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Oriku, Adebowale (2023) Lost in Menippea: the metabiography of Dambudzo Marechera. Doctoral thesis, London Metropolitan University.
This creative writing thesis on Dambudzo Marechera divides into two parts: creative practice and critical commentary. In the creative practice, I dwell on the extraordinary life of Dambudzo Marechera, the late Zimbabwean writer, a life inseparable from Marechera’s equally remarkable fiction. This thesis fills a significant gap in biographical research into Marechera, and it is the first ‘literary’ biography of the author written in the form of creative metabiography. Menippean satire, or menippea, is fundamental to the execution of the metabiography. I draw on Menippean heterogeneity to narrativise Marechera’s life and experiment with various forms and styles of writing. This menippean ‘medley’ includes autobiography, creative nonfiction, memoir, poetry, diatribe/soliloquy, fiction, and a playlet. In the critical commentary, I examine the process of creating the metabiography and, in so doing, shed light on the various techniques that I use in the creative practice. I write about metabiography and clarify the unprecedented and inventive ways in which I have redefined and recontextualised the term. I also evaluate the multiple Menippean strategies deployed in inscribing the metabiography. Additionally, I methodise the creative practice with other devices and concepts like the uncanny, abnormalism, literary nonfiction, counterfactual narrative and epigonism. Significantly, the critical analysis complements the creative practice by proffering insight into the biographical complexities of the subject, Dambudzo Marechera.
![[thumbnail of Adebowale Oriku_15037993.pdf]](https://repository.londonmet.ac.uk/style/images/fileicons/text.png "Adebowale Oriku_15037993.pdf")
Restricted to Repository staff only until 5 January 2028.
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