A Journey Around Myself An Archaeological Exploration of Identity Lariane Marie Therese Fonseca Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2010 Faculty of Higher Education, Lilydale Swinburne University of Technology ‘She says to herself if she were able to write she could continue to live.’ Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Dictee For my parents Teresa Rose Chaves 1925-2006 and Norbert Peter Fonseca 1922-2009 who gave me a space to dwell in their story and the courage to write my own. i Declaration by Candidate I certify that this thesis, entitled ‘A Journey Around Myself: An Archaeological Exploration of Identity’, submitted for the degree of PhD contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma; to the best of my knowledge contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text; and is not based on joint research or publications. Full Name: Lariane Marie Therese Fonseca Signed: ___________________________________ Date: Seventeenth day of August 2010 ii iii Acknowledgements SuzanneHeath SusanHawthorne AdeleFlood MaryCoward KathyByra TheclaRosario PoppyStanton IngridReed AnnetteSteere PaulLambeth Mactavish TerryYoung GregoriaManzin GillianDyer Freya AnnieWatkins LyndallWishart WendyRushton ElspethVaughan MaryHill LesMay DylanReed ConchitaFonseca TessieMascarenhas KorneliaJeimke JacquiSaldhana DavidHall ColleenLindner PeterWebb MarcusScott RasmussenFamily RobClaridge TomHaas This journey has been made possible by the involvement of a reliable infrastructure of friends and colleagues, some whose names appear on this page, and many whose voices are embedded in between the lines of this thesis. Their invaluable and generous contribution is both tangible and intangible and, in both forms, remains germane to my success and experience. They have provided me with inspiration and challenge or practical day-to-day support and technical expertise. Some have shared their beautiful homes generously, opening up creative spaces where I have been able to reflect, feel safe and just ‘be’. Some have forced me past the edge of my own perceived limitations, while others have brought me back from the brink, encouraging me in times of despair. They believed in me when I had lost faith in myself. Some have engaged me in conversations that have expanded my knowledge and beliefs; and then, there are those whose calm brought stillness to a world spinning out of control. To all of these people – Thank You. Believing as I do, that there is no such thing as an ‘original’ thought, I want to acknowledge all those who have contributed to my learning through their work, creativity, knowledge and interaction with me. Critical to my success has been the input and encouragement of my supervisor/friends Adele Flood, Colleen Lindner and Kwanmena Kwansah-Aidoo (Aspa). HeatherDoubleday PeterLindner Charmaine&DavidIsaacs Tricia Garrett TerryKorrum JaneGuthrey Winnie LazarusGymnopolous BonitaJohnstone RachelReed DianeRobbie PrueDawson DylanReed KevinWells GitiThadani TrojanPress PaulaGrassano HaddonsCoffeeGroup RenateKlein NorbertPeterFonseca OlgaFialho PamGreen DonnaCathles AnnBrogden MatthewSharpe ChrisPanks CleomeGunrajTeresaRoseFonseca BerylMay KwanmenaKwansah-Aidoo EsmeD’Souza River iv v Abstract A Journey Around Myself: an Archaeological Exploration of Identity is a study of self. It examines how a person with a fractured geography, dislocated and re-located in a foreign landscape, can structure a personal narrative and maintain an authentic voice. The thesis investigates the role of memory and narrative in unraveling a sense of identity and in doing so reveals how individuals bring a sense of linearity to the fragments of their existence by authoring a unifying narrative. In turn, this narrative (life-story) embodies a sense of identity that is actualised through narrative discourse (articulation of life-story). Commencing with a model for Constructing Personal Narratives (Flood 2003), A Journey Around Myself explores the complex and stratified fragments of memoried experience to extend the Flood model. Using the metaphor of archaeology, the thesis introduces a new approach to narrative inquiry. The model of ‘archaeological narrative inquiry’© uses the concepts, tools, and modes of archaeology to explore the building blocks in the authoring of self. This method embraces the creative potential of an individual and shows how creativity can be used as an essential element to investigate and interrogate the multifarious elements of personal narrative. The use of archaeological narrative inquiry reveals a unique way by which interrogation and reflection are used to tap into the creative self to generate data in the form of creative artefacts for examination and consideration. Through this process, data was generated and a number of artefacts were created. These include: (1) A Book of Photographic Collages: The Hall of Mirrors; (2) A Digital Story: Argumentum e Silencio; (3) A Digital Story: A Journey Through Lost Time… (4) A Digital Story: Lost in Translation (5) An Archive of Family Photographs: Happy Memories; (6) A Fable: Satatantra: The Elephant and the Mirror and (7) A Narrative Account of the Research Journey: Charting the Journey. These artefacts are an integral part of the thesis and can be read or viewed in any order. This method of archaeological narrative inquiry demonstrates the significance of, and the possibilities created by drawing on an individual’s creativity as part of an exploration of self. This distinctive data mechanism manifests in a PhD thesis that falls outside the traditional ‘research’ PhD or a ‘PhD by artefact and exegesis’. The thesis also demonstrates how various components interact to articulate a sense of self and preserve the authentic voice in a forum where the researcher and the researched are one and the same. vi A Journey Around Myself: an archaeological exploration of identity is a thesis of seven chapters. It is constructed in narrative form with relevant literature from transdisciplinary sources that are interwoven throughout the text. The seven creative artefacts listed above emerge from data generated through the process of excavation, interrogation and reflection and are essential to the project as a whole. The research methodology of archaeological narrative inquiry presents data in a re-current and sometimes repetitious manner thus revealing how often the same memory can occur in different forms and narrative. This method demonstrates how triangulation of data enables the validity of the research occurs. The structure, language and creative compilation of the thesis reflect the cultural duality that resides within author. A Journey Around Myself reveals the significance of memory, the self, and the value of story and narrative discourse in relation to how they work to unravel a sense of identity. Through a novel approach to narrative inquiry, this thesis contributes new understandings about the idea of the dislocated self and an individuals’ search to arrive at a sense of identity and place of belonging. This new archaeological approach adds to the body of knowledge in qualitative research. Furthermore, it establishes a unique method of data construction in narrative form for interrogation and analysis that results in a new and innovative model for PhD research. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION BY CANDIDATE I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS III ABSTRACT V TABLE OF FIGURES X TABLE OF ARTEFACTS XI GLOSSARY OF TERMS XII CHAPTER ONE: PROLOGUE 1 Background and Context of the Study 5 Research Methodology 8 Significance of the Study 10 Form 11 CHAPTER TWO: NON-LINEAR PATH OF EXCAVATION 15 Introduction 19 Landscape of Self 21 Constructs and Context 32 Journals 33 Family Narratives 35 Photographs 35 Interrogations 36 Artefacts 41 The Use of Metaphor 42 The Cyclical Nature of the Methodology 48 New Approach 50 Methodological Roots 51 Phenomenology 51 Auto/Ethnography 52 viii Narrative Inquiry 52 Observation 1: Archaeological Narrative Inquiry 54 Summary 60 Observation 2: Constructed Data for Interrogation 61 Dissertation 61 Artefact and Exegesis 62 CHAPTER THREE: THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE 67 Introduction 71 Artefact 1: The Hall of Mirrors 135 Artefact 2: Argumentum e Silencio 137 Artefact 3: A Journey through Lost Time … 138 Artefact 4: Lost in Translation 140 Artefact 5: Happy Memories – Visual Memories of a Happy Childhood 142 Artefact 6: Satatantra: The Elephant and the Mirror 143 Background 143 Title and Synopsis 143 Structure 144 Characters 145 Language and Symbolism 145 Narrative 145 Artefact 7: Charting the Journey 148 CHAPTER FOUR: EXCAVATION A - MEMORY 151 Introduction 153 Visual Memory 189 Memory and Place 202 Memory and Belonging 205 CHAPTER FIVE: EXCAVATION B – THE SELF 211 Introduction 215 The Mirror 216 Maps 217 The Self 218 The Hall of Mirrors 233 ix CHAPTER SIX: STORY -THE MAKING OF IDENTITY 263 Introduction 265 Narrative 266 Masterplots 270 Micro-Narratives 276 Memory 278 Story and Storytelling 282 Identity 287 CHAPTER SEVEN: PUNAR - A HOMECOMING 291 Introduction 295 Beyond the Autobiographical ‘I’ 297 Memory 298 Self 300 Story 302 Archaeological Narrative Inquiry 305 New Model for PhD 308 New Knowledge: Key Findings 309 Memory 309 The Self 309 Story – The Making of Identity 310 Archaeological Narrative Inquiry 310 Bibliography 316 x TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1. Chapter Overview 20 Figure 2. Model by Adele Flood (2003) 23 Figure 3. Expansion of the Flood (2003) model 24 Figure 4.