“Down in the Treme”- Media's Spatial Practices and the (Re)
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“Down in the Treme”: Media’s Spatial Practices and the (Re)Birth of a Neighborhood After Katrina A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Helen Morgan Parmett IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Dr. Laurie Ouellette August 2012 © Helen Morgan Parmett, 2012 i Acknowledgements Though academic work can at times seem a lonely affair (as it did on those sunny days when I wrote in my closet sized library carrel with no windows), it is undoubtedly a much more social process that is made possible by the guidance, care, and insights of others. Throughout this project, I have been fortunate in the generosity of many mentors, friends, and colleagues who helped to support and shape my work, for which I am humbled and exceedingly grateful. Laurie Ouellette was an exceptional adviser and mentor throughout my graduate studies, and this project is indebted to her insights on countless points. Her sharp mind helped me to hone my broad ideas into more careful arguments, guiding me to see how my seemingly dispersed thoughts fit together and the debates to which they contributed. I am particularly thankful to Laurie’s incomparable insight into media and governmentality studies and her astute and knowledgeable advising on how to integrate policy studies, urban planning, and archival research into more familiar ways of doing media studies. Without her insight and guidance, this would have been a very different, and surely less worthy, project. She has been a model of the kind of scholar I endeavor to be—extraordinarily intelligent, knowledgeable, incisive, but also thoughtful, encouraging, and compassionate. I am especially grateful to Laurie for her understanding and sensitivity to my life outside graduate studies, all the while unwavering in her validation of my work, this project, and my worth as a scholar. Gil Rodman believed in me in the moments when I doubted myself most, and no doubt I would not have made it through my graduate studies without him. Gil provided key insights and readings at critical junctures in this project, particularly on race and New Orleans culture, that shaped its direction in meaningful ways. I am thankful to him for his vast appreciation of the many ways of doing cultural studies, which is, I hope, evident in this project, and for his ability to always “go two ways” with any idea. Ron Greene is also an essential voice in this project. Throughout my graduate studies, Ron challenged me to think beyond thinking and to constantly question my own intellectual biases, and he provided an exceptional model for what it means to be a well-read scholar. I am especially grateful to him for his insight into the centrality of ii neighborhood and the ethics of neighboring in New Orleans, which helped to form a significant underlying premise of this project. I am also very grateful to John Archer for his helpful guidance and thoughtful insights. John introduced me to a vast array of theories of space and spatiality, and it is in anticipation of his poignant and pointed questions that I have continually challenged myself to provide specificity and acumen to my arguments. The Communication Studies program at the University of Minnesota provided me a home that has nurtured not only my intellect but also taught me the meanings and vast benefits of collegial departmental citizenship. I am especially thankful to Mary Vavrus and Edward Schiappa, and my fellow graduate students, whose collegiality, friendship, and intellectual acumen benefitted this project in immeasurable ways. I am particularly thankful to Matt Bost, Carolina Branson, Heather Hayes, Rebecca Jurisz, Alice Leppert, Mark Martinez, Tony Nadler, Allison Page, Kate Ranachan, Allyson Shaffer, Joe Tomkins, Emanuelle Wessels, Julie Wilson, and Heidi Zimmerman as well as to all of my fellow students who participated in the Graduate Student Writing Group. Kate Ranachan, in particular, provided a shoulder to cry on, an ear to vent to, and a smile to share in our milestones. Though I am most grateful for her friendship, I am also thankful for her willingness to read incredibly long drafts, provide helpful comments and feedback, and to assure me that it was all going to be okay at various stages in this project. I would also like to thank faculty, colleagues, and friends from the University of Pittsburgh during my M.A. studies for providing an exemplary introduction to the discipline, especially Eli Brennan, Dave and Amy Cram-Helwich, Lisa Heller, Renee Jackson, Gordon Mitchell, Lester Olson, Erika Pryor, Carol Stabile, and Ronald Zboray. Though I no longer participate in the collegiate debate world, I continue to be tremendously grateful for the guidance and support of my extended debate family and especially from the Lawrence Debate Union. I am particularly thankful to my many debate coaches and colleagues who taught me how to channel my passion into making arguments, without which this dissertation would not have come to fruition. I thank Jan Hovden, who believed in me from the start and provides an exceptional model of what a strong and intelligent woman can be, as well as coaches Jackie Massey, Gordie Miller, iii and Alfred “Tuna” Snider. I also give a great thanks to my debate partner and friend, Sarah Jane Green, as well as to Rae Lynn Schwartz-Dupre, who has been a mentor throughout my graduate studies. I am also thankful to my many former debaters, too many to name, who taught me quite a bit more than I taught them, and to the extended debate community that provided the first place outside my family where I ever truly felt at home. A special recognition must go out to Shanara Reid-Brinkley, to whom I am very grateful for convincing me to return to graduate school. This project would not have been possible without the help of numerous individuals in and outside of New Orleans who assisted me in gathering primary source materials and in navigating the city’s landscapes. Irene Wainright and Greg Osborne from the New Orleans Public Library City Archives provided thoughtful guidance and timely assistance, as did the archivists at the Amistad Research Center. Dave Walker from The Times Picayune was willing and ready to help, providing me with audio from the Cable Television and Marketing Summit’s Treme panel, which turned out to be exactly what I was looking for at just the right time. I am very grateful to the Treme producers, writers, and staff who were gracious and forthcoming in sharing their thoughts on their participation in the production, especially Lolis Eric Elie, Karen Livers, Virginia McCollum, Eric Overmyer, and Laura Schweigman. I am also thankful to Vicki Mayer for her helpful insights into New Orleans and its film and television industries as well as her supportive feedback on my work. The title of the dissertation comes from the lyrics “Down in the Tremé” from “The Tremé Song,” written by John Boutte (2003) and played during Treme’s opening credits. I would also like to thank Sage Publications for their permission to reproduce here a revised and expanded version of an article published in Television and New Media, which appears as Chapter 1 in this project. The final, definitive version of this chapter has been published in Television and New Media, Volume 13/Issue 3, May/2012 by SAGE Publications Ltd./SAGE Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. © Copyright © 2012, SAGE Publications. Permission for reproduction does not include any 3rd party material found within the work. iv This project would not have been possible without the love and support of my family. I am especially grateful to my grandparents, Jane and Walter, whose pride I endeavor to live up to, and to my parents, Lynn and Jeff, who were, from when I was very little, willing to engage me in lively intellectual discussions and for always encouraging me to learn and read more, think harder, and question everything. I lost my dad in the middle of writing this dissertation, and losing him put into perspective what is really difficult in life, making the dissertation pale in comparison. I write this for you, Bubba, because I know that you would have been proud beyond belief that your little girl became a Doctor of Philosophy. I am also thankful to my sister Jill, undoubtedly one of the smartest and, though she would not admit it, caring people I know, for never failing to goad me into excelling to spite her, and my niece Claudia and nephew Anthony for their love and inspiration. Finally, I am so very grateful to have Justin and Nakobe in my life. Justin has taken on more than his share of household responsibility and caring work in this process, all the while remaining unwavering in his belief in me. I would not have had the courage to do this without him; he is truly my best friend, my biggest supporter, and my love. I thank Nakobe for offering to write my dissertation for me, for being patient and understanding when I was not always at my most patient, and for daily embodying the reminder of what is important in life. I love you all more than I could ever express in words, though, in typical Helen fashion, I have tried to do so nonetheless using lots of them. v For Bubba vi Abstract In this project, I take the HBO series Treme (2010-present) as a case study for theorizing contemporary relationships between media, urban space, and raced and classed geographies. I argue that textual analyses of media’s representations of city space and place, which comprise the bulk of contemporary scholarship on media and urban space especially as it relates to New Orleans and questions of race, are not sufficient in understanding the work of media in contemporary cities, and in post- Katrina New Orleans, in particular.