Date of Award

5-2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Legacy Department

English

Committee Member

Keith Morris, Committee Chair

Committee Member

Dr. Cameron Bushnell

Committee Member

Dr. Jillian Weise

Abstract

This creative thesis consists of two short stories centered on implications of immigration and uprooting: the possible loss of control and the self, and as a result, existing solely as a body in transit, all of which may lead to a threat of violence. Both stories discuss the immensely radical act of migration, but are set in different landscapes (Polish and American) in order to explore the issue from two different viewpoints: that of someone returning to a place they had left, and that of a person living on still foreign soil. The issue of movement is especially important in today’s global, connected society, which nonetheless is conducive to the alienation and stigmatization of migrants. While these stories do not offer any solution, they are meant as a discussion of the experience so that the scope of influence a decision to move initiates may be evident. The auxiliary document also touches on the issue of otherness in the work of Joyce Carol Oates and a recent Polish film, Pokłosie, both of which discuss the strained relationship between the Jewish and Polish identities and the places where they intersect.

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