The Immigrant: a Biographical Memoir

Through engagement with practice-led research, my discoveries about immersion theory and the complex idea of inherited memory, I explore the idea of ‘a whispering in the blood,’ in my creative artefact, The Immigrant. My narrative (thesis) reveals repeated motifs in the lives of my Ashkenazi Jewish forebears spanning five generations and five continents. In my exegesis, Writing the Immigrant, the intricate process of writing my biographical memoir is revealed. The exegesis is a parallel text to my creative artefact and is itself, a narrative (Krauth 2011). Writing the Immigrant is a complement to the artefact and has become its own non-fictional narrative, mapping a journey in much the same way as The Immigrant maps a journey, neither pure supplement, nor single critical evaluation of the text. It is revelatory in essence and seeks to uncover theinvisible story that joins The Immigrant to its reader.Submitted in the fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Creative Arts, University of the Sunshine Coast, 2016