This study of the Quonset Auditorium, one roadhouse among many on the regular tour route of R&B, gospel and country musicians in the post-World War II era (1947- 1959), illustrates the important role of roadhouses during a time of growth and change in popular music. It situates memories and experiences from the Quonset Auditorium in relation to regional and national movements of the day such as highway development, commercial and popular music, and the civil rights movement. With hindsight, we can see that the Quonset Auditorium stood at a crossroads as regards these social and technological movements of the post-WW II era and the metaphor of crossroads has been applied throughout this study. Roadhouses have received little detailed attention in literature about commercial music, and this study has meant to provide details from the Quonset Auditorium in order to flesh out the generalizations often made about roadhouses, and touring. This study has drawn primarily on oral accounts collected from a variety of individuals: musicians who performed there, past audience members and people with second hand memories of the Quonset. It also utilizes historical documents relating to the Quonset Auditorium in university yearbooks, newspapers and ledgers from show poster companies.

"Asho Orisha" suggests that the objects surrounding and the items clothing the Orisha of Santeria (also known as Lucumi or Orisha religion) form chains of signifiers tied to the theological and philosophical core of the religion. It focuses on the domestic displays devotees maintain for their deities on a day-to-day basis, the altar displays (thrones) created by devotees for the anniversarie's of their initiation into the priesthood, and the body of the new initiate (the iyawo). This work traces the ways in which theological concepts from Africa are redefined and reinterpreted in the Americas so as to maintain a consistent conceptual system in a new environment. It uses a combination of participant-observation, individual interviews and photographic documentation. It includes 13 photographs of altars and clothing. The focus of this work is divided into three principle sections. Chapter 3 looks at the altars as a whole to see the ways pre-colonial African, colonial Cuban and contemporary American ideas about how one presents and approaches the holy are incorporated into these displays. Chapter 4 looks at the portions of displays devoted to six major Orisha (Obatala, Shango, Yemaya, Oshun, Ogun and Eleggua) and suggests that color forms a primary semiotic system. An analysis of color symbolism aids in the analysis of the other objects found in these displays. Chapter 5 extends this semiotic analysis to include the initiation experience and the extended liminal period of the iyawoage. Like the altar displays, the iyawo embodies the Orisha and thus functions as a mobile sacred site. The construction of the persona of the iyawo and the rules surrounding the iyawoage are fruitfully interrogated to explicate additional theological and philosophical concepts. Issues of cross-gender and cross-status dress highlight the ways that clothing serves as a symbolic system to maintain Yoruba ideas about the sacred relationships embodied in the iyawo. Chapter 6 concludes this work with a discussion of the place of Spanish terminology and Catholic imagery within the semiotic system and briefly discusses the ways in which the religious displays work as mnemonic devices.

<p> The principal objective of this study was to understand the Macedonian psyche, more specifically the cultural layer of the psyche that makes this group unique, using the insights of depth psychology. The study addressed the question regarding how the myths and rituals about birth and dying have contributed to the formation of cultural, national, and personal identity, and how the complex of the culture is deeply embedded in individual and group psyches. Taking a historical perspective on Macedonian identity, beliefs, and rituals, this study contributes to the discussion about the role of the archetypal, collective, cultural, and symbolic function of the psyche in the creation of identity and culture. Narrative inquiry was utilized in this study. Specifically, through the narratives of 4 participants, the psychic processes involved in the identity formation and change influenced by certain cultural forms, such as traditional beliefs and ritualistic practices, are described. Subsequently, by analyzing the mythical beliefs and investigating the archetypal material that lies in the heart of a culture, a cultural complex was identified and examined.</p><p> Seven themes discovered in this study along with the analysis of the myth, which mirrors the Macedonian group psyche, offer a comprehensive depth psychological understanding of the phenomenon of the Macedonian <i>cultural complex of inferiority and smallness</i>, explaining the bipolarity of the complex with its destructive and constructive manifestations in the group and individual behavior. A transgenerational trauma of oppression and continued grieving for the loss of a hero/father figure underlie the complex of inferiority and smallness.</p><p> The study concluded with the discussion about healing of the complex, illuminating psychology that strives to understand, experience, and consciously embrace the loss. An area in need of further depth perspective research is a cross-cultural inquiry regarding group complexes and their interaction between nations in volatile parts of the world, such as the Balkans.</p><p> Key Words: Cultural Complex, Jung, Myth, Ritual, Macedonia, Psyche, National Identity, Transgenerational Trauma, Depth Psychology.</p>

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<p> This Humanistic Social Science Dissertation is an exploration of the continuing belief in fairies as real in spite of over a millennium of sociopolitical and religious pressures aimed at the extinguishment of fairies. In this qualitative, phenomenological study, the belief narratives of eight subjects' encounters with fairy beings are examined.</p><p> For the purpose of this dissertation, the word fairy is based on but not limited to fairy scholar Katherine Briggs' definition and classification, which includes all spirits of the supernatural realms, except for angels, devils, or ghosts (i). Thus, "fairy" includes sylphs, subtle or intermediate beings, light fairies, nature elementals, pixies, leprechauns, elves, changelings, and brownies to name but a few. The fairy beings encountered by the interviewees are reflected against Celtic folklore established in classic works like Reverend Robert Kirk's 1691 manuscript (47) and Walter Yeeling Evans-Wentz 1911 thesis.</p><p> Depth Psychology and science provide two additional lenses to explore fairy phenomena and belief since this dissertation seeks to investigate the relationship between reality and imagination, and between tradition, experiential knowing, and belief. Moreover, counterevidence and arguments to the prevailing cultural wisdom and beliefs that fairies and imaginal beings are impossible are examined. This study approaches the interviews from a perspective of cultural mythology and phenomenology with both emic and etic interests. The subjects experienced a moment of gnosis with fairy encounters and subsequently believed with unshaking resolve that fairies are real and true. In this context, C.G. Jung's concepts of the archetype and Henri Corbin's theories regarding the psychoid realm are helpful in understanding the Celtic Otherworld and Land of Fairy.</p><p> A constituent invariant model was developed to organize the data, and facilitated the emergence of key themes, including corroborated sightings, surprising shadows, and messages from nature beings. The belief in fairies continues and is part of an evolving, contemporary, and nature-based mythology that is very much alive.</p>

<p> This ethnographic study will analyze data collected through field-based observations, primary ritual texts, and locally conducted interviews of the yin-yang practitioners in the three small villages of Fanmagou, Qijiazhuang, and Wangdazhuang in northwestern China. The practice referred to as yin-yang in this region is part of an archaic folk religious system that can be traced back to at least the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Despite its deep cultural roots, it is becoming endangered due to the impact of national policies (governing religion and culture) and the general adaptation to modernity in China. Due to the localized nature of this cultural system, the main research method used will be qualitative ethnographic description, with a Geertzian "thick description" approach to interpretive analysis. The collected data is roughly divided into three categories: (1) transcriptions of interviews with yin-yang practitioners and other local villagers; (2) video tapes, photographs, and field notes of local religious rituals, specifically memorial and burial rites that are led by the yin-yang practitioners, and (3) my own translations of yin-yang scriptural texts that are used in leading the rituals themselves, as well as for the teaching and training of young yin-yang apprentices. The interpretive ethnography that is produced from these rich primary sources will also be considered for its curriculum applications in two primary higher education contexts: 1) As a rich primary source for courses in Chinese culture and language&mdash;conducted in either Chinese or English language context, and 2) As a source of engaging and culturally relevant texts for courses in content-based ESOL for Chinese students (in China presumably).</p>

<p> While studies of fantastic literature have often focused on their structural and genre characteristics, less attention has been paid to the manner in which they address social issues and concerns. Drawing on theoretical, taxonomic, and historical approaches, this study argues that 19th-century England represented a key period of transformation during which fantastic literature evolved away from its folkloristic, mythic, and satirical origins and toward the modern genres of science fiction, feminist fantasy, and literary horror. </p><p> The thesis examines the subversive and transformative function of the fantastic in nineteenth-century British literature, particularly how the novel <i> Frankenstein</i> (1831), the poem &ldquo;Goblin Market&rdquo; (1862), and the novel <i>Dracula</i> (1897) make deliberate uses of the materials of fantastic literature to engage in social and cultural commentary on key issues of their time, and by so doing to mark a significant transformation in the way fantastic materials can be used in narrative.</p><p> <i>Frankenstein</i> took the materials of the Gothic and effectively transformed them into science fiction, not only through its exploration of the morality of scientific research, but more crucially through its critique of systems of education and the nature of learning. "Goblin Market " transformed the materials of fairy tales into a morally complex critique of gender relations and the importance of women's agency, which paved the way for an entire tradition of such redactions among later feminist writers. <i>Dracula</i> draws on cruder antecedents of vampire tales and the novel of sensation to create the first modern literary horror novel, while addressing key emerging anxieties of nationalism and personal identity. </p><p> Although historical connections are drawn between these three key works, written at different points during the nineteenth century, it does not argue that they constitute a single identifiable movement, but rather that each provided a template for how later writers might adapt fantastic materials to more complex literary, social, and didactic ends, and thus provided a groundwork for the more complex modern uses of the fantastic as a legitimate resource for writers concerned with not only sensation, but significant cultural and social concerns.</p>

During the nineteenth century there were considerable changes in the social life and economy of south Lincolnshire. Rapid population growth to the middle of the century and agricultural change led to the development of new ways of life among the people of the area. Their attitudes were shaped by the particular local community in which they lived and by how and where they earned their livings.The Primitive Methodists entered south Lincolnshire in 1817. Their preaching was appropriate to the needs of the people in this period. It gave a sense of coherence and significance to the lives of its converts, although in the early stages of their activities the Primitives also incurred the hostility of crowds who sought to maintain traditional patterns of behaviour. By the 1830s this type of communal action seems to have disappeared in south Lincolnshire, leaving only clandestine acts as a vehicle for rural protest. The Primitives, who were establishing their place in the new social order, appear to have had no links with these protesters but concentrated their energies on building up the structures of the connexion.By the time of the 1851 Census of Religious Worship Primitive Methodist chapels tended to be concentrated in open villages where the connexion was free to develop into an established part of the lives of these communities. As they became increasingly concerned with maintaining and servicing the connexion's institutions the Primitive Methodists avoided any action which would threaten their position, while their local communities were brought into contact with the wider world of nonconformity through the connexion's organisation and links with the towns of the area. This development paralleled that of other bodies and by 1875 Primitive Methodism was one of a number of village organisations from which the rural worker could draw social and spiritual sustenance.

A synonym for "dealing with", "coping up" is a common Zambian expression in the 1990's' as households face pressing problems in the context of economic hardship and HIV/AIDS. Through the lens of seven rural households in Chiawa (a chieftaincy on the banks of the Zambezi River), this thesis explores the capacity of households to deal with a series of adversities and changes over a period of four years. The influence of locality and, at another level, national trends are taken into account, but the focus is on how and how well each household has coped in the face of four separate adverse events, a dysentery epidemic, a drought, the introduction of fees in government health facilities and schools, and the terminal illness and untimely death of a young adult. The capacity of households to deal with the HIV/AIDS epidemic is then examined.Overall the households differ in their capacity to deal with these events, but, though each event demands particular responses, resources and strategies, the pattern that emerges is, with the important exception of HIV/AIDS, consistent. Leaving the latter aside, it is possible to rank the households along a scale of high to low capability, to reveal how some households slide up and down the scale over time, and to tease out which resources determine coping well and coping badly in a Chiawa context.HIV/AIDS however, is unlike other adversities. Households ranked as the most capable in relation to the other events are not necessarily able to protect themselves against HIV infection - indeed it is sometimes their relative success in other spheres that puts them at particular risk. The thesis concludes that even 'high capability' households have yet to adapt to the presence of HIV/AIDS in their community, and to develop support systems to prevent its further spread.A parallel theme in the thesis is the capacity of anthropology and anthropologists to conduct research which is ethically sensitive and can usefully be applied to HIV/AIDS interventions.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on April 1, 2008) Includes bibliographical references.