Degree Name

MA (Master of Arts)

Program

Communication, Professional

Date of Award

5-2014

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Andrew Herrmann

Committee Members

Kelly Dorgan, Jane MacMorran, Delanna Reed

Abstract

I sought to link, through this paper, cultural performances of identity through storytelling in Ireland, Scotland, and southern Appalachia. I evaluated storytelling practices, whether it was a public or private performance, using symbolic interactionism, dramatist theory, narrative paradigm, and performance theory. The author studied abroad in Ireland and Scotland through the East Tennessee State University Appalachian, Scottish, and Irish Studies Program and experienced an array of stories. She then evaluated her own experiences with storytelling from growing up in southern Appalachia and visited the International Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. The research is rooted in grounded theory from ethnographies, with themes emerging from the field notes. The themes reinforced the theories evaluated tied the cultures together through history.

Document Type

Thesis - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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