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Queering Blackpool: An Ethnographic Study
Eadon-Sinkinson, Helen
Eadon-Sinkinson, Helen
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2019-11
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Abstract
This research explores the notion of identity in relation to drag queens in the
seaside town of Blackpool in the North West of England. What I describe is
how this complex form of identity is composed not only from the appropriation
and cultural manipulation of gendered tropes, in terms of behaviours, dress,
and attitudes; but how identity is also composed from the socio-cultural place
of Blackpool within the Northwest of England; and from specific genres of
entertainment as they manifest in this sea-side town, which suffers from a high
level of deprivation. The research employs qualitative data collection methods
to build an understanding of how identity is created whilst exploring the
ethnographic structure and representation of the town of Blackpool which is
reflected in the analysis of the film through an autoethnographic lens. It
becomes autoethnographic as it is my personal reaction to the research. I
wanted to analyse my findings in terms of a qualitative visual ethnography and
critical reportage, which takes the form of a short film which was an appropriate
way to present the visual and socio-cultural representations of the data.
Blackpool’s identity has been shaped by its raucous history. Early examples
of dancing, drunken behaviour and prostitution at the Raikes Garden in the
1870s are documented by Walton (1998) as well as fairground style attractions
and a rising number of cheap drinking establishments to cater for the influx of
holidaymakers; all of which were difficult to police. Advertising the resort’s
entertainment attracted more working-class visitors creating a more downmarket holiday resort which continues to this day. The working-class history of
the town gives the resort a particular kind of focus. It also means that the town
is vulnerable; it is vulnerable to economic market change, problems of poverty,
and unemployment. Therefore, this thesis seeks to discuss the question: how
is Blackpool’s social history reflected in both the town and drag performance
spaces?
This thesis uses the theory of Bakhtin’s Carnival (1984) to highlight certain
aspects of the film in order to present the research through an appropriate
theoretical lens as well as appropriate supporting literature throughout. I felt it
appropriate to use Bakhtin, since even at the level of a superficial joke,
Bakhtin’s work is located in celebration, freedom, holiday and the superficial
preoccupations of historic and contemporary Blackpool. More significantly
perhaps Bakhtin was interested in how the world, in these contexts, can be
turned upside down, and what it means for order and identity to be essentially
forms of performativity, a theme central to my own work around identity and
place with respect to Blackpool.
Due to the nature and disclosure of some participants I decided to present
the data through the form of a film. Through the initial interview process, it
became apparent that some identities needed to be hidden as a means of
protecting both the participants and their families as sensitive details were
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discussed, however their stories still needed to be told. To both explore and
mitigate the problems that I have mentioned, visual ethnography seemed to
offer both a solution and an interesting way to convey meaning that would
otherwise be lost in text. By presenting the data in this way I am creating
characters. This becomes unavoidable, rather like the drag queen performers
who create characters, therefore I am paralleling that. By creating the
characters that are heard and deliberately filming various aspects of
Blackpool, I was able to join both person and place to create a visual means
that represents the journey and exploration that I went through as a researcher
and which further presents the data, as self and other, in the most appropriate
way. When I use the word ‘trans,’ I am referring to transvestites, transsexuals
and transgender people. Throughout this written part of this thesis, I will refer
to the visual aspect as ‘the film.’
Citation
Eadon-Sinkinson, H. (2019). Queering Blackpool: An Ethnographic Study (Doctoral dissertation). University of Chester, UK.
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University of Chester
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Thesis or dissertation
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en