Doctoral Dissertation Research: Artistic Production and Oral Tradition in a Yup'ik Community: The Scammon Bay "Fireball Story"

本研究的重点是当代Yup'ik文化的表达，因为他们发生在不同的讲述一个不祥的叙述自然现象，“火球的故事。在之前的实地调查（2006年和2007年夏天）中，在阿拉斯加白令海西南部海岸的斯卡蒙湾（Scammon Bay），一个有450人的中央Yup'ik社区，记录采访时，CoPI的Katrin Simon在口头描述中注意到一个新兴的主题，即“火球”。“这些是一种危险的海洋生物，他们以火球或燃烧的手的形式来到村庄，杀死没有礼貌的社区成员。当代斯卡蒙湾居民害怕这些邪恶的祖先的攻击，并采用火球的故事来解释厄运，社会不适，冲突和死亡。 通过研究这个故事的历史，并记录其当代的表达范围，西蒙将研究叙事和艺术作品如何反映和塑造当代Yup'ik生活的社会现实。阿拉斯加西南部的接触史一直是西方信仰和政治经济制度的引入所带来的严重破坏之一。据推测，“火球现象”作为一个中心的隐喻，阐明了斯卡蒙湾的人在一个非破坏性的方式现代社会弊病，从而加强Yup'ik人民？在社会快速变化的情况下的适应能力。据说“火球故事”为社区提供了治疗，提供了一种表达社会紧张关系的方式。通过分析创作活动、殖民历史和冲突解决之间的联系，该项目探讨了Yup'ik人如何使用艺术和讲故事来重建与传统文化的关系，并重新定义过去和现在。

The focus of this research is on expressions of contemporary Yup'ik culture as they occur through varied tellings of an ominous narrative of a natural phenomenon, the "fireball story." While recording interviews during previous fieldwork (summers of 2006 and 2007) in Scammon Bay, a Central Yup'ik community of 450 people, located on the southwestern shore of the Bering Sea in Alaska, the CoPI Katrin Simon noted an emergent theme in oral accounts, that of the "fireballs." These are a form of dangerous sea creatures who visit the village in the form of fiery balls or burning hands and kill ill-mannered community members. Contemporary Scammon Bay residents fear attacks by these sinister ancestral beings and employ the fireball story to explain bad luck, social malaise, conflict and death. By researching the history of this tale and recording its contemporary range of expressions, Simon will investigate how narrative and artistic production reflects and shapes the social realities of contemporary Yup'ik life. The history of contact in southwestern Alaska has been one of acute disruption brought on by the introduction of Western belief and political-economic systems. It is hypothesized that the "fireball phenomenon" acts as a central metaphor, articulating for the people of Scammon Bay modern-day social ills in a non-disruptive fashion; thus strengthening Yup'ik peoples? resilience in circumstances of rapid social change. The "fireball story" is said to provide healing for the community, offering a way to articulate societal tensions. By analyzing the connection between creative activities, colonial history and conflict resolution, this project explores the way Yup'ik people use art and storytelling to renew relationships to their traditional culture and redefine both past and present.