Contrary to common folk and expert theory, the human self is not unitary. There is no Cartesian theatre or homunculus functioning as a metaphorical overlord. Rather, it is an abstractum gleaned from a person�s experiences-a centre of narrative gravity (Dennett 1991). Experiences are a person�s cognisance of her ventures in life from a particular unique perspective. In perspectivising her experiences, the person imputes a certain structure, order, and significance to them. Events are seen as unfolding in a certain inherently and internally coherent way characterised by causality, temporality, or intentionality, etc. In other words, a person�s self emerges out of her innumerable narrativisations of experience, as well as the different protagonist roles she plays in them. Her behaviours in different situations can be understood as different life-narratives being foregrounded, when she is faced with different stimuli different experiences/events present. In real life, self-reflective discourse frequently alludes to a divided, partitive self, and the experiences/behaviours that it can engage in. In academic study, this concept of the divided and narrative-constructivist self is well-represented in disciplines ranging from philosophy (e.g., Dennett 1991, 2005), developmental psychology (e.g., Markus & Nurius 1986; Bruner 1990, 2001; Stern 1994), cognitive psychology (e.g., Hermans & Kempen 1993; Hermans 2002), neuropsychology (e.g. Damasio 1999), psychiatry (e.g., Feinberg 2001), to linguistics (e.g., McNeil 1996; Ochs & Capps 1996; Nair 2003). Depending on the particular theory, however, emphasis is often placed either on its divided or its narrative-constructivist nature. This thesis argues, however, that the two are coexistent and interdependent, and both are essential to the self�s ontology. Its objectives are therefore: (i) to propose a partitioned-narrative model of the self which unifies the two perspectives by positing that the partitioned-representational (Dinsmore 1991) nature of narratives entails the partitioned structure of the self; and (ii) to propose that the partitioned-narrative ontology of the self is what enables and motivates much of our self-reflective discourse and the grammatical resources for constructing that discourse. Partitioning guarantees that a part of the self, i.e., one of its narratives, can be selectively attended to, foregrounded, objectified, and hence talked about. Narrativity provides the contextual guidance and constraints for meaning-construction in such discourse. This claim is substantiated with three application cases: the use of anaphoric reflexives (I found myself smiling); various usages of proper names, including eponyms (the Shakespeare of architecture), eponymic denominal adjectives (a Herculean effort), etc.; and partitive-self constructions which explicitly profile partitioned and selectively focal narratives (That�s his hormones talking). When analysed using the proposed model, these apparently disparate behaviours turn out to share a common basis: the partitioned-narrative self.

The presentation of the thesis comprises the Dissertation component (66%) along with the Practice Component and the Practice Report (33%). In this Video Chaos dissertation, through an examination of current video practices, I note an emerging trend towards disseminating audio-visual content simultaneously in the form of poly-sequential narrative structures. I argue that this is a significant development within the video medium, and that this is an effect of video new media artist-practitioners' engagement with the relationships between art and technology. Two extensive case studies are investigated and, whilst a number of issues come to the fore in this research, exploring the issue of narrative structuration is the primary focus and exploration of this dissertation. The presentation of the thesis comprises the Dissertation component (66%) along with the Practice Component and the Practice Report (33%). The Practice Report documents the nature and development of the research undertaken during the course of the study. The culmination of the Practice Component takes the form of an exhibition and archiving of video works from June 2003 to the date of submission, January 2005. The Practice Component has been based in the following locations and used resources from Central Queensland University (Bundaberg campus), and The Australian National University, Centre for New Media Arts in Canberra. The practice has examined the topic through the production of the audio-video installation Sugartown and three video works The Hazzards, Nodal Dialectics 1 and boomsplatbangwhack. While these video works exist as discrete media artworks, they also operate as a type of practice process diary for working through the ideas explored in the written dissertation. Even though the video works are not meant to literally 'illustrate' those ideas, they nevertheless explore ways of integrating the theoretical concepts into my own research practice. In this Video Chaos dissertation, through an examination of current video practices, I note an emerging trend towards disseminating audio-visual content simultaneously in the form of poly-sequential narrative structures. I argue that this is a significant development within the video medium, and that this is an effect of video new media artist-practitioners' engagement with the relationships between art and technology. Two extensive case studies are investigated and, whilst a number of issues come to the fore in this research, exploring the issue of narrative structuration is the primary focus and exploration of this dissertation.

In this thesis I adopt a multi-disciplinary approach to explore the experiences of African humanitarian migrants in Australia. I argue that effective integration and positive settlement outcomes for this group would be enhanced by a clearer understanding of their originating circumstances and culture(s). I employ a combination of ethnography, autoethnography and narrative styles to articulate different aspects of the lived experience of flight and settlement of twelve individual African refugee women. These stories were collected through semi- and unstructured personal interviews over a period of two years. They emerge out of my evolving relationships with the participants, and highlight the importance of friendship and active listening in promoting positive cross-cultural interaction. The narrative accounts are supplemented and augmented by documentary chapters that examine the broader socio-political aspects of culture, war and refugees in Africa. The fine detail of the individual experiences of flight, settlement and relationships converge with these contextual accounts to open a window on the social world of humanitarian migrants. Together, they provide a layered and multi-faceted account of the life and times of African refugees and the challenges that they face in Australia in the 21st Century.

Starting with a broad analysis of game story-telling methods, this project seeks to interrogate a player’s occupation and navigation of the possibility space of a game’s meta-narrative and isolate ‘story-telling’ techniques specific and inherent to the computer-game medium. This leads to a series of formalized design schema, on the meta-narrative – game-play relationship, to assist computer-game design practice.

Starting with a broad analysis of game story-telling methods, this project seeks to interrogate a player’s occupation and navigation of the possibility space of a game’s meta-narrative and isolate ‘story-telling’ techniques specific and inherent to the computer-game medium. This leads to a series of formalized design schema, on the meta-narrative – game-play relationship, to assist computer-game design practice.

This thesis explores the potential of typography as a significant visual element in the narration of a short film. The project specifically considers the visual and paralinguistic nature of typography and its discourse with moving image. A creative consideration of these issues is then synthesized into the short film, the window.

This project involves the retelling of a historic New Zealand story using a system of multiple narrations. The research is presented in three parts:1. The practical component, Last Man Hanging: a book of pictures.2. A contextualising exegesis.3. 31 months (a documentation of my visual journey). The major component of this research is the creative text, Last Man Hanging. This is a book of pictures and type that retells the story of the trial and death of Walter James Bolton; the last man hanged in New Zealand. Its narrative discourse involves the orchestration of relationships through a compendium of characters, architecture, artifacts, environments and typography. The book integrates narrative voices that may be grouped into two often-conflicting positions; the story as it appeared in newspapers at the time, and the writer's personal consideration of an alternative series of events and emphases. Though an argument of tellings the book suggests a different verdict to that established by the courts in 1956.Finally, the exegesis contextualises both works. It considers specific theoretical issues pertaining to Last Man Hanging's narrative voice and imagery.

This thesis investigates ideas of interiority and thought in relation to the building of self identity. I express them through the visual means of text and photography, resulting in a conceptual self-portrait by way of installation. Concerned with what thought terrain might look like and the way information perceived though the senses is stored, I explore the overdetermined evidence provoked by the unconscious. By the study of my own inner monologue in response to everyday rituals, I bring attention to the fragmented and overwhelming anxieties, fears, associations and fabrications of the mind - moments that often go unnoticed, but help concretize my experience of being in the world. The thesis is made up of 80% practice and 20% written exegesis.

This thesis examines the relationships between fictional narratives and material objects through writing and sculptural practice. Its purpose is to explore how fiction assists in an understanding of the world we inhabit and, conversely, how our experiences of the world and its real and physically accessible contents (or objects) prevent fiction from transgressing into nonsense. It is anticipated that the combination of material practice and textual fiction will not be an easy marriage: it may be the objects which ultimately give presence to our voices, voices which historically have often attempted to claim and own of things through utterance. The sculptural component of the project addresses the tactility of objects and examines the space where so many tales are told – the home. In so doing, the project explores issues of isolation and connection through objects and materials which harbour a narrative of ostensible comfort. Objects may simultaneously project conflicting accounts of comfort and unease, connection and isolation, contributing to an articulated consciousness of the home.

This screenplay is a fictional Coming of Age story of a young restless woman who, on an existentialist search for her inner self, investigates into the truth behind her famous grandmother's past, an anthropologist who conducted controversial research in the Samoa of the 1920s. In the turbulent streams of her consciousness, Kat drifts in between an urban reality in Berlin, daydreams about her grandmother's journey into the exotic unknown, fantasies about the enigmatic young Samoan single mom Penei, and memories of a once loving family. The encounter with Penei and the resulting friendship and frail romance of the two women proves to be an eye-opener for Kat who finally discovers that the objective truth proves to be the ultimate myth and that only the acknowledgement of her own, subjective vision will lead her on the path to her inner happiness. Although the character of Anna König is inspired by the historic figure of anthropologist Margaret Mead, the script has no intent to refer to actual facts of Mead's life. All the characters depicted are entirely fictional.