Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Thylacine Dreams: The Vernacular Resurrection Of An Extinct Marsupial, Daisy M. Ahlstone

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis explores the folk resurrection of the thylacine through artwork and symbolic interaction. The thylacine, better known as the Tasmanian tiger, is a marsupial that suffered a government-sanctioned massacre leading to its extinction in 1936. The thylacine’s status as a hidden animal has inspired what folklorists call “ostensive practice”; people not only actively seek out the thylacine in the wilderness of Tasmania today and share their sightings online, but they have also incorporated the thylacine as a symbol of hope and perseverance into various forms of folk art.

There have been upwards of five thousand documented sightings of the …

The Bat And The Spider: A Folkloristic Analysis Of Comic Book Narratives, Wesley Colin Van De Water

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis examines the folkloric evolution of superhero narratives over the past century. Utilizing theories from folklorists such as Lord Raglan, Vladimir Propp, Joseph Campbell, Barre Toelken, and Alan Dundes, it examines the core qualities prized by folklorists, and how these same elements can be found in superhero narratives, despite their mass produced nature and place amidst American popular culture. It examines classic hero tale structures, as well as the folkloric theories of dynamism and conservatism. The main argument is that these narratives are folkloric in nature, and that the discipline of folklore would benefit from their study.