During my first year at the UBC I have participated in a Coordinated Arts Program (CAP) called Global Citizens. One of the key topics that I have engaged with is globalization; looking at it from a geographical, sociological, political and cultural perspective. Enlisting multiple lenses to view globalization, I have been introduced to a wider range of issues, connections and concepts. Globalization is the process through which services, products, capital and humans become more interconnected socially, economically, politically and culturally (Crang 15).
In my ASTU class, we have focused on the local and global power of autobiographical narratives; observing and analyzing the work they can do in the world through their production, circulation and reception. This production and circulation has potentially increased due to the process of globalization, as individuals become more aware of events and lives of individuals in many areas of the globe. Such narratives possess the power to reframe a culture, representation or event by acting as a “soft weapon” (3). This is a term Gillian Whitlock has coined, referring to the ability of life narratives to inspire change by affecting a reader’s understanding of the world. However, sometimes such narratives are critically analyzed and with their legitimacy questioned.
On Friday, April 1st 2016 CAP students collected to present some of their work they had produced over the year; research papers, presentations and extended research has led us to extend the discussion beyond the classroom and apply key concepts, issues and ideas to other events. One of my class mates, Anna Kaveney, wrote a piece titled Popular Reception of the Subaltern: Testimonio, Misreadings & Affective response. In this paper Anna explores the concepts of subalternity, testimonio and the reception of testimonio. She analyzes the testimonio I Rigoberta Mechú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala which speaks of Indigenous peoples Experiences under the repressive Guatemalan government. Anna continues to show how the reception of this testimonio, whilst foregrounding an important social issue it has received extensive criticism regarding its legitimacy based on a western framework. Anna explains that misreadings existed prior to a dominant criticism of the testimonio by David Stoll, as many individuals read this testimonio as a memoir or autobiography and this shows that the subaltern subjects reception in the west is not producing the social change it intends to do.
Furthermore, Anna describes the effect Stoll’s critique had on the emotional response of readers. Before Stoll’s critique she demonstrates how readers saw the testimonio as inspiring but after the critique many reader’s focused on verifying Menchú’s account rather than the social change she was trying to evoke.
Anna’s work was an excellent analysis of the reception of subaltern subject’s stories in the West. It shows how so often, the west forces narratives to adhere to their hegemonic framework; potentially further marginalizing the subaltern. Through the process of globalization, the west may be able to learn about other people’s lives. However, it is crucial that the west does not instil a western framework into the production of such narratives and that they read them with consideration of the social issues they are trying to address. In turn this could help the reception of narratives, memoirs, autobiographies and testimonios, aiding the social change that they want to achieve and truly educating others of foreign events and experiences.
Works cited
Crang, P. (2005). Local-Global Paul Cloke et al (Eds). Introducing Human Geographies. Routledge, UK.
Whitlock, Gillian. Soft Weapons: Autobiography in Transit. 2010. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. Print.
