Studying literature in high school, I was always fascinated with the idea of feminism. Particularly in how the female characters illuminate their personalities, regardless of the social expectation embroiled in their gender identity; while maintaining the grace of… simply being females (for the lack of my vocabulary, am I being sexist now?). The trait pattern much resembles two contradicting flows of yin-yang, but are actually complimentary as a whole.

Embedded with pride and bravery, Holden Caulfield’s sister – Phoebe in Catcher in the Rye matures in the very last moment of the novel when she tightly holds on her suitcase, ready for a getaway. “Can’t I go with you? Holden? Can’t I? Please?”, she says, holding everything she has, “all I have in it is two dresses …and some other things. Feel it. It isn’t heavy. Feel it once…” Phoebe is, probably just like any other teenager, confused with her identity so much that every time Holden sees her, she has got a new middle name. The opposite sets of values exist within the character: from the silliness of the adolescence years to the determination of a young lady in her moment (when everything she has isn’t heavy at all); exposes questions about identity in life narrative: Who is Phoebe after all?

The answer for the above question should be inspected through various existing social conditions of the 1950s (Felski 1989), but I would like to interpret this idea from a more contemporary perspective of Emma Watson – Actor & UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador.

In her recent speech for the HeForShe campaign, she addresses gender equality as a problem for both men and women. That is, men are also trapped in the norm framework of what society expects in males/masculinity. “If we stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by what we just are – we can all be freer…It’s about freedom.” She says, and then calls for a total co-operation from the other half of the world.

Emma Watson points out the fluidity of identity within oneself (more specifically, gender identity) should be way more transparent and mobile than traditional thought as defined strictly, male and female. This idea coordinates well with my observation about Phoebe and her tendency to be a feminist figure in literature. However, no country in the world has achieved gender equality (The Global Gender Gap Report 2013), which means no persons in the world possesses total freedom to define themselves as who they are on the gender spectrum (G. Bolich 2007).

The current social settings do not recognize such idealistic concept of equality in identity (both internally and externally). I am wondering when and where will the kairos of this prevail? Will it come inevitably as a social evolution? Or is a revolution with more activism in need? (more speeches from Ms. Watson. Yes!)

(source)

Occupying myself with the much productive app Instagram. I scroll and scroll through those perfectly square boxes, double tap (sometimes subconsciously) on them to “like”, desperately find bits of inspiration for my blog. With observations, I realized the fact that we are living in a scarcity of human interactions, but at the same time in an excess of information. The contradiction, which arises due to the popularity of social networks/media, illuminates a collection of non-places (Augé 1995) – spaces that “inculcate a new sense of thin or abstract identity” (Kolb 2008).

In this case, the non-place is Instagram. The idea not only challenges Augé’s original concept of supermodernity in the mid 1990s (when such digital space was far from mainstream); it also exposes questions, regarding this non-place’s legitimacy as a channel for contemporary life narratives.

Evolving from the orthodox life narratives, contemporary life narratives transcend beyond what was once considered (somehow eurocentric) worth-telling “white, male, bourgeois, Western”. The content is now multidimensional, with different slices of life in unique settings around the globe. Furthermore, the means in which life narratives are delivered, now include the non-places as an inevitable transformation in this digital age.

Written much about the theoretical aspect linking Instagram and contemporary life narratives. Here are some vivid examples of stories being told visually on this platform, that I find interesting:

Ai Weiwei, a famous dissident Chinese artist started his own internet meme with a rather funny pose. The act involved “taking a selfie while holding your leg up as though aiming it like a rifle.” – as described by William Wan on The Washington Post. This playful imagery created a trend that many young netizens follow:

Upon being asked the meaning behind his thought-provoking pose, he answered: “”It is a pure use of social media. To pick up public notions on mixed issues — the power to control individuals…terror, arms, many issues… to use the body as weapon. You cannot do this with a novel or movie or in theatre. It’s more like poetry… Some are so empty; some are so profound. To grab your own leg as a foreign object and to ponder and to photograph. I think it is very profound.”

Ai Weiwei’s visual approach to life narratives inspires many people. It simultaneously reveals his retrospective view into the Cultural Revolution period in which he grew up and certainly got affected by. (The gun of the young Red Guards?)

Many questions emerge around this new form of life narratives. Do the non-places (Instagram, etc.) make stories more accessible and are the ultimate ways of doing it? Or are they just like other means of telling stories back then, will be replaced by other avant-garde methods? The answer is in #future.

For the students of Tiananmen.

TRIVIA: Surprisingly enough, UBC’s Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery is currently running an exhibition featuring Ai Weiwei’s work “NEW YORK PHOTOGRAPHS 1983-1993”. I visited it today and it was worth it. Don’t forget to read/watch his interview about Cultural Revolution and his life in New York City (once again as a perfect example for “Life Narratives”)

Links:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/06/16/ai-weiweis-fake-leg-guns-become-chinese-internet-meme/
http://www.belkin.ubc.ca/current/ai-weiwei-new-york-photographs
http://www.dkolb.org/sprawlingplaces/generalo/placesto/augonnon.html