dc.contributor.author	Laney, Jordan	en
dc.contributor.committeechair	Powell, Katrina M.	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Smith, Barbara	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Harrison, Anthony Kwame	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Fine, Elizabeth C.	en
dc.contributor.committeemember	Stephenson, Max O. Jr.	en
dc.contributor.department	Political Science	en
dc.date.accessioned	2020-02-19T07:00:32Z	en
dc.date.available	2020-02-19T07:00:32Z	en
dc.date.issued	2018-08-27	en
dc.description.abstract	Utilizing archival research from Berea College's Appalachian Sound Archives and Appalachian State University's Belk Special Collection, more than 45 survey results, 15 extensive interviews, and participant observations from 15 festival field sites, I examine bluegrass festivals as sites of identity production through feminist methodologies and a participatory ethnographic approach. This requires careful analysis of the nature of the genre's audience and audience members' investments in the process of framing the performance of bluegrass music's history through a shared historical narrative. More broadly, this analysis clarifies the nuanced role of bluegrass festivals in constructing generalizations about place-based identities, race, and gender within the performative space of festivals. In this assessment, the political and economic actions generated as a result of bluegrass performances are explored as temporal and spatial organizers for the (re)production and consumption of generalized ideals which are projected onto both literal and figurative southern stages. I perform this research utilizing the conceptual frameworks of theories of space and place, politics of culture, and feminist methods, combined through critical regionalism. My hypothesis is that bluegrass festivals serve as spaces to perform white patriarchal capitalist desires while relying on marginalized and hidden cultural productions and exchanges. My findings reveal that in order to gain a fuller understanding of politics culture, the stage must be subverted and the researcher's gaze must go beyond that which is typically traditionally framed to encompass the festival in its entirety. This requires seeking out not merely that which is intentionally framed but also narratives that create the stage or are omitted by dominant ways of interpreting the festival space. Ultimately, I find the significance of temporary physical sites for identity construction and the potential for dynamic social change within these spaces relies on the ability of scholars and participants alike to re-historicize and retell dominant narratives.	en
dc.description.abstractgeneral	The fantasized rural Appalachian region and greater south—a social construct, constantly created and recreated by social desires, political needs, and economic trends—has been a space of cultural production and experimentation, notably since the reconstruction era. One result has been the stereotypically regional genre of bluegrass music. This project asks how bluegrass music festivals began, for whom, and to what end. More importantly, it turns an eye towards research methods and power structures within the community. Research was conducted at Berea College’s Appalachian Sound Archives, at Appalachian State University’s Belk Special Collection, and through online surveys, participant observations, and interviews. In this dissertation, I carefully examine the role(s) of bluegrass festivals, specifically those envisioned and enacted by Carlton Haney (notably, in Fincastle, Virginia, in 1965). My findings illuminate how bluegrass festivals serve as sites where widely accepted generalizations about place (specifically, Appalachia and the rural American south) and specifically the bluegrass community are formed. Further, I address the role of gender within these spaces and the symbiotic relationship between female labor and bluegrass. The history of bluegrass festivals is approached with the intention of broadening discussions of gender, labor, and historical narratives beyond the festival grounds.	en
dc.description.degree	Ph. D.	en
dc.format.medium	ETD	en
dc.identifier.other	vt_gsexam:17033	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10919/96931	en
dc.publisher	Virginia Tech	en
dc.rights	In Copyright	en
dc.rights.uri	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/	en
dc.subject	Appalachian Studies	en
dc.subject	Bluegrass Music	en
dc.subject	Critical Regionalism	en
dc.subject	Ethnography	en
dc.subject	Qualitative Methods	en
dc.subject	Feminist Methodologies	en
dc.subject	Festivals	en
dc.title	Recreating and Deconstructing the Shifting Politics of (Bluegrass) Festivals	en
dc.type	Dissertation	en
thesis.degree.discipline	Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought	en
thesis.degree.grantor	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	en
thesis.degree.level	doctoral	en
thesis.degree.name	Ph. D.	en

Recreating and Deconstructing the Shifting Politics of (Bluegrass) Festivals

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