Strength in the Younger Generation
In Kate Douglas’s article, Youth, Trauma and memorialization: The selfie as witnessing she explains that selfie’s have become its own “genre” (Page 2, Douglas) of modern day autobiographies. It is seemingly apparent that through the evolution of generations, technology has changed; and consequently, so has the younger generations narrative of experiences. Selfies have developed into its own form of autobiography; telling stories that are seen below the surface of the image. Connecting this idea to an article called Selfies: There are groupies, ussies, shelfies and even sealfies – but self-obsessed portraiture isn’t just a modern phenomenon, Getchen McCulloch elaborates on an idea explained by linguist, Mark Liberman, (Liberman, 2014) that selfies have expanded its definition from a simple photo taken in the mirror or from arm’s length, to portraits, with the person the main focus and –depending on the circumstance- the subject in the background. As I briefly explained, selfies have evolved narrative from the traditional chronicling of a story, to posting a photo of oneself and leaving the story to the readers depiction. Relating to the photos of the girl and boy taking selfies at the Pearl Harbour memorial referenced in Douglas’s article; a reader can interpret the meaning of the article based on its “edgework” (Page 9, Douglas). Edgework, or the physical attributes of the photo that may serve as a risk to the viewing audience, give the portrait substance that is up for interpretation. Particularly at sensitive locations described by Douglas as “traumascapes” (Page 4, Douglas). For example, in the photo of the boy grimacing at the camera, one could interpret the image as simply acknowledging the presence of a war memorial where many had lost their lives. The expression on Easy E’s face is debatably neutral and the caption is of similar nature. Perhaps the slight grimace on the face of Easy E has less to do with the history of the site, and rather the sun was in his eyes as he took the photo. Perhaps regardless of the sun in his eyes, he wanted to post the photo with his simplistic caption because he wanted to prove that he visited a place that contributed to much of our history. As explained in Douglas’ article, this form of “second-person witnessing” (Page 8, Douglas) is the ability to experience an event or activity through the visuals of others, most commonly through social media. This leaves a large gap for what is interpreted by the readers, as I demonstrated above using Easy E as an example. Conclusively, the selfie has not only developed a new genre of autobiography, it has allowed for the younger generation to think critically of situations through second-hand witnessing, studying and interpreting the traumascapes that present themselves in social media. Therefore, selfies should be viewed as an autobiographical phenomenon rather than criticized for their vanity or appropriateness for these reasons.
References
Douglas, Kate. Youth, trauma and memorialization: The selfie as witnessing. Sage Publishing. 2017.
McCulloch, Gretchen. Selfies: There are groupies, ussies, shelfies and even sealfies –but self-obsessed portraiture isn’t just a modern phenomenon. The Independent. April 2, 2014