Please note: creative writing theses are permanently embargoed in OpenBU. No public access is forecasted for these. To request private access, please click on the locked Download file link and fill out the appropriate web form. / Creative writing. / 2999-01-01T00:00:00Z

Nonfiction, Documentary, and Family Narrative:
 An Intersection of Representational Discourses and Creative Practices explores the role of personal memory, family history, and inter-generational storytelling as the basis for making a nonfiction film. The film, American Boy, tells the story of my mother’s immigration to the United States after the failed Hungarian Revolution of 1956, opening a discussion of four generations of my family life in the context of historical events, exile, self re-invention, and identity formation. As a media producer and nonfiction author, I narrate my understanding of these events to my infant son, as a way of communicating my grandfather’s role in the revolution, my mother’s childhood, and my own mediation of my family’s trauma. Through the use of archival footage including newsreels and commercials, as well as my own archive of family photos and documents, I re-construct the existing materials to build my own associations concerning time, memory, and place. The film, as my creative practice, leads to a theoretical analysis of representational discourses which inform the work. This deconstruction of nonfiction and meta-analysis includes my study of several practitioners in the craft of non-fiction: Kati Marton, Robert Root, Primo Levi, Eva Hoffman, Patricia Hampl, Dinty W. Moore, Peter Balakian and others.

Culture, as defined by Edward Said, is a concept of identity selectively curated through imperialism. Through my ceramic practice, I explore what constitutes my cultural identity as a first generation Arab American. My work, primarily influenced by family narrative was initially expressed through investigations in the figure and viewer relationships with my sculpted figures. As my research progressed into Western Imperialism, I began noticing extensive evidence of colonialism’s lasting effects, especially within Western consumer markets. Interest in the writings of Said, works by French Orientalist painters, family memory, and a general displeasure with the plethora of Middle Eastern design used in Western decor culminates into Arab Americanesque; an installation that explores ideas of cultural obfuscation, power, and belonging.

食物往往蘊藏著無形情感與過往生命記憶。以家庭飲食而言，舉凡食物的味道、口感與氣味皆可能牽引出家庭關係與父母形象等生命故事。據此，本研究旨在以「家庭敘事」之研究視角探討家庭中飲食、記憶與生命傳承之關聯，主要鎖定「家傳菜餚」之家庭共食情境與敘事內涵，從而探討家庭中獨有的飲食口味如何承載與紀錄家庭生命歷程。 　　研究發現，家傳菜餚的故事內容由個人、家庭與菜餚在各式情境之下交織而成，描述昔日飲食經驗時更展現家庭生活背景、家庭信仰與成員性格等內涵。而過往家庭記憶主要透過「倒敘」手法浮現，但其不只是單向回溯過往經驗，敘事者的記憶軌跡往往與現今家庭生活與未來人生交錯對話。 　　此外，家傳菜餚的味道與意義可協助個人理解家庭與建構自我。由於日常飲食經驗於長遠家庭生命歷程中可逐漸形塑為家庭獨有之飲食習慣與傳統，後輩成員得以透過經驗之複製與轉移進而將家庭生命的「過去」、「現在」與「未來」彼此牽連並開展新機。 / Food often contains invisible emotions and life memories, and its taste and smell are also likely to touch off family stories. With this in mind this study aims to explore possible connections among food, memory and life in families from the perspective of “family narratives,” focusing on clues that may be inherent in “family recipes,” with a purpose to understand how family tastes may record life courses. 　It was found in this study that stories of family recipes are co-constructed by food and different members of the family. These stories not only describe these members’ past experiences in food cooking but also trace their life backgrounds, family values and personalities. Following this sense family memories often emerge from "flashbacks" while describing food story, and in doing so the time flow of present and future appears commonly. 　In addition, when food stories are always linked up with family traditions, the taste and meaning of family recipes are also useful in identity construction.

Thèse en cotutelle avec l'Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3, Paris, France. / Cette thèse explore en profondeur la transmission générationnelle du deuil migratoire et la négociation complexe d’un tel héritage dans les oeuvres littéraires des auteurs de la « deuxième génération », un aspect crucial dans le domaine des études sur la migration. Ces auteurs, ici désignés comme la « génération d’après » l’événement migratoire, offrent une perspective unique pour comprendre les dynamiques complexes du deuil migratoire. Nous émettons l’hypothèse que les écrivains de la « deuxième génération » héritent de la perte parentale de l’univers ancestral et qu’ils travaillent leur propre deuil à travers l’écriture. En s’appuyant sur les théories de la migration (Grinberg, Moro), du deuil et de sa transmission (Freud, Abraham et Torok), de l’imaginaire diasporique (Mishra) ainsi que sur les concepts de l’héritage (Kaës, Sibony), ce travail propose une perspective d’étude innovante pour ces textes. À travers une pratique de lecture au plus près des textes sélectionnés, nous analysons la manière dont Antonio D’Alfonso, Jhumpa Lahiri et Igiaba Scego procèdent à une figuration de leur blessure originelle, rejouent leur deuil et textualisent leurs expériences d’héritiers de la migration dans leurs oeuvres. Plus précisément, notre thèse avance que le travail de l’écriture fonctionne comme un travail de deuil, d’interprétation et de réaffirmation (Derrida) de l’héritage négatif. Après avoir mis en dialogue les concepts pivots et les outils théoriques qui accompagneront notre réflexion, nous étudierons comment le récit familial et intergénérationnel s’avère une stratégie de symbolisation et d’objectivation de la « perte fantôme » de l’univers ancestral. Ce terme fait référence au sentiment de perte insaisissable mais profondément ressentie ainsi qu’au désir et à la nostalgie d’un monde révolu, transmis des migrants de la première génération à leurs descendants. Enfin, nous explorons l’aspect linguistique et unique des oeuvres de D’Alfonso, Lahiri et Scego, une caractéristique qui les distingue et ajoute une couche de profondeur à notre compréhension. Cet aspect, que nous nommons la « dismatrie linguistique », fait référence à un imaginaire translingue structuré par la perte et le deuil de la langue maternelle. C’est un trait caractéristique de ces auteurs et de leur écriture qui enrichit notre exploration de leurs oeuvres. / This dissertation delves into the profound intergenerational transmission of migratory grief and the intricate negotiation of such inheritance in the literary works of second-generation authors, a crucial aspect in the field of migration studies. These authors, understood here as “the generation after” the migration event, provide a unique lens through which to understand the complex dynamics of migratory grief. We hypothesize that second-generation writers inherit the parental loss of the ancestral world and work through their grief through writing. By drawing on established theories of migration (Grinberg, Moro), mourning and its transmission (Freud, Kaës, Abraham and Torok), diasporic imaginary (Mishra), as well as the concepts of inheritance (Kaës, Sibony), this study offers an innovative perspective. It employs an in-depth close reading of the selected texts to analyze how Antonio D’Alfonso, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Igiaba Scego figure their original wound, perform their mourning, and textualize their experience as heirs of migration in their literary works. More specifically, we argue that writing serves as a work of mourning, interpretation, and reaffirmation (Derrida) of this negative inheritance. After discussing central concepts and theoretical tools that guide this undertaking, we examine how the family and intergenerational narrative functions as a strategy to symbolize and objectify the “phantom loss” of the ancestral world. This term refers to the intangible yet deeply felt sense of loss and longing for the homeland that is passed down from the first-generation migrants to their descendants. Lastly, we delve into the unique linguistic aspect of D’Alfonso, Lahiri, and Scego’s works, a feature that sets them apart and adds a layer of depth to our understanding. This aspect, which we term “linguistic dismatrie”, refers to a translingual imaginary structured by the loss and informed by the mourning of the mother tongue. It is a characteristic feature of these authors and their writing, enriching our exploration of their works.