This dissertation brings together critical and applied traditions in folklore studies to examine the potential of a performance-based methodology in diabetes health education. Beginning with an examination of health educators’ increasing attention to culture, I suggest that this “cultural turn” has opened up opportunities for educational practices that attend to the variety of resources people draw upon to make sense of diabetes. Using the tools of performance theory to analyze health education as performance, I reveal the educational value of creating spaces of dialogue where health educators and community members can engage explicitly with these multiple perspectives.
This project is based on fieldwork conducted between 2006 and 2009 on a variety of health education initiatives targeting at-risk populations in Central Ohio. Focusing my analysis on performances of personal experience narratives in formal and informal health education settings, I show how the dialogic nature of these performances does valuable work in helping other individuals make sense of their own experiences and inspire healthy lifestyle changes. At the same time, I raise questions about the assumptions underlying their messages as well as the limits of particular performance strategies for different audiences.
Ultimately, I argue that unscripted dialogue presents opportunities for effectively engaging with the process of how people create interpretive frameworks that accommodate different experiences and ways of knowing. Contestations and evaluations of knowledge claims are already taking place implicitly. It is therefore in the best interest of health educators not only to be aware that these evaluations are happening but to be open and willing to engage with them respectfully in face-to-face encounters. A performance-based methodology focused on creating spaces for explicit contextualization and response would contribute greatly to the work of health professionals engaged in the fight against diabetes.