Preferred Name
Leanna Smithberger
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
ORCID
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6447-6011
Date of Graduation
Spring 2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
School of Communication Studies
Advisor(s)
Alison Fisher Bodkin
Abstract
This thesis is a personal exploration of American car culture — the roads the enable it, the everyday actions that sustain it, and the values that justify it. I use a constellation of mobilities, autoethnography, and rhythmanalysis in order to generate a glimpse into the rhythm of our road-centered culture — how it shapes and constrains our lives in mundane and extraordinary ways, why it is largely taken for granted, and why it is so stubbornly persistent. I use a variety of artistic, evocative methods, including narrative, poetry, and music, because I argue that knowing is not enough — we must feel it in our guts if we ever hope to enact change. I contribute the explicit use of rhythmanalysis as a way of bridging the divide between mobilities and autoethnography, and the use of music composition as a method of inquiry.
Recommended Citation
Smithberger, Leanna K., "A tank full of wishful thinking: Crystallizing the rhythms of the road" (2016). Masters Theses, 2010-2019. 125.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/master201019/125
