For your 4th blog, continue to choose your own research topic that focuses on some aspects of life narratives or the representations of lives, as outlined with lots of topic suggestions in blog 3 (review here). You can write about World is Moving, about Jiwani & Young, the issues both raise about how media represent lives / subjects, or any of the primary and secondary readings to date (think, though, about what you’re adding to our discussions that’s new). You can also take up the popular readings I’ve asked you to complete alongside Jiwani & Young for Nov 8: “When the Media Treats White Suspects Better than Black Victims,” Chris Hayes’ spoof journalism, as discussed in this story, and “I am Not Your Wife, Sister, or Daughter” (and you might check out the myriad discussions of the wife/daughter/sister trope that surfaced after the Trump Tape media storm).
Leave your comments on each others’ posts here by Tues 9:30 am.
I enjoyed reading Merial’s blog post, as it tied in concepts we’ve been learning in Sociology – ‘the self’. Merial pointed out how people behave in certain ways because of who is viewing/judging them, thus the same can be applied to authors of life narratives – forcing us as scholars to be a bit critical in the authenticity of their work. After our sociology classes on how society affects our words and actions, I found myself asking the exact question Merial mentioned, “Did they really experience this, or are they just over exaggerating?” By reading her blog post, I was able to know why I had doubts when reading memoirs – I was now aware of how powerful society is shaping our recollections, more so for life narratives as there is even more pressure in satisfying the intended audience.
I really enjoyed reading Anna’s blog on developing countries’ “single stories” portrayed by Western media. She makes a really good point that the West tends to think of itself as the only one who can extend help to developing countries, or countries that have been stuck by natural disaster, and that those countries are unable to function without the help of the West. As Anna comments on the financial scandal of the Red Cross, this reminds me of other NGOs whose approaches to international development are actually effective and respectful of other cultures. Plan International, for example (the organization behind Because I Am A Girl) always waits to be invited into communities before entering them, and they work one on one with people of all demographics in said communities to see what kinds of tools, knowledge, or support they need in order for them to lift themselves out of poverty. This is a quintessential factor in international development: avoid dependency on Western resources by encouraging self-sustainability. This builds positive international relations because the entire premise of interactions is one of respect as opposed to pity.
Kwezi’s blog post on the panoramic representation of Haiti was very interesting perspective on how Western media portrays the country. The world’s view remains very broad, easily falling to misconceptions and stereotypes, and, as Elena mentions in her blog post focusing on terms such as “poverty” and “corruption”. Both their posts make me question how these countries can be accurately represented on the international scale. How can balance be achieved between portraying the poverty that the country does suffer from, as well as the art and culture that also makes up the nation? Kwezi mentions how although after the earthquake aid is provided, they are not sustainable solutions to the bigger challenges facing Haiti, thus only providing temporary aid. Can these challenges be brought to attention through “snapshots” of the country? It is unsettling to think that the one thing that did manage to capture global attention was a disastrous event, rather than the people and culture that the country offers. And how does that reflect on the rest of the world, when Haiti has always been trapped in a “single story” of poverty, yet it takes an earthquake for the world to advocate on its behalf.
Kwezi’s post regarding Dany Laferrière’s panoramic perspective on Haiti was interesting for me to read. It discusses how the people in Haiti see themselves and also how the rest of the world sees them before, during, and after the earthquake happened. During the earthquake, the people outside of Haiti would assume that everyone in Haiti is panicking when instead, there was a woman selling mangoes as if nothing happened. These false assumptions about Haiti is what adds on to the point of stereotypes and how they are generalized. Similarly, Elena’s post discussed about the same topic. The issue of how Haiti is viewed by others compared to how Haiti really is makes me wonder what other things are skewed by the media and how influential the media can be in either positive or negative ways.
The following are my blog comments on the indicated people’s blogs (also posted on their blogs):
Maddie Pust
In Maddie’s blog post entitled “The Western Perspective of Haitians Vs. Laferriere’s” she compares the perspective of two western articles of Haiti with Dany Laferriere’s perspective in his memoir The World Is Moving Around Me. An interesting observation Maddie made was:
“Rachmani Domersant, an operations manager with the Food for the Poor charity, said ‘You have thousands of people sitting in the streets with nowhere to go. There are people running, crying, screaming.’ Contrary to these reports, Laferrière wrote, “I expected to hear screams and cries, there was none of that.”
This illustrates to me that western media is writing based on what they expect to be happening during the aftermath of an earthquake, not on experience, observation or facts. But what is interesting is that Laferrière, himself, also expected to hear yelling and screaming but because he witnessed and experienced the aftermath he knows his expectation, and western media expectation, to be untrue.
Paige Furlan
After reading Paige’s blog I began to think more about the different representations of Life narratives. The one we are used to are in forms of books and novels that are then circulated through the media in that form. But Life narratives can also be done through videos and films like Anthony Bourdain does in his show on CNN like Paige discussed in her blog post. I also learned that life narratives can be made, primarily, from others experiences rather than your own. Anthony Bourdain for example, as explained in Paige’s blog, conducts interviews to learn of the life narrative of others that he later shares on his show on CNN.
Selena Truong
Selena, in her blog post, discusses how men may only be able to relate to a victim if they view then in a way that they can connect to. Selena uses “I Am Not Your Wife, Sister or Daughter,” a blog entry by Belle Jar, as a way to display this.
“She explains that the process of asking men to imagine if the victim were their ‘wives, sisters, or daughters’ . . . Although this phrase may help men see the event as more ‘relatable’ and thus make them more sympathetic to the situation, what it is really doing is supporting rape culture by inferring that ‘a woman is only valuable’ if she is ‘loved or valued by a man.’
This idea is also discussed by Yasmin Jiwani and Mary Lynn Young in “Missing and Murdered Women: Reproducing Marginality in News Discourse.” They go into detail as to how referring to the missing and murdered women, in downtown eastside Vancouver, as mothers, daughters, and sisters, perpetuates that for women to be worthy of saving, they need to be loved and valued first.
After reading a few blog posts, I notice how Maddie, Anna, and Sam Z. all commented on the media’s portrayal of Haiti and its people. Anna points out how Haiti is represented as “vulnerable” in the eyes of the West. Considering Dany Laferriere’s position and how he has the power to try and shift Western view of Haitian society, I wonder if this can be spoken about in terms of social capital. From my understanding of social capital, this term refers to social “power” in a way, based on factors such as status which are derived from reputation, money, etc. Laferriere seems to use his social capital in an effective way, as he writes a memoir from a Haitian perspective and this allows Western readers to realize that many people may be unaware of true Haitian culture. Therefore, it seems as if Laferriere is playing a role in going against the views of Haiti that the media shows, which is important for changing long-held stereotypes and beliefs about Haiti.
After reading Kwezi’s blog, Dany Laferriere’s use of the rhetoric of emancipation to represent the Haitian people as non-corrupt and resourceful people, clarified his intentions as a writer. As she discusses how the Haitian people were misrepresented by the media, not only post the 2010 earthquake, but before as well for many years. I found her blog to be very resourceful in its information about what Dany Laferrier ambitiously tries to achieve through The World Is Moving Around Me.
I like that Selena’s blog mentions the power of “small sources” in today’s world. She uses Anne Theriault’s blog post “I Am Not Your Wife, Sister or Daughter” to describe the effects a minor blog can also have on human rights campaigns. Though Anne Theriault is merely blogging, she is advocating for gender equality just as the Famous Five did when they battled to have women recognized as “persons” under the British North America Act in 1928. What is critical about Theriault’s work is that many of us do not even recognize that women are still not viewed as actual people in today’s society. She reminds us of this issue with the power of her story, which is just as strong as stories we hear from published literature.
Right now in the United States there has been a growing intolerance for the media. People have more frequently judged the media to be corrupt and unjust, citing the way it portrays Donald Trump and his campaign. As a result, it was interesting to read Natasha’s and Riva’s blogs on the media as they both critiqued the media and the way it represents people and nations. Although a problem was clearly distinguished in the media’s misrepresentation of people and of nations, this idea came across that the media is powerful and influential to people’s understandings of the world. This means that these misrepresentations should be addressed, not in eradicating the media but in transforming the way that communities are written about. This challenges the way that Trump and Trump supporters have gone after the media, while still critiquing the unfair representations of nations and people.
I found that Neetu’s blog was an interesting expansion on Schaffer and Smith’s argument that claim that the reception and interpretation of life stories is “unpredictable” and “uncontrollable” (18) in Conjunctions: Life Narratives in the Field of Human Rights. Neetu explained that another form of life narrative that is often misinterpreted is stand-up comedy. Prior to reading her blog I did not consider comedy to be a form of life narrative; however, now I am more aware of this form and the possible dangers that arise with it. For example, comedy has the immediate response of the audience which can allow the author to have a better insight into whether the life narrative is being received in the way that was intended. Neetu explained that this misinterpretation could be a result of the audience not picking up on the comedy, but she also countered with Chris Rock’s argument that “It’s never the audience’s fault” (“Inside The Actors Studio”) for misunderstanding the joke or point of the story, it is his fault for not presenting it in such a way that it is understood” (Neetu). Overall, I enjoyed Neetu’s blog because it brought up new ideas with the texts we previously read.
After I read a couple blogs I have decided to reflect on Paige’s blog as it was very interesting to me. She followed the trail of a specific man, Anthony Bourdain, traveled around the world and educated people on cultures and what made them. The point that I found most intriguing was how she compared the Brexit with the earthquake in Haiti. Though this may have been a little bit of a stretch, it was very cool to think of the people as going through a similar situation, even though completely different. Overall, I very much enjoyed it as it brought together two very different situations and encouraged me to think.