Oral narratives of the 1929 Newfoundland tidal wave: narrative functions, gender roles and commodification

Matte, Lynn Anne Marie (2006) Oral narratives of the 1929 Newfoundland tidal wave: narrative functions, gender roles and commodification. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Known in the vernacular as the Tidal Wave, the November 18th, 1929 tsunami that struck the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland is a pivotal point in the history of the region and its people. Stories of the event circulate in oral tradition, in narrative and song, as well as being recorded by the media and the popular press. Tidal Wave narratives offer insight into how its survivors remember and describe their communities, families and themselves before and after the disaster. The rapid technological advances of the twentieth century have distanced today's generation from the lifestyle and social structure that their grandparents experienced. The similarities and differences between the oral and written accounts of the Tidal Wave afford the opportunity to explore how individual and community or regional identities are constructed. Collective identity is conveyed through marketing strategies and public displays. Individual identity is relayed through gender and social roles within the larger social structures of the family and the community. Stories and images of the Tidal Wave have been commodified and sold as representative of Newfoundland culture. Narratives of the Tidal Wave continue to exist in oral tradition as legend and as part of family and regional folklore.

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