ABSTRACT
Narrative is one way through which identity is constructed, both formally and vernacularly. Shaul R. Shenhav discusses this as a unique role of narrative; narrative relates individual "voices" to the larger landscape: "Narratives, whether produced in day-to-day contexts or during special events, can be a powerful method to study the different 'voices' in politics"—or any larger collective, including a specific community. The chapter considers individual's vernacular narratives from a rhetorical perspective by examining participant narratives that focus on concepts of the self, other, and community in an area of the Mountain West in the United States. It focuses on the themes of status symbols and individuality. The tensions that emerged between telling stories of self and telling stories of community produced an interesting theme of narrative: defining "me" and defining "us." The reasons for these differentiations often varied, but the underlying tensions that produced the stories often remained the same.
