Authentic Chameleons: Mythic Identity, Performative Trickster-ing, and the Potential of the Telephone Booth Moment

Authentic Chameleons: Mythic Identity, Performative Trickster-ing, and the Potential of the Telephone Booth Moment Public Deposited

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Creator

Walker, Tracy Deonn
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Communication

Abstract

Using the mythic Yoruba trickster figure Eshu-legba as a cultural and theoretical guide, I explore two sites of Western identity-play: the phone booth of the superhero icon Superman and the performance stage. This project probes my original script and live production, Authentic Chameleons, which incorporated an adaptation of a Yoruba myth and further extended my research through performance. The topics explored include: the embodiment of mutable identities as a theatrical tradition, the place of multiplicity in cultural performances, and the relationship between performance and identity. Analysis of the production functions to reformulate identity and reconfigure the cultural frameworks that allow for embodied ambivalence and plurality.

Date of publication