Thomas Couser, Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson, and Gillian Whitlock all remind us that life narratives are commodities that circulate in the global literary marketplace. In that marketplace, these scholars note, some kinds of stories and some kinds of subjects will sell, or can be made to sell. Others can’t or won’t, and we should think about the voices, experiences, and stories that are missing from or fail in the market. Best-sellers and literary failures help us understand the values and expectations of consumers, particularly consumers in the West, and how the market for life narratives can conform to or resist those values and expectations.
To understand these ideas, we have to think about how what we consume is shaped for us: we don’t read in a vacuum. (To get a sense of the network of writers, companies, media, and readers involved in a book’s publication and reception, check out this listicle.) In “Introduction: Word Made Flesh,” Whitlock argues we need to pay attention to the “material processes” of “production, transmission, and reception of autobiographical texts” (14). In particular, she asks us to attend to the “features that surround and cover the text,” what Gerard Genette calls the paratext. There are two aspects of paratext: the peritext (“the covers, introductions, acknowledgements, dedications, blurbs”) and the epitext (“the elements ouside of the bound volume,” including “reviews and criticism across various mass media, movements of the celebrity circuit; the book prizes and the calendar of literary festivals”). When we read paratext, Whitlock suggests we read with these questions in mind:
Who is getting to speak autobiographically, how, and why? To what effect? What becomes a best-seller, and what is remaindered or republished? How do these solicit our attention? What kinds of engagement come into play? How do these appeal to readers, and what kind of consumers are we asked to become? (14)
(For more on paratext, see Smith and Watson 99-102.)
In your next blog post, choose one of our life narratives that you did not write about for the genre analysis, and write an analysis based on EITHER option a or b, below. As you write, think about Whitlock’s questions (as well as your own), as you consider the implications of what you’re observing in these aspects of marketing. Talk about the significance of what you observe, what it helps us to better understand.
- Option A Examine peritext: analyse the jacket design, including the cover image(s), the typeface, whose name(s) are prominent, the book review blurbs on the back and on the first pages of the book, etc. (You’ll need to be able to see these, so that might affect your choice of text.)
- Option B Examine epitext: Select 3 reviews of the book (e.g., on Amazon, Goodreads, or publisher sites), and identify patterns in them that suggest how the life narrative and the life narrator are being read by consumers.
Remember to follow ethical research practices and good blogging design in your use of links, reporting expressions, and citations.
Posts are due Friday at noon, and comments by Monday noon.
I found Gurveer’s analysis of color symbolism in the peritext of Anne Frank’s diary extremely interesting. I never would have given much thought to motivation behind employing yellow and red. When I first read the book a couple years ago, however, I did think to myself that the colors seemed old-fashioned. I wonder why Otto chose the seemingly old and discolored shade of yellow. Though it was probably done in order to emphasize the vital historical significance of Anne’s account of the Holocaust, I always assumed history — although it technically only encompasses times past — continuously affects the present day. The Holocaust has shaped the way Jews (and other minorities) are viewed and protected in today’s society, so, in reality, Anne’s account of the Holocaust isn’t something to be observed as solely a historical (past) event… Perhaps Otto chose to depict these colors to declare defiance of future persecution?
The following are my blog comments on the indicated people’s blogs (also posted on their blogs):
Selena Truong
I also agree that Malala’s face was touched up by photo editors to make her fit the “America standard of Beauty,” but I wonder why that is necessary? She is promoting herself as being from another country and being under the regime of the Taliban, so why not have a picture that symbolises that onto the cover? Part of the book’s title is that she was “shot by the Taliban,” and she was shot in the head, but the image of the book does not look like a girl who has been shot.
I am curious as to why the picture is of only her face and not, waist up, or even feet up. Is it to bring more focus to her face, so as to make her visibly beautiful. On the cover picture she is also wearing traditional clothing, which is to show, or rather perpetuate, that she is from a different culture and a different country, so I wonder if the publishers thought that was enough to depict that; and used her face to appeal to American’s by presenting the beauty they are accustomed to, like Selena has explained in her blog post.
Sam Zattera
I find it difficult to believe that some were disappointed with Anne Frank’s diary because they did not find it entertaining. From this, I assume that they sought entertainment from a diary by a little girl written during the time of the holocaust, when that is not the purpose of her diary like Sam reflected through the reviews he analysed. It is important to understand that this is a diary, not a novel, as the reviews also stated. A novel is sometimes perpetuated in order to create more excitement and entertainment, but that is not to be a common reoccurrence in Anne Frank’s diary because it is a true depiction of a period in history. If it were altered to be exciting, them it would no longer hold the historical significance because it would give false pretenses.
It is very much surprising that some people do not understand this. I am glad Sam has brought this to our attention along with the importance of Anne Frank’s diary.
Eva Ruiz
A part of what I got from Eva’s post is that reviewers do not soften upon their analyses because of the message of the story. Malala’s book has a significant story to tell and one that can help bring attention to girl’s education like the reviewers agreed upon, and I am glad to see that did not have an effect on their analyses o the writing and structure of the book.
It was also a little nerving to hear that the life narrative was influenced by co-author Christina Lamb, to the degree, that Malala’s voice was not as prevalent as it could be. It brings to my attention, how much a writing piece can lose its potential in translation or with another voice involved.
Natasha Swallow
I find your points on the color contrasts very much true. How Malala’s bright book cover stimulates our eyes and causes use to catch it. Then the added oxymoron’s or rather contradictions on the cover that intrigue us to read the book. By having her face stand out and then reading below, in bright yellow, that she was shot. Cockeyed also has a stimulating cover, with its use of classic black and white, and then the sudden red at the end of the walking stick.
I like how you brought our attention to more than just the colors or the pictures on the book jackets but also how the awards put on I am Malala cause the reader to already think it is a good book. As well as, Cockeyed having a sample of his writing and the books content displayed on the back of the book.
Maddie Pust
I like how you correlated the images on the cover to what it depicts to a reader, rather than just discussing the use of colors and just their effect on the viewer. It is interesting to know that a book cover can also have hidden secrets in it, like how Equiano is holding the Bible and has a certain passage linked to it. I wonder if those who saw this book in a store would notice it hidden, and if they did, would it make the book increasingly more intriguing?
I also think that by having “written by himself” rather than his name, also catches one’s attention and further illustrates Maddie’s point that the cover depicts Equiano as being a free, westernized man, rather than a slave, which is the point of the book. I wonder if it would confuse a viewer of the book, opposed to a reader.
In accordance with Anna Colpitts’s Blog Anne Frank’s diary was not meant to be read in the eyes of the public. Therefore, the reviews it has received seem unfair to its genre, as it is not a story with a purpose to excite the reader but rather transfer knowledge about the Holocaust through a personal experience, through which readers may grasp a better understanding of the events. As explained in her blog some reviews refer to the emotions inspired by her writing as well as feedback explaining to consumers that Anne Frank’s diary is not for entertainment purposes, but rather an informative historical text. I found that her blog summarized the consumer perspectives very clearly, making a clear distinction between the types of criticism Anne Frank’s diary has received.
Many of the blog posts that focused on the peritext of a book made me more aware of the minor but significant aspects on the surface of a book I never payed attention to previously.
I enjoyed reading Nicole’s blog, as it was interesting to find out that most disability memoir covers (such as Cockeyed) deliberately show the stereotypical disabled person in order to attract readers and later provide them with content that (as Nicole nicely put it) ‘shifts a reader’s perception of a disability’. It seems that authors are aware that concepts too ‘abstract’ for average readers, such as disabled people not necessarily experiencing the ‘triumph over adversity’ (Couser 33) in order to have their stories heard, don’t attract the majority of potential readers. Therefore, they give the public what they think they want by having a cover that conforms to their schemas. However, the main purpose of the author and publisher’s conformity is to change the readers’ narrow-minded perspective on disabled people through the actual content of the book.
In analysing the peritext of I Am Malala, Natasha points out the use of terms such as “non-fiction book of the year” and “Nobel Peace Prize” to attract the attention of buyers and readers. I found this interesting in that the specific use of such terms, rather than to simply increase the appeal of the book, actually serves to legitimise the book instead. While the former term serves to legitimise the truthfulness of the story told, by emphasising its “non-fiction” nature, the latter term bolsters its pedigree, and sells the book as having the intent of promoting peace.
On the other hand, Selena’s examination of the peritext leads her to argue that the portrait of Malala as depicted on the front cover of the book was presented in a manner so as to appeal to Western readers. I found this to be particularly interesting in relation to what I had examined in blog, which was the negative reaction that Malala’s book received due to it being interpreted as Western propaganda. As such, this depiction, while perhaps appealing to Western readers, further alienates the Middle Eastern audience, such as in Malala’s home country, Pakistan, where the book is banned.
In examining the epitext of I Am Malala, Eva and Karyn bring up similar points of reviews contesting the legitimacy of Malala’s story. While Karyn highlights how Malala’s story may be limited in scope and perspective and thus ungeneralisable, Eva shows that readers may be less receptive to the book due to the influence of the voice of the co-author, which they found to be intrusive. In particular, Eva’s point on how certain readers found Malala’s story misrepresentative rather than educative further shines a light on the concept of Malala as a Western propaganda.
I found all of the blog posts I read really interesting. I liked reading about the different stylistic ideas and meanings behind book covers and how the covers are used to sell to and inform potential readers, as well as the bloggers interpretations of the covers. I noticed a lot of the blogs I read focused on color choices.
I thought Merial’s post about the cover of “I am Malala” was very interesting. I liked the idea of the cover and her bright pink head dress being targeted towards the Taliban, and that it coincides with the part about “wearing plain cloths” in the book.
I also really liked Selena’s “I am Malala” cover post. I am saddened by how American beauty standard may have effected the cover but thought it was really interesting to read about and am glad you noticed it. It makes me really questions America’s views. I also like how Selena focused on how the cover sells the book versus what the meaning behind the cover might be.
After reading my classmates blogs I realized how many factors impact my initial impression of a book. I found the examination of the peritext surrounding “I am Malala” to be interesting. When I read “I am Malala” a few years ago I was struck by the powerful images on the cover. As Merial and Elena analyzed these photos in more depth, I began to realize that these aligned with my lasting impression of the book. The bright colours of Malala’s clothing, as Merial expressed, was a way to “expressly [defy] the suppression of the Taliban”. Additionally, Elena described the back cover photo and its importance. I believe that she accurately illustrated the powerful message behind the photo of Malala looking up at her father. Elena states that the back cover that is usually taken up with review is instead a picture of Malala an her father because the photo “pays greater tribute to the book than any review could”. I would agree with Elena, as I believe that the photo is proof that Malala could not have undertaken this project without her father by her side. Overall, I was reminded of the importance of the pretext after reading Merial and Elena’s blogs.
As someone who focused on the epitext, I found discussions on the peritext especially fascinating. Different individuals analyzed wholly different aspects of the text than I would have thought to, occasionally coming to conclusions different than what I might have. However, I found it interesting to read of the “tricks” of marketing at play and to see if they had affected me the way they may have intended to. Often I found that they had. It had never occurred to me that Malala’s face may have been photoshopped, but it certainly makes sense. On that note it’s fascinating to apply aspects of genre like purpose and audience to explain why those changes may have been made. Overall I was quite impressed with the pieces I read and I feel as if I actually benefited from doing so.
After writing about Epitext I was very interested to see how others analyzed Peritext across our studied narratives. I found Selena’s examination of Malala’s appearance unique, as she looked closer into the physical appeal of Malala in order to understand how Western audiences would receive the memoir. On the other hand Merial took a different approach to examining the same peritext. Her focus was directed more so on the choices of clothing, colours, and the expressions of Malala and her father. I agreed with her conclusion that the aesthetic decisions made sent a clear statement of defiance to those she had been persecuted by. Looking at peritext in this manner can provide insight into the book itself before ever opening the pages, this will be useful to apply within and out of the classroom as looking at a cover will make one think twice about the true purpose of a book.
After reading Selena’s, Victor’s, Gurveer’s, Neetu’s, Alex R’s, and Yaoyao’s blog posts I noticed that – interestingly – multiple posts mentioned the idea of consumerism, but mainly how it applies to Western society. Selena and Yaoyao explained how the cover of Malala’s autobiography was retouched in order to fit the beauty mold that Western societies have. I also found Gurveer’s comment on how Anne Frank’s diary promotes the idea of gossip quite relevant; gossip is not only limited to Western society, but with the superfluous tabloids and websites focusing on American celebrities and their personal lives, it is apparent that gossip and consumerism are present in Western societies. So, based on the analysis done by other classmates, as well as my own, it appears as if books do not promote the saying of “don’t judge a book by its cover”. Rather, the book cover and its customer reviews play a vital role in the success of books that are sold nowadays, showing that they are produced for a consumer-based society.
I was reading Gurveer’s post about the colors used in Anne Frank’s Diary cover. After reading it, I would not have thought that the colours yellow and red were used to represent Anne’s personality and character. Natasha’s analysis on Malala’s book cover also made me realize how connected it is to Malala herself. The covers of the books play a crucial role to understand the text on a higher level.
I also read Andrew’s post about the epitext of Menchu. I did my blog post on the epitext of Malala. After reading Andrew’s post, I noticed that reviews tend to have the same pattern despite the different texts. These reviews usually give a summary,background information, the main themes, and their opinions for curious readers.
I found that after reading a few blogs that talked about the epitext, it seemed like most reviewers wanted a connection to the author as they were reading their story. For example, Kwezi discusses how most people preferred the unedited version of Anne Frank because it made her seem more real and therefore genuine. Alex C, talks about how some disliked Malala because of her attitude, in that she was too pretentious. These two reviews (although for different books) prove how consumers nowadays praise the “everyday hero” and want to read about somebody they can see themselves in. People’s opinions on an autobiography and any book are largely based upon their opinion of the speaker, which Eva describes about in her blog. She elaborates by using the example of how much of Christina Lamb went into Malala’s story and how it affected the reader. The voice behind the writing plays an important part in drawing in consumers and the reader’s experience in general.
After reading a couple blogs I noticed a interesting contrast in the way that I am Malala and The Diary of Anne Frank was read (the epitext). In Anna Colpitts blog she discusses how some of the readers were disappointed by Anne Frank’s diary because they found it less then thrilling. This was attributed to the fact that they were reading it hoping for something other than it offered. I also encountered these sentiments when reading the epitext from the book I am Malala and found it very insightful. In contrast to my blog, Karyn Seng focused on how three websites (The Washington Post, The Guardian, and The Star) focused on different aspects of the book and how it affected the people of Pakistan and those abroad. I also found it very interesting that the Star pointed to the fact that Malala was a 16 year old girl when she wrote the book, which suggested that she had limited means to express her suffering and the knowledge of her suffering. In all the two blog post confirmed my sentiments and expanded my view of how people could read and interpret these two different life narratives.
After reading the various blog posts regarding the epitext of the book, it was interesting to observe that so many comments, as Andrew points out, strongly recommends the text for others to read. In response to a comment that Anna investigated, Liam writes that “If you are interested in the history surrounding the diary, then I’d recommend you to read this…” (Liam’s Review), making me curious as to what propels a text to be so highly viewed upon. Is it the nature of the situations each respective text takes place in? Or the fact that these are real life accounts by individuals who are able to assert their authenticity? Consumers seem to recommend these texts as an eye-opener to unthinkable experiences. They capture the emotions that textbooks often fail to provide. In doing so, it seems that few narratives receive the harsh, negative critique of these stories, that fictional books are often subjected too.
I found that the analysis on the importance of colouring used for book covers was quite thought provoking. I learned that the way these books are presented is very critical to their success with the consumer. Despite the content that is being provided in these novels, I was stunned to learn that the cover of the books is a significant selling feature. Before encountering these blogs, I understood to a minor degree the importance the cover of a book has. However, I was unaware of the time and effort dedicated to the cover as well as the underlying messages that can be conveyed through it. Additionally, I was educated on how the cover of the book could give insight into the text and any message that the writer wants to heighten. An excellent example of this is the back cover of ” I am Malala”. Elena’s blog gave me great insight into the personal and marketing reasons why this picture was chosen. After reading various blogs, I believe they all accurately and efficiently examined the peritext and epitext of the novels that have been studied.
I found Alex Chow?s post regarding reviews of I Am Malala contrasted with Selena?s post on the peritext of I Am Malala. Alex discussed how I Am Malala received some negative reviews because readers found that she came forth as arrogant and morally flawless. Readers felt repulsed by the attitude of perfection that infiltrated the text and they seemed to desire a more relatable narrator. Selena mentions how Malala?s picture has been edited to fit the Western standard of beauty. It is interesting how Malala?s character in the book is so sharply criticized, but the fact that her face has been altered for the cover goes often unnoticed and has not been criticized in any of the reviews mentioned by my peers. It seems that beauty has become so standardized that there is no room for deviation (in the form of physical flaws) from this established norm. On the other hand, flaws in human character have become accepted and the world does not expect a knight in shining armour anymore. I wonder why this is the case, and what factors contribute to this disparity between human nature and human appearance. Perhaps the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s is responsible for this, because many people, youth in particular, attempted to break free of the establishments, including religion, that dictated behaviour.
Anna and Riva both examined the epitext of “Diary of Anne Frank.” They paid closer attention to the criticisms surrounding the diary, and concluded by suggesting how the diary should be read with a mindset to gain insight on self-examination and historical context, rather than to gain entertainment. This idea puts into question the significance of a published diary. Although they advocate that a diary such as Frank’s should be read with less literary criticism, readers still tend to do so, as seen in the reviews. Frank’s voice may be genuine and have historical value, but does her message truly reach the ears of consumers? It disappoints me to say that I don’t believe it does. Even in a classroom, I hear more complaints about her writing being over-analytical and boring, rather than insightful and hopeful. It is still entertainment that seems to most effectively draw in readers.
Alex C. talks about this very issue in his blog post on the epitext of “I Am Malala.” However, Malala’s writing seems to do the opposite of Frank’s. Alex suggests that Malala’s writing draws in readers because it is geared towards Westerners. He analyzed the negative reviews for Malala, which mostly criticizes how she misrepresents Pakistan and effuses arrogance. I find this interesting because arrogance seems to be a big part of autobiographical writing, which is a Western-born genre. While Anne Frank seems to be warding off readers for being “boring,” Malala seems to be gaining publicity for being “Westernized.” The analyses on epitext for both Frank and Malala really put into question the significance of entertainment and appeal to the West in evaluating life narratives–and all texts in general.
Both Kwezi and Anna discuss the epitext of Anne Frank’s Diary. It is interesting to considering a diary to be a piece of writing that requires an avid and attentive reader. It appears that to truly understand the context of Anne Frank’s story and her purpose, it is imperative to be conscious of the outer forces that are work and to be considerate of how Anne Frank’s narrative fits into history. From Kwezi’s blog, it appears that the reviews for the story prepare the reader to be conscientious of the literary decisions made of what to keep and what to remove from Anne Frank’s story. These reviews of Anne Frank’s Diary are thought provoking in the sense that it shows the way that stories can be manipulated to target different audiences.