Interpreting November 22: A critical ethnography of an assassination site

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Abstract
This article critiques how the Kennedy assassination is interpreted by visitors to Dealey Plaza, the assassination site in Dallas, Texas. Specifically, it is based on an ethnographic study of Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1988, the 25th anniversary of the event. Using participant observation and interview methods, I studied the actions and interactions of the almost 3,000 participants who gathered at Dealey Plaza that day. In this article, I adopt a critical perspective to analyze Dealey Plaza as a postmodern site where participants use mediated reproductions to structure their experience, where they come as community to mourn the loss of community, where they produce and consume simulations of conspiracy as they challenge the official version of the assassination, and where media representatives commodify and fragment the personal narratives of people into sound biles and column inches to sell newspapers and to attract viewers.

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