Body, House, Landscape: Re-Constructing Memory in Post-Resettled Newfoundland

Abstract

Body, House, Landscape: Re-Constructing Memory in Post-Resettled Newfoundland investigates collective memory in rural Newfoundland and the act of the Newfoundland Resettlement Program. The Newfoundland Resettlement, a government funded initiative, implemented a twenty-two year rule that relocated rural fishing communities to places with industrialized facilities. This resettlement of rural Newfoundlanders caused displacement and loss, leaving some resettled communities a mere memory. This thesis analyzes this relocation process and focuses on reclaiming loss through de-constructing and re-constructing memory as experienced through the body, the resettlement of the house and the relationships to landscape. Interdisciplinary methods are used combining choreography, fragmentation, and illusion to frame memory, emphasizing theories of performance and collective memory. The proposed site-specific installations, performing artist residence, community theatre and choreographed dance attempt to re-construct memory of one of Newfoundland’s most significant resettled communities, Merasheen.