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Kale, Amanda/AMK (2025) Landslide: a memoir? and ‘From the mouth of babes’: Considering memoir’s validity solely from a child narrator (or, sans adult narrator). PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.

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Abstract

This PhD thesis serves a dual purpose: a creative excerpt from Landslide, my (debated) ‘memoir’; alongside critical commentary on its specific writing process within the broader contexts of memoir, narratology, and child narration.

The memoir is an itinerant coming-of-age journey across continental United States at the turn of the twenty-first century, chronicling my experiences from (roughly) ages four to eighteen. It is set against the backdrop of a turbulent, maladjusted family dynamic marked by divorce, narcissistic abuse, and alienation—all of which hinder personal development. Landslide explores the tension between family loyalty and personal identity amid the constant cycle of ‘unsettlement’; cultural and political reflections on America’s landscape; the impact of a millennial’s particular education; and the resilience required to break generational cycles of habitual dysfunction. The excerpt provided presents ‘Part One: Texas’ and ‘Part Two: Utah’—though the narrative does extend to ‘Part Three: Midwest’, ‘Part Four: San Diego’, and ‘Part Five: Maryland’.

The critical commentary investigates the challenges of writing a childhood memoir with a child narrator only—‘erasing’ the adult narrator entirely. Through a practice-based approach that references Landslide, I address such questions as: can a child authentically narrate a memoir on their own? Would it still qualify as memoir? How can one ‘truthfully’ depict a child’s perspective and internal logic? I explore how ‘authenticity’ in memoir is subjective, tied to ‘emotional’ (rather than ‘absolute’) truth: traditional notions of ethical accountability in memoir-writing seem to stifle narratorial innovation particularly, preventing the genre from evolving. Through my advocation for a ‘cautious experimentation’, I propose re-approaching memoir in a manner that embraces unique approaches, valuing emotional resonance alongside factual precision. My research desires to further develop the borderlines of memoir by presenting its potentially ‘untapped’ potential to further provide fresh perspectives to personal history, and memory.

Item Type:	Thesis (University of Nottingham only) (PhD)
Supervisors:	Legendre, Thomas Sotirova, Violeta McGregor, Jon
Keywords:	narrative interest, voice in memoir, child narrator
Subjects:	P Language and literature > PN Literature (General) > PN 80 Criticism P Language and literature > PS American literature
Faculties/Schools:	UK Campuses > Faculty of Arts > School of English
Item ID:	81263
Depositing User:	Kale, Amanda
Date Deposited:	28 Jul 2025 04:40
Last Modified:	28 Jul 2025 04:40
URI:	https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/81263

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