Cryptid Becomings: The Transfiguration of Visual Rhetorics and Cryptid Folklore in a Re-imagining of Appalachia

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dc.contributor.authorHiggs, Coryen
dc.contributor.committeechairMielczarek, Nataliaen
dc.contributor.committeememberBritt, Brian M.en
dc.contributor.committeememberTaylor, Jessicaen
dc.contributor.committeememberLabuski, Christineen
dc.contributor.departmentPolitical Scienceen
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-27T08:00:37Zen
dc.date.available2026-06-27T08:00:37Zen
dc.date.issued2026-06-26en
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation uses interdisciplinary approaches from Appalachian studies, art history, folklore, philosophy, vernacular creation, and visual communication to explore images of Appalachian cryptids on Instagram. Informed by visual theory and methodology, select Instagram posts were analyzed and interpreted to uncover which cryptids are most popular on Instagram, how those cryptids are visually constructed, the stories their images tell, and how the images might function for users. Cryptids like the Mothman become clear favorites for the digital folk, and a process of transmission and transfiguration carries the cryptid and its folklore forward, albeit changed. Through this process, it is speculated that the cryptid offers ways to re imagine regions, people, and ideas.en
dc.description.abstractgeneralThis dissertation uses interdisciplinary approaches from Appalachian studies, art history, folklore, philosophy, vernacular creation, and visual communication to explore images of Appalachian cryptids on Instagram. Informed by visual theory and methodology, select Instagram posts were analyzed and interpreted to uncover which cryptids are most popular on Instagram, how those cryptids are visually constructed, the stories their images tell, and how the images might function for users. Cryptids like the Mothman become clear favorites for the digital folk, and a process of transmission and transfiguration carries the cryptid and its folklore forward, albeit changed. Through this process, it is speculated that the cryptid offers ways to re imagine regions, people, and ideas.en
dc.description.degreeDoctor of Philosophyen
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.othervt_gsexam:46342en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10919/143523en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/en
dc.subjectAppalachiaen
dc.subjectIconographic Trackingen
dc.subjectInstagramen
dc.subjectMonster Theoryen
dc.subjectVisual Rhetoricen
dc.titleCryptid Becomings: The Transfiguration of Visual Rhetorics and Cryptid Folklore in a Re-imagining of Appalachiaen
dc.typeDissertationen
thesis.degree.disciplineSocial, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thoughten
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.leveldoctoralen
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen

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