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Analogous States: John Millington Synge, Zora Neale Hurston, and the Performance of Ethnography

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Provided by the author(s) and NUI Galway in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite the published version when available. Title Analogous states: John Millington Synge, Zora Neale Hurston, and the performance of ethnography Author(s) Mouton Kinyon, Chanté Publication Date 2016-12-09 Item record http://hdl.handle.net/10379/6925 Downloaded 2021-09-29T10:35:48Z Some rights reserved. For more information, please see the item record link above. ANALOGOUS STATES JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE, ZORA NEALE HURSTON, AND THE PERFORMANCE OF ETHNOGRAPHY CHANTÉ MOUTON KINYON Supervisor: Professor Patrick Lonergan Discipline of English College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Celtic Studies National University of Ireland, Galway Analogous States, a dissertation prepared by Chanté Mouton Kinyon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Discipline of English. This dissertation has been approved and accepted by: ________________________________________ Patrick Lonergan ________________________________________ Elizabeth Tilley 9 December 2016 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 6 I. ANALOGOUS STATES Introduction 10 Representational Theatre 18 35 The Green and Black Atlantic 45 Early Twentieth-Century Literature of the Green and Black Atlantic 65 Irish Influences on African American Writing 71 Inside/Outside Transatlantic Modernism II. INSIDE/OUTSIDE FOLK CULTURE: PERFORMING CULTURAL AUTONOMY IN RIDERS AND COLOR STRUCK Introduction 77 The Keen 81 The Cakewalk 97 Conclusion 116 III. REPUDIATION OR RECUPERATION: ITINERATE WOMEN AND THE MARRIAGE RITUAL Introduction 123 136 Irish Travellers and Marriage 155 Sawmill Workers and Marriage 180 Conclusion IV. THE MALE FOLK HERO: ARTISTS OF THE ORAL TRADITION Introduction 183 The Irish in The English 192 The Voice in the Text 207 Conclusion 226 V. CONCLUSION 234 African American Writing and Irish Influences 238 Bibliography 254 2 3 ABSTRACT The dissertation presents J. M. Synge and Zora Neale Hurston as autoethnographic researcher-practitioners who employed important cultural forms in their theatre, such as the keen and the cakewalk, in order to challenge the representational caricatures that contributed to the racialization of both the Irish and African Americans. Using ethnographic material, Synge and Hurston locate such performative rituals in their proper cultural contexts, thereby giving a representation of them that audiences might consider authentic, while also writing against the stereotypes associated with the cultures under discussion. Yet Synge and Hurston’s claims to authenticity and cultural intimacy, through the use of ethnographic practices, is undermined as the material created was intended for the theatre, an artificial space. Thus, Synge’s and Hurston’s flawed research practices reveal moral binds of performance ethnography as cross-cultural studies was becoming a significant aspect of anthropology prior to the development of performance studies. This intervention not only impacts the fields of Irish studies and African American studies but also has broader implications in performance studies. Further, this project has the potential to impact the way in which cultural anthropologists incorporate literary criticism and theory into their work. 4 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS From the moment I first emailed Patrick Lonergan, over five years ago, to discuss the possibility of doing a PhD in Ireland he has been supportive, encouraging, inspiring, and diligent. It has been an honor working with him and being supervised by him. Everything has changed from the time I emailed him my initial query, but all along Patrick has been there to help me get to this moment. I thank him for making my PhD experience both a stimulating and productive process. His time, guidance, and contributions have made the arduous PhD pursuit a little less painful, a little less difficult than it could have been. I will be forever grateful. This research was fully funded through a Doctoral Research Scholarship provided by the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG). In addition to funding my research, NUIG is home to a range of expert scholars from whom I was fortunate to have advice and feedback during the course of my research and writing. In particular, I would like to thank Lionel Pilkington and Sean Ryder, both of whom realized the potential of this project when it was nothing more than an idea; the conversations that I have had with each of them over the years—conversations that began before I was a PhD candidate at NUIG—have helped shape this dissertation. Louis De Paor, Adrian Paterson, Charlotte McIvor, Muireann O'Cinneide, and Elizabeth Tilley each offered critical advice at various moments of the PhD process, and I want to make sure that they know I heard their feedback, even if they feel like their specific comments are not reflected in these pages. Each idea and suggestion offered on this research has made the project 6 better. At NUIG I also received travel stipends each year that helped me attend conferences in Ireland, the UK, continental Europe, and the United States. During the third year of my PhD program, Antonio Tillis, then chair of African and African American Studies, invited me to Dartmouth College. The invitation not only allowed me to have a base in the United States from which to conduct research, it also gave me the opportunity to engage scholars who have significantly influenced my research. I would like to thank Donald Pease for his gracious mentoring and generosity. He has made me a more proficient scholar. His weeklong summer institute, which I have had the privilege of attending for the last three years, has been the highlight of my time at Dartmouth. Conversations with Hortense Spillers and Eric Lott about this research, each year, are just an example of the mentoring I received at the institute. The friendships that I made with American studies scholars from around the world continue to influence my academic journey. At Dartmouth I have also been lucky to have had fruitful exchanges with Carolyn Dever, Michael Chaney, Gretchen Gerzina, Laura Edmondson, Robert Baum, Aimee Bahng, James Dobson, Aden Evens, Thomas Luxon, Ivy Schweitzer, Barbara Will, and Melissa Zeiger. Friends and colleagues at both NUIG and Dartmouth have contributed to the completion of this dissertation. But I am indebted to my family: without their support none of this would be possible. I thank my father for his love and support. Both of my moms—one gave birth to me and the other gave birth to my husband—have sacrificed time and money to make sure I got here. My mommy traveled to Ireland and to Vermont to take care of her granddaughter, sent money 7 when it was needed, and spent hours on the phone with me as I lamented the process. She has always been there, and I suspect she always will. The mom I inherited the day I got married has treated me as one of her own for the last fifteen years. After the death of her husband—my beloved father-in-law—Mom traveled to Vermont with us and spent nearly two and a half years with us, taking care of our daughter and taking care of us. She traveled to conferences with me, woke up early, went to bed late, washed dishes, did the laundry, cleaned the house, bought groceries, cooked dinner—basically, Mom made sure her family was well provided for while her son worked long hours as chef and her daughter- in-law sat away in quiet room reading and writing. I know that she does not understand the labor involved in PhD research work, but she never stops supporting or loving me. I am also grateful my journey brought her back “home,” to Ireland, after a forty-five-year absence. My husband moved around the world to help me reach this goal. I am grateful for his love, unwavering support, and partnership. Greg, you are my match in every way, and I will be forever connected to you because of the beautiful surprise we received at the beginning of this PhD process. Máire Coileáin Kinyon (Collins), thank you for joining this family. Thank you for your laughs, cuddles, and love. Thank you for your understanding all the days Mommy had to go to work and was unable to play with you. Thank you for being you. You are the best gift I have ever received. I love you, little one. Chanté Mouton Kinyon National University of Ireland, Galway December 2016 8 9 CHAPTER I ANALOGOUS STATES INTRODUCTION In this dissertation I establish John Millington Synge and Zora Neale Hurston as autoethnographic researcher-practitioners who use their theatre to reimagine the performative aspects of Irish and African American culture. By examining the scope of Synge’s and Hurston’s work, this dissertation concentrates on the praxis of performance ethnography within larger cultural revival movements, paying special attention to how these works furthered the transnational and intercultural relationship between the Irish and African Americans. To realize this goal, I focus on a selection of major plays from each author’s oeuvre, including each author’s major ethnographic publications. A question might arise as to why one might compare Synge and Hurston, two writers who are ordinarily treated as being very different from each other. John Millington Synge was an Irish author born 16 April 1871, while Zora Neale Hurston an American author born twenty years later on 7 January 1891. Synge was an active participant in the Irish Literary Revival and Hurston an active participant in the movement now referred to as the Harlem Renaissance but known at the time as the New Negro Movement.1 Further, Synge’s plays were an essential aspect of the foundation of Dublin’s Abbey Theatre in 1904. As such, his theatre actively participated on a national stage with larger conversations and 1 “Harlem Renaissance” is a term coined after the movement had passed.
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