Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2008, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2019, Theatre

The Harlem Renaissance and New Negro Movement is a well-documented period in which artistic output by the black community in Harlem, New York, and beyond, surged. On the heels of Reconstruction, a generation of black artists and intellectuals—often the first in their families born after the thirteenth amendment—spearheaded the movement. Using art as a means by which to comprehend and to reclaim aspects of their identity which had been stolen during the Middle Passage, these artists were also living in a time marked by the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan and segregation. It stands to reason, then, that the work that has survived from this period is often rife with political and personal motivations. Male figureheads of the movement are often remembered for their divisive debate as to whether or not black art should be politically charged. The public debates between men like W. E. B. Du Bois and Alain Locke often overshadow the actual artistic outputs, many of which are relegated to relative obscurity. Black female artists in particular are overshadowed by their male peers despite their significant interventions. Two pioneers of this period, Georgia Douglas Johnson (1880-1966) and Eulalie Spence (1894-1981), will be the subject of my thesis. Both artists, whose work is in close conversation, were innovators in their field. In this thesis I will argue that black women like Johnson and Spence were true innovators during the Harlem Renaissance/New Negro Movement despite the fact that men like Locke and Du Bois are often seen as its figureheads. Johnson and Spence are salient examples for two key reasons. First, their work represents a false dichotomy—art vs. propaganda—which I will endeavor to refute. Second, their work, despite its differences, engages with many of the same themes related to feminism and intersectionality. While there has been an influx of research into the lives and work of such women as Johnson and Spence in recent years, my aim is to furthe (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jennifer Schlueter (Advisor); Beth Kattelman (Committee Member) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; Gender Studies; History; Theater; Theater History; Womens Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1999, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: American Studies

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 1924, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects:

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1953, Theatre

Committee: Elden T. Smith (Advisor) Subjects: Communication; Theater

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1953, Theatre

Committee: F. Lee Miesle (Advisor) Subjects: Theater

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1959, Theatre

Committee: Harold B. Obee (Advisor) Subjects: Theater

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1953, Theatre

Committee: Elden T. Smith (Advisor) Subjects: Communication; Theater

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 1953, Theatre

Committee: F. Lee Miesle (Advisor) Subjects: Theater

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1980, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Theater

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1980, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Literature

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1976, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Literature

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1961, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Theater

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1961, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Theater

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1961, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: Literature

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2006, English

Representations of the frontier through the early twentieth century have been subject to two sets of critical criteria: the conventional aesthetic expectations of the particular genres and forms in which westerns are produced, and the popular cultural demand for imitative “authenticity” or faithfulness to the “real west.” “In the Flesh” probes how literary history is bound up with the history of performance westerns that establish the criteria of “authenticity” that text westerns seek to fulfill. The dissertation demonstrates how the impulse to verify western authenticity is part of a post-Civil War American nationalism that locates the frontier as the paradigmatic American socio-topography. It argues that westerns produced in a variety of media sought to distance themselves from their status as art forms subject to the critical standards of particular genres and to represent themselves as faithful transcriptions of popular frontier history. The primary signifier of historicity in all these forms is the technical ability to represent authentic bodies capable of performing that history. Postbellum westerns, in short, seek to show their audiences history embodied “in the flesh” of western performers. “In the Flesh” is therefore divided into two sections: the first analyzes performance westerns, including stage drama, Wild West, and film, that place bodies on display for the immediate appraisal of audiences. Section two examines text westerns, including dime novels and Owen Wister's “The Virginian,” that are constrained to appropriate the conventions of performance to “display” in writing the bodies of their “authentic” western characters.

Committee: Chadwick Allen (Advisor) Subjects: Literature, American

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2009, English: Composition and Rhetoric

This dissertation analyzes the American Delsarte movement—a largely white, upper- and middle-class women's performance phenomenon from the 1880s to 1905—as well as Delsartists' work in creating what they called the “New Elocution.” Scholars of rhetorical history such as Nan Johnson and Robert Connors have touched on the Delsartists in their research and have begun the work of analyzing women's participation in the American elocutionary movement; nevertheless, extensive turf remains wholly unexplored concerning women's study of oratory in this era, in particular, considering why these women thought it the most vital discipline to study. My research therefore consists largely of a recovery project, bringing archival evidence to light and arguing that in the midst of what elocutionists called this “oratorical Renaissance,” American women were flocking in surprisingly large numbers to the study of expression and elocution—not as a “social grace,” as Leila McKee, one President of a woman's college of oratory put it in 1898, but as a means of “social power.” Turn-of-the-century women believed that this power was theirs for the taking if they knew how to speak with more eloquence and confidence in public; this motive has been overlooked, I argue, as has the means by which women meant to procure oratorical ability—by the study and practice of what I term “rhetorical performance.” This dissertation defines and analyzes the concept of rhetorical performance as it occurred within three different Delsarte-influenced sites: competition in oratorical contests, the demonstration of elocutionary skill via public recitals, and finally the use of rhetorical drama to advance arguments regarding women's rights.

Committee: Dr. Cindy Lewiecki-Wilson PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Dr. Katharine Ronald PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Dr. Katie Johnson PhD (Committee Member); Dr. Charlotte Newman Goldy PhD (Advisor) Subjects: Education History; Rhetoric; Womens Studies

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2012, Theatre

Since the emergence of outdoor historical dramas as popular summer tourist fare in the late 1950s and 1960s, Indian characters have played a dominant role in this theatrical genre. In many cases, the depictions of Native Americans in these dramas have remained static over the years and continue to portray Indigenous cultures in ways that reflect white constructions of the Indian “Other.” In some instances, such as in the cases of Unto These Hills and the Under the Cherokee Moon, Native Americans in the area surrounding the production site have instigated changes to the way their cultures are represented in these performances. This project is a historical study that analyzes production and performance choices which engage representations of Native Americans in outdoor historical dramas, representations that have historically tended toward reinscriptions of unhelpful stereotypes. Specifically, I analyze recent changes in these representations to explore how Native American cultures are now portrayed in this type of performance. The dramas I examine include Trumpet in the Land, The White Savage, Tecumseh!, Blue Jacket, Unto These Hills, and Under the Cherokee Moon. My research calls upon interviews with production participants, close readings of the productions, archival materials, and secondary sources. Instead of treating each production as a separate case study, I read across the various dramas in order to explore the issues that emerge from the representational practices of outdoor historical dramas. Some of the issues I consider include how the absence or presence of a Native American community in the area surrounding a productions affects the depictions of Native American cultures in the show; the Native American stereotypes that have tended to traditionally result from these dramas; the issues of accuracy and authenticity in the productions; and the changes that have been made to production choices, and thereby representations, in some outdoor dramas. The depict (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Scott Magelssen Ph.D. (Advisor); Jonathan Chambers Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lesa Lockford Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lynda Dixon Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Native Americans; Theater

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2009, Theatre and Film

In her edited volume "Plays for the End of the Century," Bonnie Marranca argues that “some of the most thoughtful plays written today join poetic language to a new spiritual energy that addresses metaphysical questions, the crisis of spirit, and theological concepts such as sin, redemption, evil, and grace“ formulated within an iconography of saints, angels, heaven, and hell” (xii). This project explores this issue, and demonstrates how playwrights dialogue with Christianity and culture in meaningful ways. The plays considered, which were not written for specifically Christian audiences, are Anne Chislett's Quiet in the Land (1983), David Rambo's God's Man in Texas (1998), Djanet Sears's The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God (2003), Arlene Hutton's As It Is In Heaven (2003), Craig Wright's Grace (2005), and Mark St. Germain's A Plague of Angels (2006). In examining Christianity in the contemporary moment, consideration is given to how these playscripts function in a culture where the modern and the postmodern are understood as conditions of knowledge, referencing Linda Hutcheon and Jean-Francois Lyotard. Combining biblical interpretation with script analysis and cultural criticism, connections between Christianity and theatre are explored, applying the theories of Philip Yancey, Robert Webber, and Brian McLaren, among others, to investigate a “new essentialism” in the contemporary cultural moment. The study also considers how the characters in these plays work to create, sustain, or consume culture, as well as if and how they engage in any type of “culture war.” Additionally, this study explores how these plays portray representatives of Christian faith as they experience moments of crisis, investigating the notion of doubt and its interconnectedness with faith. These considerations reveal connections between the plays and contemporary understandings and expressions of Christianity, investigating how the lives of the characters are religious, and how thes (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ronald E. Shields PhD (Advisor); Cynthia Baron PhD (Committee Member); Steve Boone MFA (Committee Member); Bruce Edwards PhD (Committee Member); Jonathan Chambers PhD (Other) Subjects: Theater

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2007, Theatre and Film

The Broadway musical Side Show, by Bill Russell and Henry Krieger, focuses on real-life conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, performers in the middle part of the 20th century. Side Show dramatizes the Hilton's rise to fame. Russell and Krieger's presumed objective with Side Show is to represent Daisy and Violet as individuals, which they succeed at doing. However, Russell and Krieger specify that the performers playing Daisy and Violet be separated. Therefore, Side Show's conjoined twins are not connected during the performance, taking away part of what made Daisy and Violet unique individuals. I begin with a brief overview of the historical Hilton sisters, then evaluating how Side Show succeeds and fails to valorize the Hilton twins. I conclude with a different way of performing the text than by following the specifications in the script, thereby offering a new mode to represent the “freaks” in Side Show.

Committee: Jonathan Chambers (Advisor) Subjects: Theater