This thesis seeks to explore the relationship between language, traumatic memory, and identity. Through a cross-genre creative style of writing and scholarship, the writer engages with trauma theory, performative language theory, psychoanalysis, and literature in order to illuminate how language, in its various forms, is the key to self-reclamation after a traumatic event terrorizes the body and mind. Additionally, through the lens of personal narrative, the writer investigates how relationships with language, the reverberations of trauma, and the tumultuous motion of our formative years can affect the development of identity by way of memory. The scope of the narrative illustrates a journey through traumatic memory and an investigation of critical theory, while also employing the language-based framework for recovery.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis seeks to explore the relationship between language, traumatic memory, and identity. Through a cross-genre creative style of writing and scholarship, the writer engages with trauma theory, performative language theory, psychoanalysis, and literature in order to illuminate how language, in its various forms, is the key to self-reclamation after a traumatic event terrorizes the body and mind. Additionally, through the lens of personal narrative, the writer investigates how relationships with language, the reverberations of trauma, and the tumultuous motion of our formative years can affect the development of identity by way of memory. The scope of the narrative illustrates a journey through traumatic memory and an investigation of critical theory, while also employing the language-based framework for recovery. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Finch, Maggie"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Matthew Frank"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-04-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-04-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:24:17Z","subjects":["trauma","traumatic memory","language","memory","identity","recovery","trauma theory","Nonfiction","Other Arts and Humanities"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/619","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Matthew Frank"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Finch, Maggie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-04-13T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["trauma","traumatic memory","language","memory","identity","recovery","trauma theory","Nonfiction","Other Arts and Humanities"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/619"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis seeks to explore the relationship between language, traumatic memory, and identity. Through a cross-genre creative style of writing and scholarship, the writer engages with trauma theory, performative language theory, psychoanalysis, and literature in order to illuminate how language, in its various forms, is the key to self-reclamation after a traumatic event terrorizes the body and mind. Additionally, through the lens of personal narrative, the writer investigates how relationships with language, the reverberations of trauma, and the tumultuous motion of our formative years can affect the development of identity by way of memory. The scope of the narrative illustrates a journey through traumatic memory and an investigation of critical theory, while also employing the language-based framework for recovery.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["TOUCHING THE CENTER THAT BURNS: AN EXORCISM"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Matthew Frank"],"dc:creator":["Finch, Maggie"],"dc:date.available":["2025-04-13T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis seeks to explore the relationship between language, traumatic memory, and identity. Through a cross-genre creative style of writing and scholarship, the writer engages with trauma theory, performative language theory, psychoanalysis, and literature in order to illuminate how language, in its various forms, is the key to self-reclamation after a traumatic event terrorizes the body and mind. Additionally, through the lens of personal narrative, the writer investigates how relationships with language, the reverberations of trauma, and the tumultuous motion of our formative years can affect the development of identity by way of memory. The scope of the narrative illustrates a journey through traumatic memory and an investigation of critical theory, while also employing the language-based framework for recovery.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/619"],"dc:subject":["trauma","traumatic memory","language","memory","identity","recovery","trauma theory","Nonfiction","Other Arts and Humanities"],"dc:title":["TOUCHING THE CENTER THAT BURNS: AN EXORCISM"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:24:17Z"}