The Influence of Family Storytelling and Sequestering on Mothers' Legacies in Appalachia A d

252 Pages·2015·1.63 MB·English

“I Have Blocked out so Much”: The Influence of Family Storytelling and
Sequestering on Mothers’ Legacies in Appalachia

A dissertation presented to
the faculty of
the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University

In partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree
Doctor of Philosophy

Angela N. Huffman
December 2015
© 2015 Angela N. Huffman. All Rights Reserved.
This dissertation titled
“I Have Blocked out so Much”: The Influence of Family Storytelling and
Sequestering on Mothers’ Legacies in Appalachia

by
ANGELA N. HUFFMAN

has been approved for
the School of Communication Studies
and the Scripps College of Communication by

Lynn M. Harter
Professor of Communication Studies

Scott Titsworth
Dean, Scripps College of Communication
ii
Abstract
HUFFMAN, ANGELA. N., Ph.D., December 2015, Communication Studies
“I Have Blocked out so Much”: The Influence of Family Storytelling
and Sequestering on Mothers’ Legacies in Appalachia
Director of Dissertation: Lynn M. Harter
Appalachia is a region riddled with many forms of poverty amidst family legacies
of struggle, survival, or success. Communication researchers are interested in how
communication through storytelling is related to these various legacies, with hopes of
someday influencing more family legacies of success and less struggle. Employing
interviews with ten pairs of mothers and daughters as well as my autoethnographic
writing, I explored women’s role in family storytelling to influence family legacies. In
addition to sharing stories, sequestering stories emerged as a major theme working to
foster and disrupt family legacies. I have also discussed the findings, their implications,
and future areas of study.
iii
Dedication

To the women and my girls:
Be courageous, be vulnerable, be authentic and know that you are stronger than you’ve
thought; you can do difficult things.

iv
Acknowledgments
Like raising a child, this type of endeavor takes a village; I would never suggest I
have come this far on my own. I simply could not have devoted time and energy without
those professors, colleagues, and friends who believed in me; my parents who supported
me emotionally and financially; and Cam who occasionally brought me coffee and kept
Lil’ Bit out of the office. Many academically encouraging souls were classmates and
professors who inspired, taught, and learned with me along the way. A special thanks to
Dr. Harter and my committee members who guided and endured my journey. Sandy,
Melissa, and Rachael who taught me about sacrificial sharing, and who sustained my soul
with food and deep friendship in unlikely places and times.
I want to thank those who left me with stories I have sequestered, for the evil you
intended will be...mostly forgotten within the ellipse, and through that you have taught
me both that I am stronger than we thought and that the power of obstructing your
devious plans rests in the acts of sequestering and storytelling.
Finally, I want to acknowledge what moved me and brought me tears so often—
the sacred sharing of lives from the generous women of Wood County who welcomed me
into their homes and families. What I learned from them truly changed me, and that will
change the lives I might influence.

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Table of Contents
Page
Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii
Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv
Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... v
List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... ix
Prologue .............................................................................................................................. 1
Chapter I: Introduction and Problem Statement ................................................................. 7
Family Legacies and Storytelling ................................................................................. 10
Legacies. ................................................................................................................... 11
Family storytelling. ................................................................................................... 12
Problem of Poverty ....................................................................................................... 12
Intergenerational poverty in Appalachia. .................................................................. 17
Narrative Theory ........................................................................................................... 22
Narrative and identity construction. .......................................................................... 25
Narrative and Family Communication literature. ..................................................... 26
Summary and Research Questions ............................................................................... 29
Chapter II: Interpretive Methodological Approach .......................................................... 31
Discourse Collection through Fieldwork ...................................................................... 32
Sampling Plan ............................................................................................................... 32
Sample size. .............................................................................................................. 33
Saturation. ................................................................................................................. 34
Interviews ...................................................................................................................... 35
Discourse Analysis ....................................................................................................... 37
Autoethnography .......................................................................................................... 39
Conceptualizing Rigor .................................................................................................. 40
Researcher’s positionality on rigor. .......................................................................... 41
Member checking. ..................................................................................................... 42
Aesthetic ....................................................................................................................... 44
vi
Practical Utility ............................................................................................................. 44
Reflexive Journaling ..................................................................................................... 45
Methodology Summary ................................................................................................ 46
Chapter III: The Function of Storytelling in Intergenerational Legacies between Mothers
and Daughters ................................................................................................................... 48
Story and Storytelling as a Resource ............................................................................ 49
Storytelling as a resource. ......................................................................................... 52
Story as Signpost or Navigation ................................................................................... 53
Illuminating confirmation. ........................................................................................ 53
Instructing roads. ....................................................................................................... 67
Absence. .................................................................................................................... 94
Function of Storytelling Summary ............................................................................. 101
Chapter IV: How Women Engage in Family Storytelling to Obtain Resources ............ 102
Family Storytelling as a Vehicle to Teach Resourcing ............................................... 104
Family Storytelling Avoided as Vehicle to Teach Resourcing................................... 105
Hesitation to Narrate ................................................................................................... 106
Hesitation with denial of storytelling (I don’t remember any stories). ................... 108
Hesitation and withholding. .................................................................................... 114
Interview process fostering reflexivity and disclosure. .......................................... 121
Narrating Metaphysical Maps ..................................................................................... 134
Narrating Mothers’ Lack of Resources ....................................................................... 142
Irrelevantly archaic stories: Life was just different. ............................................... 146
Mother as responsible antagonist: Mother guilt. ..................................................... 150
Mother benefits from daughter’s stories. ................................................................ 153
How Women Engage in Storytelling Summary ......................................................... 155
Chapter V: Sequestering Stories and Legacies ............................................................... 157
Storyteller Roles in Sequestering Legacies ................................................................ 158
Motivations to Sequester ............................................................................................ 160
Shame. ..................................................................................................................... 162
Sequestering to Avoid Inciting Mother Envy ............................................................. 167
To Sequester or Not .................................................................................................... 173
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Experiencing Sequestered Stories: The Problem, Not the Solution ........................... 176
Selfish sequestering. ............................................................................................... 177
Autoethnographic rendering. .................................................................................. 178
Sacred Spaces: Reflexive Autoethnographic Account ............................................... 181
Sacred Listening with Women: Tears of Sympathy, Isolation, and Empathy ............ 181
Tears of sympathy. .................................................................................................. 181
Tears of isolation. .................................................................................................... 182
Tears of empathy. .................................................................................................... 184
Sacred Talking with Mom: Effects of Storytelling to Combat Shame ....................... 185
Sacred Dreaming for Daughters: “Make it a Party!” .................................................. 186
My Story: Sharing and Sequestering .......................................................................... 192
Chapter VI: Conclusion, Discussion, and Suggestions for Future Research .................. 195
Summary of Study ...................................................................................................... 195
Interpretation of Findings ........................................................................................... 197
Implications and Future Directions ............................................................................. 200
References ....................................................................................................................... 206
Appendix A: IRB Approval ............................................................................................ 218
Appendix B: IRB Project Form ...................................................................................... 219

viii
List of Tables
Page
Table 1. Potential Resources from Payne et al. (2009) ...................................................16

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Prologue
The stranger smiled politely, but her brow was furrowed with concern as I
mindlessly ran over her with my shopping cart. Apologizing, I immediately came to
realize that not only was I mentally spaced-out, my lipstick and hairspray had long worn
off, as Mama so often warned would happen, and my neglected daughter was
whimpering as she tipped over in the cart. I expected to feel embarrassed, but I just felt
emotionally penniless, at least in comparison to the past few months. For the first time I
had endless access to my husband’s account, and yet I had never felt so poor, lacking
something I could not purchase. Was there fight or resiliency left?
For weeks, pain throbbed in every part of my body, and my face flushed with
humiliation even in privacy. I felt as if I was tied to a chair out in the open and forced to
watch a movie reel torturing me with glimpses of the unimaginably wicked stories I had
confirmed had happened, and my imagination ran wild concocting stories of what else
probably happened. I tried to ignore my feelings, but the pain just became a constant dull
roar under every smile and happy moment. If I fed the pain, it grew and gnawed
consumingly to the point I thought I would tear at my own flesh if I didn’t tear that of the
not-so-innocent bystander (or run over them with a shopping cart). I never knew I could
harbor such mean thoughts, and I was sorely disappointed at my inability to forgive and
love my enemies as my church had taught. For my well-being, or perhaps just for spite, I
chose mostly to deny and hide from the meanness, but mostly from the pain, because
when it found me, it pounced hard, bowling me over whether we were alone or in public;
time seemed to not be a healer for this insatiable beast on a prowl. Poor in spirit, I was
now rich in experience.
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