As an international student that came to Canada and UBC with no prior knowledge of Canadian politics, I feel a bit lost, not being too sure of which party I stand with. This is odd to me, because back home in the United States, I never really doubted where I stood politically, but now that I’m in a new country, I find myself with more political options, and therefore am unsure of where I stand. I thought it would be interesting to investigate the New Democratic Party, as they do not exist in the US, and are therefore a group I am unfamiliar with.

As I explored the NDP website, I clicked the link, “About Tom”, that would proceed to take me to a page containing the life story of the leading candidate of the NDP, Tom Mulcair. Mulcair presents himself as a family man, someone who grew up just as every other Canadian did, and who knows the struggles of the middle class. His story is similar to that of many, and it is his goal to get this message across. The life narrative he produces works to create a connection between himself and potential voters, swaying undecided, or other left-side voters to vote for someone they can relate to. Alongside the writing sit images of Mulcair, both in his personal life, and in professional life. Personally, I found this tactic to be very effective in making me feel good about Mulcair and what he stands for. Upon further investigation of the NDP website, I found a link labeled, “Tom’s Plan”. This link took me to a page where Mulcair provides insights into what changes he would make if elected to be prime minister. But inserted into this page are more small pieces of life narrative, where he describes the origin of his values, and talks more about his family. Mulcair’s tactic here seems to be, again, to make himself seem relatable.

When his use of life narrative is analyzed, I began to see connections to readings we have done in our ASTU 100 class by Gillian Whitlock and Kay Schaffer and Sidonie Smith. In Whitlock’s “Protection” and Schaffer and Smith’s “Conjunctions: Life Narratives in the Field of Human Rights”, they work to create connections between the production of life narrative, and human rights discourse. Rather than writing to urge humanitarian movements though, Mulcair’s story works to inspire a movement in Canadian voters, hoping to get them to vote for him and the NDP. In Schaffer and Smith’s work, they study the commodification of life narrative, which they ultimately argue has become a form of “international currency” (Schaffer & Smith 11). But Mulcair uses life narrative as what I would describe to be a “political currency”, with his story working to get voters to feel as though they can strongly relate to him, ultimately leading to them voting for him. As I read through the website, I could feel his use of life narrative working on me, as I began to feel a connection to him and consider him more highly as someone I would vote for.

Overall, the use of life narrative in this political setting seems very effective, judging by the fact that I immediately developed a positive feeling for Tom Mulcair, and what he stands for.

Works Cited:

Schaffer, Kay and Sidonie Smith. “Conjunctions: Life Narratives in the Field of Human Rights.” Biography 27.1 (winter 2004) pp. 10-15. JSTOR. Web. 2 Oct. 2015.

Published by: University of Hawai’i Press.

Whitlock, Gillian. “Protection.” We Shall Bear Witness: Life Narratives and Human Rights. Ed. Meg Jensen and Margaretta Jolly. Madison: University of Wisconsin P, 2014. 86-88. Scholarly e-book. 22 Sept. 2015.

As I stand in the bookstore, all these faces look down upon me. Their wrinkles and restless eyes showing signs of the incredible tales they have to tell. Others have stood in this very same position, developing a sense of inspiration from all the amazing things these people have done, but instead,  I question; Why is it that their faces and stories make it on the bookshelves, while some others are forgotten? As Gillian Whitlock questions in Soft Weapons: Autobiography in Transit, “Who is getting to speak autobiographically, how, and why? To what effect? What becomes a best-seller, and what is remaindered or republished?” (Whitlock 14) When looking at all these faces on the shelves, I begin to see patterns lying in them. War survivors, refugee seekers, world changers, all of these people have something in common: they have overcome a challenge, and through it, impacted the lives of those around them.

One particular book that caught my eye was called Brain on Fire, by Susannah Cahalan. Brain on Fire is a memoir following Cahalan’s struggle to recapture her identity after an autoimmune disease took control of her body and mind, wiping her memory and landing her in a hospital for a month. The cover contains a close up of the author, and a black title contrasted to a bright yellow background, which really works to catch the eye. Along with the title, there is a quote from NPR, praising the author for her incredible work, a subtitle reading, “My Month of Madness”, and a recognition stating that the book is a #1 New York Times Bestseller. The description of the book seems to be written in a rather vague way, as to make a prospective buyer more curious of what is inside. But when it comes to answering the questions Whitlock urges to analyze, observations arise. By looking at Brain on Fire and other life narratives, I found that most people who have the ability to get their work published are bringing something new to the table, while also, as I said above, overcoming a challenge, and impacting those around them. In the case of Brain on Fire, the author struggled with an illness called anti-NMDA encephalitis, a relatively new disease in the sense that it has not been studied in-depth in the past. This means the narrative could appeal to those in the medical field, along with those just looking for a thrilling read. But what really seems to draw the line between a popular piece, and one that doesn’t receive recognition, is the degree to which the content matters to those in modern society. A life narrative could simply be about discovering ones self through traveling, like in the case of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, and make it big, because many people in modern society are on quests for self discovery as well, and this is what they and the rest of the market are interested in. A life narrative could be an incredible work of art, but it requires an audience that is interested in the topic in order to sell well in today’s competitive market.