Victoria Blake (University of Houston)
Tales of the supernatural have been interwoven into my family’s history for as long as I can remember. Intrinsic to these stories is the internal debate on belief and skepticism, a discussion often reenacted by the dueling performance of these retellings in which my mother takes on the role of sincere believer and my father that of the lighthearted skeptic. Through a compilation of these tales and the ways in which they are shared, this paper seeks to explore the greater themes present in these stories and what they might tell us about gender, solidarity, and faith in the face of crisis.
Part of V2-04 Belief and Bonding: Three Insider Explorations of Community Narrative and Ritual, Wednesday, October 11, 3:30 pm–5:30 pm