UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE AT HOME IN THE LOWS: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF MEANING-MAKING IN INTIMATE SPACES A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By ELISHA R. OLIVER Norman, Oklahoma 2018 AT HOME IN THE LOWS: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF MEANING-MAKING IN INTIMATE SPACES A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY BY ______________________________ Dr. Betty Harris, Chair ______________________________ Dr. Sean O’Neil ______________________________ Dr. Lesley Rankin-Hill ______________________________ Dr. Kermyt Anderson ______________________________ Dr. Lupe Davidson © Copyright by ELISHA R. OLIVER 2018 All Rights Reserved. This dissertation is dedicated to those that believed in me. In the Spirit of Zora Neale Hurston In Memory of Annie Pearl Franklin Banks, and Chief Moses Gerald Starr Jr. Acknowledgements There are many people that I would like to thank for contributing abundantly towards my research and dissertation. First, I would like to thank my children, whose unconditional love and understanding of my many absences at family events was remarkable and heartfelt. I love you both with all of me. I would like to thank my family, whose continuous support carried me through the entirety of graduate school. I want to thank my research participants who have become friends over the years. The shared stories, seats at the table during your family gatherings, and words of safe-keeping have been, and remain priceless. To my wonderful and supportive doctoral committee at the University of Oklahoma, Dr. Betty Harris, Dr. Sean O’Neil, Dr. Lesley Rankin-Hill, Dr. K.G. Anderson, and Dr. Lupe Davidson, I would like to extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to you all. Your diligent work, support, mentoring, unwavering commitment, and guidance in bringing this research and dissertation to fruition has been remarkable and I am beyond appreciative. Each of you has other-mothered me in your own unique ways, and I thank you. When I felt that all was lost and, I did not have the strength to carry-on, you encouraged me. You all have taught me that beauty and humanity can exist in thrive in the academy. You all have demonstrated what ethical scholarship looks like. I would like to give a very special thanks to Dr. Betty Harris for believing in the quality of my research, and her fearless endeavors to stand down giants. Dr. Harris, you have provided the shoulders I needed to stand on, the seat and table for me to sit at, and the listening ear when I needed it most. I would also like to thank my “sheroes,” Dr. Misha Klein and Dr. Beverly Davenport for helping me find my voice within the discipline of anthropology. You both have allowed me to be me. You have shown me what strength and resilience looks like in the academy, and I thank you. iv Furthermore, I would like to thank those beloved friends and loved ones that have walked with me each step of this academic journey, called me (Suzette), performed fb-check- ins, made me laugh when I felt like crying, lifted me up when I couldn’t lift myself, made sure I had “school supplies (Chucky Fenster),” stayed up all night proof reading my dissertation before final submission (Ona) , and cheered me across the finish line. You are near and dear to my heart. Finally, thank you, Dean T.H. Lee Williams, and Dean Nancy LaGreca for listening when I needed to be heard. Salud, to you all!!!! v Table of Contents Acknowledgements . iv Table of Contents . vi Abstract . xv Introduction . 1 AT Home in The Lows -The First Space 1 It Depends on Who’s Looking: Beauty for Ashes or Just Plain Ol’ Ashes 3 Chapter 1: The Landscape of Returning Home . 7 Contested Language, Content, Home, and A Seat at the Table: And so, it begins 7 Letting Stories Breathe: Borderlands, Boundaries, and Narrativizing in The Lows 10 The Neighborhood 13 Livin’ In The Lows 13 Setting the Stage: A Look at El Roy 15 Space or Place? Sites, Semantics, Soliloquys, and Solidarities 17 Example 1.1: Ethnographic Conversations Snapshot 18 Dissertation Layout 23 Chapter Overview 25 Dissertation Writ Large 27 Chapter 2: Methods, Meaning-Making, and Me . 30 The Research Endeavor: People and Populations as Distrusting Research Partners 30 Example 2.1: Ethnographic Conversation Snapshot 31 Ethnographic Methods 32 Participant Observation & Interviewing 34 Participant Observation & Focus Groups 36 Social Network and Spatial Mapping 38 Visual Documentation 40 Recruitment of Participants and Compensation 40 Participants 41 Compensation and Reciprocity 43 Key Informants and Interlocutors 43 Example 2.2: Ethnographic Snapshot 45 Miss Fannie Lee 51 Sister Delora 53 Sister Janna 56 Miss Essie Mae 58 Ashiley and Krystal Mae 59 The Others 61 Performance, Being, and Multi-Sited & Multi-Faceted Ethnography 63 Privilege and Formal Anthropological Training 66 Writing and Voice 67 vi Data Analysis and Coding 68 Chapter 3: The Language of Returning Home . 70 The Language of Literature: Academic and Otherwise 70 Being and Emotion: Affect and Sentiment in The Lows 71 The Philosophy of Being and Emotion: The Anthropology of Affect and Sentiment 73 Example 3.1: Excerpt: Elie Wiesel 81 Example 3.2: Interview: Elroy Resident 82 Example 3.3: Poem Excerpt: Wendy Rose 82 Not Your Ordinary Third Space: Spaces and Third Space Theory 89 Example 3.4: Ethnographic Snapshot 91 A Life Worth Living in The Lows: Life Course Theory and Biopsychosocial Technologies 95 Example 3.5: Ethnographic Snapshot, Nellie Truitt 98 The Psychological at Home in The Lows 101 The Biological at Home in The Lows 106 My “Good Girl”, Philosophy, and Women of The Lows: History, Biopolitics, and Bioethics of Reproduction 108 Situating the Stakeholders 110 Example 3.6: Reproductive Health Focus Group Excerpt 110 Miss Louise, The Lows and The Politics of Life 115 Example 3.7: Ethnographic Conversation, Miss Louise 116 Example 3.8: Sexual and Reproductive Health Focus Group Responses 116 Rights? What are Rights? 117 Component 1: Immanuel Kant and I Can’t 118 Example 3.9: Interview Excerpt, TW 120 My “Good Girl” is Not for Sale 121 Example 3.10: Ethnographic Conversation Snapshot, Norma 125 Example 3.11: Ethnographic Conversation Snapshot, Adelia 125 The Bioethics of Life in The Lows 126 Component 2: The Male Gaze, Male Directed Medicalization, Multiple Voices, and The Masses 127 Example 3.12: Ethnographic Snapshot, Donna 128 Chapter 4: Intimate Spaces. 133 Peopling in Private and Public Places 133 Religion & Healing in The Lows: Greater Healing Hands and Heart Church and Mission 134 Syncretism: Community, Culture, and Curanderismo 135 Example 4.1: Ethnographic Snapshot, Tricia 140 Example 4.2: Ethnographic Snapshot, Tricia 140 Religion, Healing, and Empowerment in The Lows: Writing Intertwined Histories 143 Intertwined and Intimate: Narrating Violence and Empowerment 144 Relationships, Memory, and History 146 vii Sister Janna and The Language of Intention 146 Writing on the Mourner’s Bench 149 And, Then She Spoke: Songs and Speech of Suffering 150 Example 4.3: Ethnographic Vignette, Sister Janna 151 In the Key of E: Eugenia and Elisha 153 Example 4.4: Participant Writing, Eugenia 154 Example 4.5: Ethnographic Snippet, Eugenia 154 Example 4.6: Research Jotting, EO 154 Stories at the Stoop 155 Roxie M. 157 Example 4.7a: Ethnographic Narrative, Roxie 157 Example 4.7b: Ethnographic Narrative Response, Roxie 158 Pat 159 Example 4.8: Ethnographic Narrative, Pat 159 Mealtime at the Mission: Language, Love, and Food 160 Component 1: Ortner and Bourdieu in Dialogue at Mealtime: A Review of Space and Place 164 Example 4.9: Ethnographic Conversation, Miss J 164 Example 4.10: Ethnographic Conversation, Lanna 164 Bourdieu and Ortner 165 Example 4.11: Ethnographic Snippet, Rosie 166 Component 2: My Sense of Space, Place, and Position: The Auto-ethnography 168 Component 3: In Their Own Words: The Women Speak 171 Francesca 172 Example 4.12: Participant Poem, Francesca 172 Bethany 173 Example 4.13: Ethnographic Narrative, Bethany 173 Example 4.14: Ethnographic Interview, Tessa-hawk 174 Taking Care of the ‘Kitchen’ in the Kitchen 176 Example 4.15: Ethnographic Vignette, At home in the Kitchen 176 Spanking and Sparing Me on The Front Porch: Ms. Fannie Lee & Ms. Essie Mae 178 Example 4.16: Ethnographic Snapshot, Travis and Others 179 Chapter 5: Findings . 182 Folklife, Family, and Food 182 Themes & Questions 186 Theme 1: Intimate Spaces 186 Theme 2: Space, Health, and Healing 187 Question 1: What is the cultural significance of spaces within this community? 189 Question 2: In what ways do these spaces affect the biopsychosocial health of women in the neighborhood? 189 Question 3: How, and why do constructed intimate spaces facilitate the telling and sharing of narratives? 191 Example 5.1: A Message in the Story 192 Question 4: In what ways do the women living in The Lows make meaning of everyday lived experiences in a rural and aging community? 194 viii Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations . 196 Going Home to Be With The Lord: Beloved Soul 196 Situating Research and The Way Forward 203 Epilogue . 206 References . 209 Appendix A . 235 Appendix B . 242 Appendix C . 243 Appendix D . 244 Appendix E . 254 Appendix F . 258 Appendix G . 260 Appendix H . 263 Appendix I . 264 Appendix J . 265 Appendix K . 280 ix List of Tables Table Page Output: 001 – Ethnic Identity . 244 Output: 002 – Educational Attainment . 244 Output: 003 – Incarcerated in Oklahoma . 245 Output: 004 – Income Range . 245 Output: 005 – Employment Status . 246 Output: 006 – Religion . 246 Output: 007 – Intimate Relationships . 249 Output: 008 – Sexual Orientation . 247 Output: 009 – Participants with Children . 248 Output: 010 – Sexual Behavior . 248 Output: 011 - Assessment of Sexual Frequency .