Transcript
In the home of my bag
Is a collection of items
Little pieces of me
Mingled and mixed
Rummaged through and handled
With urgence, sensitivity and relief
A set of notebooks and a pen
Humble and quiet at the bottom
Sleeping until I wake them up
To fill empty pages with memories and snippets
Of overheard conversations
Satchets of herbal tea
Butterfly pea, lemon, osmanthus, and pear
Tangy aromatic blends of fruit and florals
A hug shaped in my palms
Quenching thirst
And refreshing my senses
A wallet
A sanctuary, a treasure trove of my identity
Zipped safe with my cards and coins
Expired coupons
Faded receipts
A lucky charm
And polaroids of the ones dear in my heart
Bandaids and painkillers
To give me a pat on the head
A healing hand
To say, “it’s ok” to my clumsy self
To alleviate, soothe, and relieve
For me to spread the calm
Softening the rough edges
Of salted pain and bittered blood
To others in need
Hand cream
To wrap my hands
With a blanket of hydration
A mirror, lipbalm, and perfume
To give me a nod,
to say, “you look good”
To envelop me with a honeyed breeze
Of rose and lemon and geranium and mandarin
Fragrant and lingering
Packets of tissues and cooling wipes
Conquering the Hong Kong heat
With a multitude of abilities
Unfolding strong sheets of strength
Silent but works just as vigorously
Phone and earphones
Two extra limbs on my body
No other words needed
And to fight the pandemic and
To keep me safe
Floating and clinging by touch
From the air of invisible threats
An assembled army of surgical masks and hand sanitizer
Of alcohol spray and wipes
Often surrendered and feverishly replenished
Their sacrifices not in vain
For this mode bending task, I decided to write a poem based on the items in my bag and read it as spoken word. The items in my bag (original post here) are more or less the same, minus a few which have already been used. Cope & Kalantzis (2009) state that all texts are inherently multimodal, and any mode can be represented through digital means. This means that in the increasing convergence of text within digital contexts, meaning making can be transmitted through layers of multimedia.
The spoken word poem is an oral representation of the visual, the photo of the contents. Through evocative literary devices in both the oral and written representation (transcript) of “what’s in my bag”, the audience can construct meaning with their world knowledge to envision the contents. I incorporate personification to provide a vibrant life to the otherwise still life objects, hoping to give them a voice and insight on their roles as my “friends.” I created this with very little revision to show my initial impressions instilled in these items and to record my sensory experience as I reflected on the texture, the scent, the sound, and the emotions evoked by each one. I hope to unfold their backstories buried deep inside my bag.
The audience members are likely to visualize these items as they hear them appear through oral representation. If this were a video, gestural representation would have also been an aspect of influencing meaning, embodied through the presenter’s gestures and facial expressions in the performance. It can even be argued that the use of poetic devices could evoke vivid imagery enough to trigger tactile meaning making. When has a piece of writing or audio moved you? Perhaps you might have felt a deep, guttural sensation running through your body, so visceral like no other, distinct from how others imagine it. Perhaps you could feel, and almost taste, what was being described. The whole experience could be so palpable, as if you could pick out the words in mid-air and they would transform to that object or transport you to that very experience. You connect and feel the piece like no other, based on your own personal experiences, emotions, and characteristics. The whole interpretation is based on you, as a human being.
Cope & Kalantzis (2009) indicated that “the different modes of meaning are, however, not simply parallel, and this is something we have come to recognize more clearly in the work we have done over the past decade. Meaning expressed in one mode cannot be directly and completely translated into another” (p. 180). The image of the contents of my bag cannot be compared to a video of me describing and showing them, or a written text narrating the details and history of each item, or a musical composition as a more abstract representation. Each mode presents the same thing in a different manner, and in turn, the audience experiences it differently, depending on how they perceive (and prefer) each mode. The organization and the order in which they interpret the objects and how they construct them in their minds are not the same either. The narration and presentation (linear or organic), the details, the placement, and the flow of thought (guided, situated, or free flow), all attribute to meaning making.
What did you find different between the visual representation and the oral representation of the contents in my bag? Which one was more detailed? Which one evoked a more elaborate understanding of the contents and the owner themselves? Did one mode show something that another could not have shown? What made you think this way?
Reference
Cope, B. & Kalantzis, M. (2009). Multiliteracies: New literacies, new learning. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 4(3), 164-195. DOI:0.1080/15544800903076044
One reply on “Task 7: Mode Bending”
This is beautiful. The spoken words exemplifies how the texts we choose to carry personify parts of our identity. I’m also interested in how your spoken word allows for those texts to be contextualized on a deeper level. There’s an affordance that cannot convey in the same way. Finally, the imagery you so beautifully used, is what makes the text an impactful tool for meaning-making. I wonder if conveying identity is more powerful in specific genres of text? This is so facsinating! Thank you for nudging my thinking.