Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Young, Jessica

Area of Concentration

Humanities and Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies

Abstract

This thesis is interested in transnational identity; someone who is connected to more than one nation state either socially, politically, or culturally. One is an insider and an outsider no matter where they are. I question that dynamic as I come to terms with my American identity and my Indian biological roots. Chapter 1 focuses on In an Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh, and his quest to follow the physical and paper trail of an enslaved Indian figure from the 12th century. Ghosh describes his struggles to obtain resources for his research, which parallels own inability to gain access to archives about the Lambada people. I turn to Saidiya Hartman’s critical fabulation to fill in the gaps left behind by the archive. How does one write a story about an encounter with nothing? Hartman and Ghosh use these methods in a literary way, but I elect to apply it to theater. Chapter 2 is a script transcribed from interviews I conducted with my family about their time in India, and surrounding my complicated adoption story. The play is meant to be a one-person show, and has a critically fabulated section to reconcile the gap I from the archives. Chapter 3 describes the practical examples of Anna Deavere Smith, who I used as a model for my one-person show and inspiration for my stylistic choices. I took into account the performance theories of memories and embodiment as discussed in Diana Taylor’s The Archive and the Repertoire. The conclusion of my thesis includes future project ideas. Once COVID-19 has lifted globally, I plan to travel to India to meet my biological family. My aim is to use ethnographic methods to understand their traditions, their customs, and their way of life.

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