Abstract

The title of my thesis is In The Galleria Of Missing Persons. It is a collection of prose narrative, and lyrical poems based on themes of identity and memory. Using memory as the primary lens for exploration, my intent was to focus on how 'identity' is multiplied or made other by major shifts in geographical place and chronological time. The structure of the thesis is divided into three numbered sections. Formally, the poems are organized into free verse stanzas and prose blocks, and employ repetition, alliteration, rhythms of the speaking voice, and narrative in their construction. As the thesis progressed through its three sections, the poems openly engage my personal memories, ranging from early childhood recollections to more painful recent ones, and attempt to establish a link between memory and self-image. Essentially, the thesis is concerned with the fundamental paradox of memory retrieval, where memory is both artifact and artifice and what effect this paradox has on the construction of identity. Most of the poems are autobiographical, in nature, although some fictional narratives and meditations are also included within the work. When I began this project, I viewed my own memories as a clutter of past lives lived by other people. In the Galleria of Missing Persons is my own personal attempt to reclaim some of these abstracted, past lives and so, hopefully, come to a larger understanding of the many conflicting personalities and unresolved voices still thrashing about inside me.