An Ethnography of the Bay Area Renaissance Festival
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
An Ethnography of the Bay Area Renaissance Festival Performing Community and Reconfiguring Gender by Matthew W. Johnson A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Communication College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Elizabeth Bell, Ph.D. Kenneth Cissna, Ph.D. Stacy Holman-Jones, Ph.D. Giovanna Benadusi, Ph.D. Date of Approval: May 7, 2010 Keywords: performance, performativity, communitas, festivalism, mythopoeia © Copyright 2010, Matthew W. Johnson DEDICATION This completion of this project has been long in coming. It could not have been possible without the constant support and devotion of my loving wife, Jessica, along with the cheerful encouragement of my beautiful children, Titus and Lily. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to thank my advisor Elizabeth Bell, who has patiently and insightfully coached me through my coursework and the writing process, has become an invaluable teacher, mentor, and friend. The members of my committee are all professors at the top of their game. My graduate school experience has been enriched because of their classes and counsel. Finally, I owe a great deal to Keysha Williams who has tirelessly aided me in navigating the technical aspects of the graduate school world. Thank you all for your help and support. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................v CHAPTER ONE – TILTING THE WINDMILL: ON NARRATING FESTIVAL....................................................................................................................2 Statement of Purpose .............................................................................................8 Contextualizing Festival: Background and Relevant Literature ....................10 Defining Ren Fest: Carnivalesque Subversion or Festivalism? ...........13 Carnival and Carnivalesque .......................................................13 Festival: Between Carnival and Spectacle .................................17 Relevant Research on Living History and Renaissance Festivals ...............................................................................................19 Methodology: Reflexive Ethnography and Narrative as Inquiry....................25 Reflexive Ethnography ............................................................................26 Narrative as Inquiry ................................................................................30 Outline of Chapters..............................................................................................32 CHAPTER TWO – A DAY AT THE FAIRE: COMMUNITY AND IDENTITY CONSTITUTED IN PERFORMANCE ..............................................34 The Constitutive Nature of Performance ..........................................................37 Reflection and Reflexivity .......................................................................37 Work and Play..........................................................................................39 A Community of Performers ..............................................................................40 Welcome to My Ground of Play .............................................................41 Liminal and Liminoid Moments .............................................................45 The Parting Glass: Performance Aims of Festival............................................48 Come Play with Me: Invitations to Participate .....................................52 Performers, Patrons, and Playtrons: Performance Commitments .........................................................................53 Physical Commitments: To Garb, or Not to Garb?..................58 Committing to Touch: Am I in Your Space? ............................61 By Means of Production: Performing Material Culture ......................62 I Need a Renaissance: A Mythological Community of Difference ............................................................................................66 Community: The Serious Work of Play at a Day at the Faire .........................72 i CHAPTER THREE – OF KNIGHTS, ROGUES, POETS AND KINGS: EMBODIMENT AND MYTH IN MASCULINE PLAY .......................................74 Festival and the Reconstitution(s) of Gender ....................................................76 Hegemonic Masculinity .......................................................................................77 The Moment of Engagement: Hegemonic Masculinities and Embodiment ...................................................................................................80 Bodies as Objects and Agents .................................................................84 Brandon’s Bodies .....................................................................................86 The Moment of Engagement: Hegemonic Masculinities and the Mythic Hero ....................................................................................................90 The Fool and the Fop ...............................................................................92 Performance and Orientation: Opening the Field ............................................95 Mythopoeia and the Making of Men ..................................................................99 Ren-Men and Man-Therapy .................................................................100 Johnny’s Skirt ........................................................................................104 Something Rich and Strange.............................................................................109 CHAPTER FOUR – WENCHES AND QUEENS: MYTH AND THE POWER OF FEMININE FANTASY.....................................................................111 Festival and Gender Performativity.................................................................114 The Wench’s World ...........................................................................................118 Celebrating Difference...........................................................................118 Working Wenches ..................................................................................122 Upsetting the Male Gaze .......................................................................124 Men as Objects of Desire .......................................................................128 Wench as “Archetype” ..........................................................................132 The Matriarchal Kingdom ................................................................................133 The Wench Queen ..................................................................................135 Wise Women’s Circle: A Literary Model for Gendered Communities .....................................................................................137 Sensual Play/Sexual Prowess ................................................................139 A Community of Wenches.....................................................................143 Elizabeth as “Archetype” ......................................................................145 Female Masculinity ............................................................................................146 Grania and Masculine Power ...............................................................150 Grania as “Archetype” ..........................................................................151 Making Herstory ................................................................................................152 ii CHAPTER FIVE – A COMMUNITY OF DIFFERENCE: REFIGURING MASCULINITY AND WENCH’S WORLD ........................................................155 Purpose of this Study .........................................................................................157 Significant Contributions ..................................................................................158 Implications for Future Research.....................................................................161 Puddleton and the Forest of Symbols...............................................................163 REFERENCES CITED .................................................................................................167 ABOUT THE AUTHOR ..................................................................................... End Page iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Map of Puddleton ..............................................................................................1 Figure 2: Dancing “Gathering Peascods” ......................................................................35 Figure 3: The Queen and King Arrive to Enter Puddleton with Us ...........................42 Figure 4: Just Inside the Gate: The Maypole and a Typical Lane ..............................47 Figure 5: King and Queen atop Puddleton’s Gates ......................................................51 Figure 6: Playtrons in Fantasy Garb .............................................................................68 Figure 7: Two Jousters Tilting........................................................................................75 Figure 8: Human Combat Chess ....................................................................................78 Figure 9: Festival Fops ....................................................................................................89 Figure 10: