Harold Bosstick (University of Louisiana, Lafayette)
I will examine how Discovery+’s series "Conjuring Ke$ha’s" hosts interact professional ghost hunters and hauntings, as well as the ways it complicates ostension. This show allows vicarious legend trippers audiences to engage with ostensive ostension; they are acting out the acting out of legends. By relying on the professional ghost hunters, pop musician Ke$ha and her guests engage with this ostensive ostension, complicating the ways in which legends are established, spread, and understood by the show’s audience. Drawing on folklore and ostension theories, I plan to address how this pattern impacts both future studies of ostensive practices and legend studies.
Part of V5-02 Ghost and Found, Thursday, October 12, 10:30 am–12:30 pm