Sangam: A Confluence of Knowledge Streams

Truth, Justice and the American Way: Structure, Narrative and Nation in Tourist Performances in Salem, MA

Show simple item record

dc.contributor Dolby, Sandra K.
dc.contributor Janelli, Roger
dc.creator Aldred, Benjamin Grantham
dc.date 2010-06-16T15:11:40Z
dc.date 2027-02-16T16:11:40Z
dc.date 2010-06-16T15:11:40Z
dc.date 2009
dc.date.accessioned 2023-02-21T11:17:36Z
dc.date.available 2023-02-21T11:17:36Z
dc.identifier http://hdl.handle.net/2022/8673
dc.identifier.uri http://localhost:8080/xmlui/handle/CUHPOERS/252873
dc.description Thesis (Ph.D.) - Indiana University, Folklore and Ethnomusicology, 2009
dc.description Looking at six performances (including tourist `museums' and walking tours) for the October influx of tourists to Salem, Massachusetts, this work outlines the way each performance encodes within a structural perspective on the nature of the Salem Witch Hysteria through the selective inclusion, exclusion and parallelizing of various events and characters. These perspectives are analyzed for their broader insight into narratives of national character, examining the way in which national character can be examined not as an objective force influencing production of narratives but as a form of discursive repetition, creating national character through repeated acts of unifying narrative. Also explored are the genealogical roots of these narratives, both in popular media about the witch trials and in historical explorations of the period. The fundamental argument at the heart of the work is that historical narratives are produced by creating a meta-narrative that produces a spectral American character, existing in the minds of the observers but not in any objective way.
dc.language EN
dc.publisher [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University
dc.rights Attribution Share Alike (by-sa)
dc.rights https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/
dc.subject history
dc.subject identity
dc.subject nation
dc.subject performance
dc.subject tourism
dc.subject witchcraft
dc.subject Folklore
dc.subject American Studies
dc.title Truth, Justice and the American Way: Structure, Narrative and Nation in Tourist Performances in Salem, MA
dc.type Doctoral Dissertation


Files in this item

Files Size Format View
Aldred_indiana_0093A_10253.pdf 2.617Mb application/pdf View/Open

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record

Search DSpace


Advanced Search

Browse