Origin Myths: Performativity and the Geography of Meaning
Journal: DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library)
Year: 2018

Origin myths tell the founding of a place. They signify membership and locate in time and space by providing a context and etiology for identity that is historical, theological, social, and geographic. This identity, however, does not remain static as origin myths take on a performative quality because of the values they express. This thesis seeks to explore what origin myths reveal about the human relationship with place in an effort to understand the human values at stake in these myths. As co