Performance: Paralinguistic Cues, Metadata, and Identity

Another overt performance found in the group of narratives is the opening of Dauterman's narrative, which she begins by brightly introducing herself to the audience. Unlike the breakthrough Hymes describes where the storyteller shifts from conventional performance into situation-inspired performance, Dauterman’s performance is most attuned to the situation when she addresses the audience directly at the beginning of her story, rather than when she sinks into recollection as her narrative progresses.

Dauterman’s opening performance in her literacy narrative seems to be drawing on the overtly performative, theatrical conventions of video blogging (vlogging). As new media scholar Aymar Jean Christian explains, "vloggers are very explicitly acting, and they are unabashedly aimed at getting an audience." Vloggers deliberately perform in ways that are designed to engage their audience, as Dauterman does by addressing her absent audience directly, using a warm and upbeat tone of voice to say “Hi” and inviting viewers into her narrative with a welcoming wave. She does not maintain these engaging gestures or tone of voice throughout her narrative, and Dauterman's use of vlog-type efforts at audience engagement at the beginning contrasts with the flat delivery found in this group of narratives as a whole, including her own, as the narrative progresses. Performing vlogging at the beginning of her narrative suggests that Dauterman may be experimenting with this contemporary popular culture technology identity in her narrative, beyond the narrative's content detailing her early engagement with technology.