| Description |
This thesis is an analysis of the creative work that brings to life a concept that I am developing called army of self. This concept addresses the idea that, at any given time, we embody different versions of our past or present self. These variations emerge through daily life and creative expression. The work is also a living memorial for my Taiwanese ancestors who struggled through periods of colonization. Without their struggle, there would be no democracy in Taiwan. Through an investigation of the fifty-year period of Japanese Occupation, 1895-1945, I examine the relationship between colonizer and colonized, as well as the concepts of oppression and enragement, a term defined by Merriam-Webster as the act of enraging or state of being enraged. Another important component of the thesis is the notion of foreignness. It examines my personal lived experience in America as an immigrant and questions whether the strangers within ourselves can honor and accept differences both for ourselves and others. According to a theory developed by Julia Kristeva (1991), the bodies of the colonized experience a sense of foreignness in many scenarios, whether they are at home or away. Similar to the colonized, foreigners are molded into ambiguities of otherness. My research scrutinizes the ideas of foreignness, oppression, and enragement through portraying historic events and characters. The essential questions of this research are: How can I create a work that allows each individual to share his or her multiple intelligences and perspectives through my creative process? What is my identity after this research? I hope to answer these questions that have resided in me through this writing process on army of self. |
