Queer and posthumanism interpretations of Newfoundland fairylore

Langford Barlow, Cameron (2023) Queer and posthumanism interpretations of Newfoundland fairylore. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Newfoundland fairylore has been extensively researched and documented since the early 1960s. In addition to the collection of thousands of archival materials, two canonical texts published in the early 1990s have been written on the subject. Additionally, numerous graduate theses have covered the topic since the publication of these two volumes. Each of these interpret the tradition differently. This thesis suggests that alternative interpretations to the tradition can be extrapolated though queer and posthuman theories. Such re-readings allow for alternative disciplinary trajectories that support and reveal queer and BIPOC interpretations of our historical archives. Relying on the works of queer theorists, the first interpretation suggests that a queer re-reading understands fairy encounters as sites of queer experience and potentiality. The second interpretation demonstrates how elements of these encounters reveal the fairies to be an example of queer posthuman ontology. My goal is to offer a queer interpretation of this tradition in order to fulfill a recent call to queer folkloristics made by Kay Turner (2021). In fulfilling this call, I demonstrate how the discipline of folklore can be more closely aligned with the trans- and interdisciplinary approaches of queer and posthuman theories.

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