Writing your thesis from back to front

This paper suggests that just as many examiners and reviewers read theses from the back to the front, from the references to the abstract; then it might make some sort of sense for the doctoral candidate or academic writer to work from back to front also. The paper is presented as a split or parallel text, where the ‘bricolography’ - the synthetic text that is constructed entirely from the titles of the texts contained within the author’s doctoral bibliography – is spliced together with commentary on the process of assembling this bricolography, together with thoughts as to what light this inquiry might shine into the power that conventions of referencing exercise upon the academic writing process. It problematizes the process of constructing a bibliography, asking questions as to who is writing the PhD; the author or her sources? It inquires into the extent to which authors construct their texts with the gaze of this back-to-front reader in mind; and the impact that the wish to satisfy the examiners gaze may have upon the author’s freedom to engage with critical thinking and original expression. This paper also challenges the assumptions that underlie the construction of abstracts; this abstract you are reading right now could well be the troubled child of an extended abstract that is offered herein.