Date of Award
2015
Document Type
Open Access Dissertation
Department
Health Promotion, Education and Behavior
Sub-Department
Foundations of Education
First Advisor
Michelle Bryan
Abstract
Informed by both performance studies and collective memory theory, this study centers around Let Them Be Heard, a theatrical production that breathes life into the narratives of former slaves, performed at three plantation sites in the U.S. South. I seek to understand the lived experience of the performance through the eyes of three key stakeholder groups (plantation museum curators and docents, the director of the Let Them Be Heard production, and the show’s performers), and the impact of the performance on those individuals and on the plantation sites where the performances took place. Ultimately, I am attempting to discern the viability of positioning plantations sites on which such performances occur as educative spaces capable of fostering discussion around a deeper, more accurate representation of enslaved community members’ lived experiences in addition to contributing to the reinterpretation of the practice of slavery in the U.S. into a new, more complex way. I argue that performance pieces like Let Them Be Heard have the ability to foster and facilitate critical dialogue in/about spaces where marginalized voices are silenced intentionally.
Rights
© 2015, Stefanie Kate Benjamin
Recommended Citation
Benjamin, S. K.(2015). Telling a Different Narrative: Exploring the Values and Challenges of Performing Enslaved Community Members’ Stories at U.S. Southern Plantation Museums. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/3627