Supervision satirized: Fictional narratives of student-supervisor relationships

Abstract

This article seeks to further dialogue between the disciplines of English literature and Higher Education by offering a different approach to examining the practice of graduate supervision — a comparison of three fictional narratives: two recently published novels and one ongoing online comic strip. It considers what these narratives reveal about the ways in which supervision is represented in cultural practices at this time. What kind of self or individual subject characterizes the research student and supervisor in these representations, and what kind of relationship between supervisor and student is portrayed? Examining representations of supervision offers a mirror, however distorted, of a pedagogical practice, enabling both students and supervisors to reflect on their roles in the supervisory relationship.