PhD Cohort 2022
HEI: University of Edinburgh
Funding: AHRC DTP
Project Title: Nackian Narratives: Storytelling and Ideology within Scotland’s Traveller Communities
Supervisor: Prof William Lamb; Dr Neill Martin
What was your research about?
My thesis examines the storytelling traditions of one of Scotland’s most iconic yet underrepresented ethnic minorities, known to officialdom and the wider population as ‘Travellers’. The originality of the thesis comes from the deployment of methodologies that are rarely utilised within the field of ethnology. Concepts drawn from folkloristics, oral history, narratology, onomastics and literary criticism are brought to bear on the Travellers’ rich oral storytelling traditions to present plausible explanations of their meanings. John Niles asserts that Traveller storytelling has a masterful ability to ‘communicate values and beliefs’ (1999: 165) and Donald Braid identifies one of its functions as the negotiation of difference with outsiders (2002: 46). Expanding on these insights, I view the diverse storytelling traditions within a framework that foregrounds social discourse and lived experience. To do this, I draw upon a large corpus of archival material that is currently underutilised in the literature on Traveller communities. Contemporary fieldwork results are also incorporated, enriching my archival analyses and giving voice to the most recent generations of Scotland’s Travellers. I demonstrate the sophistication of their storytelling traditions, arguing that careful analysis of the stories is crucial to our understanding of the Travellers’ unique cultural identities and worldviews. I show that Traveller storytelling traditions function as complex expressions of the communities’ ideological constitution. I reveal how the stories examined display a distinctive aesthetic that gives Traveller versions of well-known international tales nuanced, culturally significant meanings. These meanings function to ventriloquise group identities and problematise dominant sedentarist ideologies. Tensions between conflicting ideological imperatives are brought into sharp focus, demonstrating how valuable understandings of complex social relationships are woven into Travellers’ cultural expressions. I contend that ‘Nackian narrative’ – a term linked to Travellers’ self-definition outside of official designations – be acknowledged as a distinctive folk idiom within the wider Scottish and European folkloric traditions. What Colin Clark refers to as ‘invisible lives’ (2001: 16) are thereby made conspicuous through the stories and oral histories illuminated by this thesis.
Why did you choose to undertake a PhD?
A genuine passion for my topic, and as the first stage in the pursuit of an academic career.
Which aspects of your PhD did you enjoy the most?
Making an original contribution to the field and meeting tradition-bearers from the communities.
How has your PhD helped you to decide on a career path?
I have become eligible for a variety of postdoctoral opportunities, have written a monograph with Edinburgh University Press, and taken the first steps towards a permanent academic position.
What are you working on now after the PhD?
I am currently applying for postdoctoral positions to continue my research and enhance my academic CV.
One piece of advice you would give an incoming PhD researcher?
Take full advantage of all the training opportunities that will be made available to you, especially those concerned with writing and editing long form pieces. My writing technique was improved immeasurably by such courses and made the practical side of authoring a doctoral thesis much easier and more enjoyable.
Where can people find you?
Email: robert-fell@outlook.com
