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，因为它们发生在对一种自然现象的不祥叙述的各种讲述中，即“火球故事”。在之前的实地考察（2006年和2007年的夏天）中，在阿拉斯加白令海西南海岸的一个450人的中央Yup'ik社区Scammon Bay， CoPI Katrin Simon在口头叙述中注意到一个新出现的主题，那就是“火球”。这是一种危险的海洋生物，它们以火球或燃烧的手的形式来到村庄，杀死不礼貌的社区成员。当代的斯卡蒙湾居民害怕受到这些邪恶祖先的袭击，并用火球的故事来解释坏运气、社会不安、冲突和死亡。通过研究这个故事的历史和记录它的当代表达范围，西蒙将研究叙事和艺术生产如何反映和塑造当代雅皮士生活的社会现实。阿拉斯加西南部的接触史是由西方信仰和政治经济体系的引入带来的严重破坏。据推测，“火球现象”是一个中心隐喻，以一种非破坏性的方式向斯卡蒙湾的人们阐明了现代社会的弊病；从而加强Yup'ik人？在社会快速变化的环境中恢复能力。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局势的方式。通过分析创意活动、殖民历史和冲突解决之间的联系，该项目探索了Yup'ik人如何利用艺术和讲故事来更新与传统文化的关系，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.