Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 8-2019 Thylacine Dreams: The Vernacular Resurrection of an Extinct Marsupial Daisy M. Ahlstone Utah State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Ahlstone, Daisy M., "Thylacine Dreams: The Vernacular Resurrection of an Extinct Marsupial" (2019). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 7563. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7563 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THYLACINE DREAMS: THE VERNACULAR RESURRECTION OF AN EXTINCT MARSUPIAL by Daisy M. Ahlstone A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in English Approved: ______________________ ___________________ Lynne S. McNeill, Ph.D. Christine Cooper-Rompato, Ph.D. Major Professor Committee Member ______________________ ____________________ John McLaughlin, Ph.D. Richard S. Inouye, Ph.D. Committee Member Vice Provost for Graduate Studies UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 2019 ii Copyright © Daisy Ahlstone 2019 All Rights ReserveD iii ABSTRACT Thylacine Dreams: The Vernacular Resurrection of an Extinct Marsupial by Daisy M. Ahlstone, Master of Arts Utah State University, 2019 Major Professor: Dr. Lynne S. McNeill Department: English This thesis explores the vernacular resurrection of the thylacine through folk art and ostension. The thylacine, better known as the Tasmanian tiger, is a marsupial that suffered a government-sanctioned massacre leading to its extinction in 1936. The thylacine’s cryptid status has inspired ostensive practice; people not only actively seek out the thylacine in the wilderness of Tasmania today and share their sightings online, but they have also incorporated the thylacine as a symbol of hope and perseverance into various forms of folk art. There have been upwards of five thousand documented sightings of the thylacine since its extinction. This documentation can take the form of amateur or phone-recorded films, or sightings described in interviews for local news agencies. Some people have even found allegeD biological remains of the thylacine and have described hearing its unique call. In addition to these types of legend-tripping activities, the thylacine is also represented in a variety of folk-art forms, including digital, painted, and hand-drawn artwork, written fiction, fiber arts, and costuming. This content is shared widely across the internet. iv Keeping the thylacine alive through the creation of folk art and legend-tripping search parties helps thylacine enthusiasts cope with the guilt for having lost an ecologically important animal due directly to ignorance and financial gain. If the thylacine is resurrected, whether literally or figuratively, people can symbolically undo some of the damage they have caused the natural world. Thus, the vernacular resurrection of the thylacine, understood through a folklorist lens, offers a model for comparing some of the vernacular ways that people are presently dealing with the general loss of wildlife due to climate change. (156 pages) v PUBLIC ABSTRACT Thylacine Dreams: The Vernacular Resurrection of an Extinct Marsupial Daisy M. Ahlstone This thesis explores the folk resurrection of the thylacine through artwork and symbolic interaction. The thylacine, better known as the Tasmanian tiger, is a marsupial that suffered a government-sanctioned massacre leading to its extinction in 1936. The thylacine’s status as a hidden animal has inspired what folklorists call “ostensive practice”; people not only actively seek out the thylacine in the wilderness of Tasmania today and share their sightings online, but they have also incorporated the thylacine as a symbol of hope and perseverance into various forms of folk art. There have been upwards of five thousand documented sightings of the thylacine since its extinction. This documentation can take the form of amateur or phone-recorded films, or sightings described in interviews for local news agencies. Some people have even found allegeD biological remains of the thylacine and have described hearing its unique call. In addition to these types of legend-tripping activities, the thylacine is also represented in a variety of folk-art forms, including digital, painted, and hand-drawn artwork, written fiction, fiber arts, and costuming. This content is shared widely across the internet. Keeping the thylacine alive through the creation of folk art and legend-tripping search parties helps thylacine enthusiasts cope with the guilt for having lost an vi ecologically important animal due directly to ignorance and financial gain. If the thylacine is resurrected, whether literally or figuratively, people can symbolically undo some of the damage they have caused the natural world. Thus, the vernacular resurrection of the thylacine, understood through a folklorist lens, offers a model for comparing some of the vernacular ways that people are presently dealing with the general loss of wildlife due to climate change. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would especially like to thank Dr. Lynne S. McNeill for all her guidance, intelligence and support throughout the creation of this work. I would also like to thank my other committee members, Drs. Christine Cooper-Rompato and John McLaughlin, for their support and assistance throughout my entire writing and graduate school process. I would also like to thank Drs. Lisa Gabbert and Jeannie Thomas for their enduring belief in me as a folklore scholar, and for their guidance through my master’s program. I give special thanks to my family, friends (especially Shelley J, Camille S-P, and David T), and USU Folklore Program and English Department colleagues for their encouragement, moral support, and patience as I worked my way from an initial proposal to this final document. Thank you for all the free front-office candies and heart-to-heart conversations about life and education. I could not have done it without all of you. Daisy M. Ahlstone viii CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... iii PUBLIC ABSTRACT....................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ X LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................... 3 Current Sightings ................................................................................................ 5 Why the Thylacine? ........................................................................................... 9 Why the Folk?.................................................................................................... 19 Why Folklore? .................................................................................................. 23 Methodology ..................................................................................................... 25 II. LEGEND AND THE THYLACINE ............................................................... 31 What is a Legend?............................................................................................. 31 Black Dogs and Terrible Wolves...................................................................... 34 Vampiric Tendencies ....................................................................................... 36 Ostension and Ostensive Action....................................................................... 40 “Still Out There” Legends ............................................................................... 42 Cryptozoology................................................................................................... 44 Rebranding the Legends .................................................................................. 54 III. ART AND THE THYLACINE...................................................................... 56 A Brief Discussion of Elite Thylacines.......................................................... 59 Thylacine Folk Art ......................................................................................... 63 Stripy Patterns................................................................................................. 64 The Artists ...................................................................................................... 74 Material Behavior .......................................................................................... 94 Ostensive Practice .......................................................................................... 95 Creation of Art as Ostensive Practice............................................................. 96 IV. CRITICAL CONNECTIONS......................................................................... 98 Making an Absence Feel Present...................................................................