THE POWER OF STORIES: A COMMUNICATIVE INVESTIGATION OF DANCEHALL NARRATIVES AND CARIBBEAN CULTURE by Marlon Emmanuel Douglas A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication Boise State University December 2012 © 2012 Marlon Emmanuel Douglas ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE COLLEGE DEFENSE COMMITTEE AND FINAL READING APPROVALS of the thesis submitted by Marlon Emmanuel Douglas Thesis Title: The Power of Stories: A Communicative Investigation of Dancehall Narratives and Caribbean Culture. Date of Final Oral Examination: 09 November 2012 The following individuals read and discussed the thesis submitted by student Marlon Emmanuel Douglas, and they evaluated his presentation and response to questions during the final oral examination. They found that the student passed the final oral examination. erin mcclellan, Ph.D. Chair, Supervisory Committee John McClellan, Ph.D. Member, Supervisory Committee Natalie Nelson-Marsh, Ph.D. Member, Supervisory Committee The final reading approval of the thesis was granted by erin mcclellan, Ph.D., Chair of the Supervisory Committee. The thesis was approved for the Graduate College by John R. Pelton, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate College DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my parents, nuclear family members and close friends that reside within the island of Trinidad and Tobago. Because of you all I was able to pursue my education and become more enlightened as a human being and communication scholar. For your financial, moral, physical, and spiritual support I thank you. I would also like to personally dedicate this thesis to my grandmother Mrs. Rita Mark, who taught me to follow my dreams and strive for success. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to especially acknowledge Dr. erin mcclellan as well as Dr. John McClellan for being an integral part to the completion of my research work. For their expertise, friendship and motivation throughout this journey, I say thank you for making it a fun and very enjoyable one. To Dr. Natalie Nelson-Marsh, thank you for your critical mind stimulating courses that allowed me to view the world from various perspectives while challenging myself to venture down the rabbit hole. I would also like to sincerely thank you for jumping onboard to be part of my supervisory committee on such short notice. Thank you to all Communication Department faculty, staff and students that I have been given the pleasure to be around during my tenure at Boise State University. My growth as a scholar as well as a person is dedicated to your intellect, passion and camaraderie towards me. vi ABSTRACT This study investigates the power of stories told within Caribbean dancehall music and culture that present “good reasons” that are adopted by members of that culture. In addition, these “good reasons” were further investigated through participants’ communicative cultural performances at two dancehall related events. I adopted a qualitative interpretive approach to data collection and employed Walter Fisher’s narrative paradigm theory to engage in narrative analysis of collected Caribbean dancehall stories. My findings show that dancehall stories reveal powerful ideological frames that “naturalize” ways of being within Caribbean dancehall culture. Moreover, various relationships between “good reasons” presented in lyrical stories and the adoption of these “good reasons” by participants in their own stories emerged as well. Additionally, a relationship between the “good reasons” presented in participant stories and the communicative cultural performances of these stories also supported Fisher’s test of “good reasons” as useful in looking to narrative probability and narrative fidelity as criteria for analysis. Such an analysis allows for “insiders” of Caribbean dancehall culture to critically assess their cultural realities while enlightening “outsiders” on the power of stories through ideological frames and Fisher’s “good reasons” that is argued to be applicable in understanding the (re)formation process of cultures through stories. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .......................................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................................... vi ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Origin and Themes of Dancehall Music ....................................................................... 5 Narrative Paradigm Theory ......................................................................................... 12 Culture......................................................................................................................... 14 Communicative Cultural Performances Characteristics ................................. 16 Communicative Cultural Performances Manifestations ................................. 18 Power Relations in Communication ........................................................................... 22 Language ......................................................................................................... 23 Ideological Frames .......................................................................................... 25 Entering into the Conversation ................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER TWO: METHOD ................................................................................................. 29 Interpretivism .............................................................................................................. 29 Time and Place ............................................................................................................ 30 Demographic ............................................................................................................... 31 Participants .................................................................................................................. 31 Data Collection Techniques ........................................................................................ 32 viii Interviews ........................................................................................................ 32 Participant-Observation .................................................................................. 33 Material Artifacts Collection .......................................................................... 35 Approach to Data Analysis ......................................................................................... 35 CHAPTER THREE: FINDINGS ............................................................................................ 37 Dancehall Ideological Frames ..................................................................................... 37 Don and Flamboyant Showmanship ............................................................... 39 Sex, Heterosexuality and Vulgarity ................................................................ 45 Spirituality....................................................................................................... 50 Good Reasons in Dancehall Ideological Stories ......................................................... 54 Don and Flamboyant Showmanship Good Reasons ....................................... 56 Sex, Heterosexuality, and Vulgarity Good Reasons ....................................... 59 Spirituality Good Reasons .............................................................................. 62 CHAPTER FOUR: DISCUSSION ......................................................................................... 66 Limitations and Future Directions .............................................................................. 71 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 75 APPENDIX A ......................................................................................................................... 81 Interview Guide for In-Person Interviews .................................................................. 81 APPENDIX B ......................................................................................................................... 85 Informed Consent........................................................................................................ 85 APPENDIX C ......................................................................................................................... 88 Recruitment Email Script ............................................................................................ 88 APPENDIX D ......................................................................................................................... 90 ix Face to Face Script ...................................................................................................... 90 APPENDIX E ......................................................................................................................... 92 IRB Approval Letter ................................................................................................... 92 x 1 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Academic research abounds on the topic of stories and its affect on listeners. More precisely,