Dissertation
Housing the past: reconstructing identity in contemporary 'fictions of memory'
University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Doctor of Creative Arts, University of the Sunshine Coast
2019
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25907/00175
Abstract
The complex and entangled relationship between memory, identity and narrative wields huge influence over our sense of self, yet often remains unexamined in our day-to-day lives. Literary critic Birgit Neumann believes that disseminating this relationship through 'fictions of memory' (the genre designation for literature that concerns itself with memory and its related themes [Neumann 2008]) can aid our understanding of our past, ourselves, and the dynamic nature of all the elements that work together to construct identity. Using Neumann's theory of the mimesis of memory, together with several key theorists who contribute to an understanding of memory's constructionist and subjective nature including psychologist Frederic Bartlett and phenomenologist Gaston Bachelard, this Doctor of Creative Arts submission responds, creatively and exegetically, to the following questions: 1. What are the common genre characteristics of 'fictions of memory' and how do these representations of memory lead to a deeper understanding of the nature of memory, identity and narrative? 2. Are there commonalities between the writing process and the nature of memory, and if so, can understanding these commonalities aid the construction of a 'fiction of memory'? 3. What are the phenomenological implications of houses on memory and identity? 4. Can literary representations of building a home further explicate the links between memory and identity? 3. Utilising the 'iterative cyclic web' (Smith & Dean 2009) of practice-led research and research-led practice, together with an embodiment of the very nature of memory as a methodological approach for the creative process, this research culminated in the construction of a 'fiction of memory' entitled The substance we are made of, which examines the ways we recollect and reconstruct events to bridge the temporal chasm between past and present self.
Details
- Title
- Housing the past: reconstructing identity in contemporary 'fictions of memory'
- Authors
- Kelly Poynter
- Contributors
- Ross Watkins (Supervisor)
- Awarding institution
- University of the Sunshine Coast
- Degree awarded
- Doctor of Creative Arts
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- DOI
- 10.25907/00175
- Organisation Unit
- School of Business and Creative Industries; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Creative Industries - Legacy
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99451228702621
- Output Type
- Dissertation
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