Task 1: What’s in your bag?

Bag Contents (from left to right, top down)

Line 1: agenda, three notebooks, black gel pen, scrapbook, three pouches, butterfly pea flower lemon tea leaves, osmanthus pear tea leaves 

Line 2: two masks, packet of tissues, alcohol swabs, hand sanitizer, spray bottle of isopropyl alcohol, mandarin rind and rosemary handcream, maison marigela eau de toilette (under the lemon tree), tinted lip balm, claw hairclip, zippered pouch 

Line 3: cooling body wipes, antibacterial handwipes, isopropyl alcohol wipes, painkillers, Vaseline, bandaids, geranium leaf hand wash, grapefuit rind body lotion, compact mirror, Airpods, coin purse, iPhone X, scrunchie, wallet, resusable bag 

***

The bag is an extension of the psyche. Capturing the items a person carries with them on a daily basis is an intimate meditation on what it means to be an individual, on both their deliberate and spontaneous choices, and on their carved construction of meaning out of those items. The details of these items and how they choose to carry them serve not only as vignettes to the core of their personality and how they choose to present themselves, but can be seen as metaphors of the past, present, and future stages of their life. These items together form a narrative, sometimes genuine, sometimes fabricated, but in all ways sincere and rooted in their heart and desires. Looking deeply into the contents, one can discover a person’s career, interests, hobbies, lifestyle preferences, cultural upbringing, location, appearance, priorities, and morals. Through the lens of these items, one may even unravel a person’s secrets coded throughout. This collection of items is a still life painted in time, of what is available and accessible in the location of where that person resides and of what is embedded within their culture and social norms. That person can venture outside, armoured with reveled items of comfort, security, sentimental value, memory, protection, and preparation, knowing that they are wrapped in the reminders of who they are. It’s a gallery of objects curated from an experience or manifested in a dream to add to the ongoing exhibit of that person’s life. 

*** 

I carry a large bag, and I carry my life in it. Perhaps it’s my shield when dealing with different environments and unexpected encounters. I always envelop myself with the warmth of home and the love of those around me. Every item displayed is an intentional, mindful choice. Upon carefully viewing these items, I can see that they each represent me through and through.  

The narrative of me projected by this image is in fact, quite accurate and genuine: 

• I am sentimental. My love for writing and recording moments of inspiration is shown in the number of notebooks I carry. The pages are filled with ideas, poetry and prose born on the whim, fragments of lost conversations, quotes, mementos, photos, and snippets of found texts. With these notebooks, I learn to pocket moments in life and find delight in both coincidental and fated encounters. On longer days, I usually have a physical copy of a book I like to read on my commute or at lunch. The books I am currently reading are The Book of Delights by Ross Gay, The Lonely City by Olivia Laing, and Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami. 
• I prioritize health, wellness, and the indulgence in brands and products I love and feel represented by. I am very selective and conscientious with the brands and types of items I purchase, even down to the colour. I am particularly fond of fragranced items, so I find that I always have lotions and perfume with me. If it weren’t for the COVID-19 pandemic, I would likely have more cosmetics in my bag. I drink plenty of local herbal tea to warm my body and to heal.  
• I value convenience and multifunctional items, as shown in the smaller sized items I own. If my phone was turned on, you would notice that the number of apps I have are very minimal. I have Airpods because I cannot live a day without music, and also because I can never go back to wired earphones.  
• As represented by the diverse array of antibacterial and medical items, I like to be (overly) prepared for emergencies. I have always been a particularly clean person, even prior to the pandemic. On a regular day, I would have roughly the same type of items in my bag: alcohol wipes, hand wipes, tissues, and sanitizer, although the quantity of these have certainly increased now. Masks are now the new norm, although it has been common practice for people in Hong Kong to wear masks on a regular basis during flu season.  
• I discovered that my location has a profound influence on the items I bring. Living in the bustling, crowded city of Hong Kong, sanitizing items are absolutely essential. Cooling wipes are nice for sweltering summers. Pocket tissues and antibacterial wipes are a necessity because many restaurants and public toilets do not provide tissues. 

*** 

As I reflected on the questions presented for this task, a few striking realizations came to mind: 

Almost all of these items can be considered as texts. Scholes (1992) indicated that text is creation, text is didactic and authoritative, text is written and verbal construct, text is truth. To add, text is a channel of self expression and communication, a play on identity. The text detailed on each product represents its brand, origins, and beliefs.  

There are many literacies that I engage in. To confirm from this image, I mainly engage in activities with written and oral texts and literacies such as musical and food literacy. Although I frequently engage with activities requiring digital literacy, I prefer activities away from my phone and laptop. One could even argue that cosmetics and fragrances are forms of literacy, as knowledge is needed to understand these products. Text is authoritative through the currency I use, the identity and bank cards in my wallet, and the medicinal and sanitizing products. These products are relevant and trusted as they are governed and maintained by authority.  

If closely examined, the texts on these items reveal my location and identity. I am Chinese Canadian, currently located in Hong Kong. This is represented by the products I own from brands found only in Canada with bilingual English and French text, and products from brands found only in Hong Kong with bilingual English and Chinese text. The currency and identity and affiliation cards in my wallet are the more conspicuous signs of my location.  

This same bag, 15 to 25 years ago, will definitely not look like this because I have yet to understand my own preferences. An archeologist viewing the contents in my bag many years in the future would have a snapshot of Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic. If technology evolved rapidly in the future, they may be intrigued by my notebooks, wallet, Airpods, and phone, if these items were to be rendered obsolete. They would be able to observe the accessible and popular brands and items in this era, and my personal preferences. With this knowledge, they could deduce the types of texts and literacies relevant in this society. 

***

References 

Scholes, R. (1992). Canonicity and textuality. In J. Gibaldi (Ed.), Introduction to scholarship in modern languages and literatures (2nd ed., pp. 138-158). Modern Language Association of America. https://pages.mtu.edu/~rlstrick/rsvtxt/scholes.pdf 

Task Questions

• What is your daily need for the items in your bag?  
• How might these items be considered “texts” and what do they say about you, the places you inhabit, the cultures with which you engage, and/or the activities you take up? 
• Thinking about the title of the course, what are the “text technologies” in your bag, if any? What do these items say about how you engage with language and communication? 
• What do the items in your bag say about the literacies you have? 
• How does the narrative of the (private) contents of your bag compare with the narrative produced by image you have of yourself or the image you outwardly project? 
• What would this same bag have looked like, say, 15 or 25 years ago? 
• How do you imagine an archeologist aiming to understand this temporal period might view the contents of your bag many years in the future?