,
London, 1994. 72p plus bibliography.
Summarized in PS 4:ii, Spring 1995.
- M
J Clulee
- The opposing fantasy worlds of Tolkien and MP: a critical study of The Lord of the Rings and the Gormenghast books. MA, Newcastle, 1995. c.12,000 words.
- Rob
Hindle
- The
Titus novels of MP. A critical and contextual study. Ph.D., Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
1996, 305p + bibliography.
Access currently restricted awaiting eventual publication.
- David
Dalgleish
- The
dynamics of terror: the grotesque character of gothic fiction. MA, Concordia,
Montreal, Canada, April 1997. 100p plus bibliography.
Uses TG and G to establish the central role of the grotesque in fully successful Gothic works.
- Nick
McGregor
- Dickens, Peake and the carnivalesque: an interpretation of selected books by Charles Dickens and MP’s Gormenghast trilogy. MA Hons, Stirling, Scotland, 1999.
- Sophie Aymès
- L’esthétique
de l’oeuvre littéraire et picturale de MP. Doctorat (i.e. PhD), Paris-Sorbonne
(Paris IV), France, 2001. 420p plus 15p reproducing MP’s MSS. In French.
Summarized in PS 7:iv 33.
- Carla
Evans
- Steerpike's ambiguous invasion: the gothic and the fantastic in MP's trilogy. Undergraduate essay, [University?] 2001. 31p.
- Lynsey
McCulloch
- Fantasy in context: war neurosis and national identity in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth and MP’s Gormenghast. BA (Hons), Anglia Polytechnic University, 2001. 8000 words.
- Fiorella
Pezzotta
- Miles of rambling stones. L’immaginario spaziale nella trilogia di Gormenghast (Space Imagery in the Gormenghast Trilogy). Milan, Italy, 2001. 156p. In Italian.
- Elena
Piccinotti
- MP e la letteratura del bizzarro (MP and the literature of the bizarre). Milan, Italy, 2002. In Italian.
- Marc
Alexander Bond
-
The craft of drawing and the medium of the lead pencil. BA, University of Wales
at Lampeter, July 2002. 10,000 words.
Brief summary in PS 6:i 47.
- Alice Mills
- Aspects
of stuckness in MP’s fiction. PhD, University of Ballarat, Australia. Accepted
2002; degree awarded in 2003. 188p.
Revised and published as Stuckness in the Fiction of Mervyn Peake (see Part F).
- Damon
Kyle Ellis
- Gormenghast and the Gothic edifice. MA (Hons), Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand, 2003. 103pp.
- June Hopper
-
Mervyn Peake’s Illustrations for Lewis Carroll’s Alice. MA [University and length not known] 2004
- An article derived from this dissertation was published in 2007 (see Part H).
- Steven Jenkinson
- “And
love itself will cry for insurrection”: ritual and rebellion in MP’s
Titus novels. BA, University of Sheffield, 2005. 10,000 words.
Examines the tensions created by stasis and dynamic change and how they are reconciled in MP’s narrative style, the depiction of Gormenghast and the castle’s inhabitants.
- Katie
Evans
- The crumbling panorama of Gormenghast: MP’s Titus novels as a modern Gothic masterpiece. BA, Durham University, 2007. 8,000 words.
- Edward
Martin
- Tradition,
ritual and social convention in MP’s Gormenghast trilogy. MA, King’s
College London, 2007. 54p. 15,843 words.
Applies theories of ritualistic and traditional behaviour to the ambiguous and self-contradictory attitude of Gormenghast towards its own history and cultural identity. Pays close attention to Titus and Steerpike.
- Anna
Sproul
- Weird
journeys: MP, war, and the Freudian masterplot. MSt, Corpus Christi College, Oxford,
2008. 10,700 words.
Examines how MP's wartime experience provided him with a set of metaphors for describing the psychic struggle between Eros and Thanatos. Concentrates on his poems and the short story “The Weird Journey”.
- Phillip
Dyte
-
Death, identity and freedom in Titus Groan and Gormenghast: a critical
exploration. BA, University of Leicester, 2009. 5830 words.
How death, identity and freedom inter-relate, and cause conflicts, and how those conflicts are addressed. Also looks at the natural versus the unnatural, and the opposition of the castle and nature with the Bright Carvers as the middle ground.
- Simon Eckstein
- There’s no place like home: MP’s Titus Groan and Gormenghast in a modernist context. MA, Cardiff University (Wales), 2009. 19,975 words.
How MP's depiction of the alienated individual, his exploration of the modernist crisis of language, the indeterminacy of both time and space in Gormenghast, and images of spatial and economic dislocation establish a sense of existential homelessness and the prospect of a nostalgic return to an idealized premodern society.
- Lauren Moss
- Postmodern Existentialism in MP's Titus Books. MA. University of Sheffield. 2009. 55pp.
In the light of the philosophies of Nietzsche and Kierkegaard, and using Nathan Scott's Mirrors of Man in Existentialism, maintains that the Titus books belong to Postmodern Existentialist literature.
- Oliver Plaschka
- Arcadies Lost: the pastoral theme in English and American fantastic literature - H.P. Lovecraft, James Branch Cabell, Mervyn Peake, William Gibson. Dr. phil. (Ph.D.), Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Germany. Accepted 2008, awarded 2009. 272pp. In German.
Available for download here.
The chapter on MP attempts to show how concepts such as castle and forest, culture and nature, past and present are conceived and how they affect Titus’ longing for a meaningful, more vital world.
- Vanessa Bonnet
- The motif of Fuchsia in the first two books of MP’s “Gormenghast Trilogy”, Titus Groan and Gormenghast. Master 1, Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, France. 2010. 60pp.
Analyses her character, her relationship with other characters, and her symbolic meaning. Her existence in between the worlds of reality and fiction directly links her to Peake.
© G. Peter Winnington 2010