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ETD Abstract Container

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An experimental huristic for exploring the relationship between the Church of God and the practice of serpent handling in Appalachia

McVicar, Michael Joseph
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1407403315

Abstract Details

2004, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Comparative Studies.
The goal of this thesis is to offer an experimental heuristic for better understanding the emergence of the practice of ritual serpent handling in the Appalachian South during the first half of the twentieth century. I have derived this heuristic from the work of two prominent cultural theorists: Michel de Certeau and Bruno Latour. This heuristic explores the dramatic socio-economic and cultural changes that swept Appalachia in the early twentieth century and suggests that these changes can, in part, be understood by looking at the complex relationship between the inscription of modem industrial and communications networks and the reading and writing of signs. The central focus of this thesis is the complex relationship between the practice of serpent handling, an obscure Christian practice founded on a literal reading of the Gospel of Mark 16: 15-18, and the Church of God, a large Pentecostal denomination based in Cleveland, Tennessee. Through this specific historical study I attempt to describe an experimental heuristic device that focuses on 1) the creation of modem network systems such as railroad networks, telegraph and telephone networks, electrical grids, etc., and 2) moves on consider the relationship between these modern network systems and the act of reading and writing literary and legal texts. As such, this thesis strives to explore the analogous action of “writing” a literary text and the act of “weaving” a network of interconnected sites.
Hugh Urban (Advisor)
Daniel Reff (Committee Member)
Alan Beyerchen (Committee Member)
178 p.
Comparative

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Citations

  • McVicar, M. J. (2004). An experimental huristic for exploring the relationship between the Church of God and the practice of serpent handling in Appalachia [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1407403315

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • McVicar, Michael. An experimental huristic for exploring the relationship between the Church of God and the practice of serpent handling in Appalachia. 2004. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1407403315.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • McVicar, Michael. "An experimental huristic for exploring the relationship between the Church of God and the practice of serpent handling in Appalachia." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1407403315

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1407403315
516
© 2004, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.