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In/visibility and If I Ever Get Out of Here
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From: Sarah Hamburg <srhf92_at_hampshire.edu>
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2014 11:21:35 -0500
Since the conversation has come back to it and because I think it very much relates to If I Ever Get Out of Here, I wondered if I could direct attention back to Debbie Reese's original post about invisibility (copied below. Sorry about my wacky font.) In it she asks: invisibility *for whom*? I feel like this "for whom?" has been a central (if sometimes implicit) thread in this conversation as a whole. I'd point back to Ebony Elizabeth Thomas' post, too, about the movie Frozen and the act of reading/writing/drawing the self into imaginative spaces. (I don't know if people went to the original blog posts Ebony referenced, but they include a powerful and relevant discussion about cultural appropriation, and the dynamics of being spoken for/about, or speaking as.)
Debbie's post also included a link to a discussion between Toni Morrison and Junot Diaz-- which she referenced in the context of this question of "invisibility for whom?" Debbie also pointed out to me that Toni Morrison's own comments about The Invisible Man come in relation to a discussion of her work as an editor, where she (Morrison) approached her authors' writing with this "for whom" as a central question and a potential space for imaginative liberation. If people missed it, I'll include the link here, too: http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/12/watch_toni_morrison_and_junot_diaz_talk_about_race_and_writing.html (On my device, the content started at about the one hour mark.)
For anyone who hasn't read Toni Morrison's foundational book Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination, I'd just like to point towards it in this context as well. In many ways (my own reading) I think her book dismantles this particular idea of invisibility, by turning attention to the source of the "for whom" that lies beneath it. For those who haven't read it, I also just wanted to mention Zetta Elliott's 2010 article in the Horn Book, "Decolonizing the Imagination": http://archive.hbook.com/magazine/articles/2010/mar10_elliott.asp
I haven't had a chance to finish If I Get Out of Here yet, but these questions seem to be central ones in Gansworth's book as well. As Debbie mentioned, and as came up in the discussion of How I Became a Ghost, so far there seems to be a crucial exploration of what it means to claim one's own identity and sense of self in relation to and with others. The novel opens with Lewis cutting off his braid, as a potential symbol of removing something of himself in order to be more visible to the white kids at school. The opening of the story keeps returning to this question: does Lewis have to give up something of his own identity to be seen in that white world? He considers that maybe his own nickname should be "the Invisible Boy" and when he wonders what it would mean to be "like everyone else, a Dear Boy" instead (a transformation that involves skin bleach and "a few modifications") he thinks about Billy Shears pretending to be Paul McCartney:
"But the cost of becoming Paul McCartney would be giving up the identity of Billy Shears for the rest of his life, never being a member of the Shears family again. Could I be a Dear Boy and still be Indian? Was there a way to make an informed decision-- any way to find out what would happen without stripping my Indian life away completely first?" p. 31
It seems like there is also that "for whom" circling here, too. As in Debbie's discussion of invisibility, Lewis isn't invisible-- not to himself, or at home, or to his community on the reservation. Who is the "everyone else" he wants to be like? There's a question of what the outside gaze means here: whether it really has the power to define him, what it sees and what he wants it to see, and whether he ultimately wants to concede a power that is really his own... And, what seeing one another means in a friendship that has all of these powerful questions circling around it.
I'm looking forward to reading more!
Sarah
Subject: Jason's post re social media, and a question about invisibility From: Debbie Reese <dreese.nambe_at_gmail.com> Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2014 11:42:00 -0500
Off list, I was asked why Native people in the US, in comparison to aboriginal people in Australia, are so invisible.
The question reminded me of something Toni Morrison said in the conversation between her and Junot Diaz a few weeks ago at the NYPL. She said something to the effect that the title of Ellison's book--Invisible Man--was a stark comment on the imagined audience for the book. To her, the protagonist was not invisible. You can watch the conversation. There was one pearl after another from the two: http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/12/watch_toni_morrison_and_junot_diaz_talk_about_race_and_writing.html
The point is, invisibility is relative to who you are.
Last night visiting with my daughter, she asked how we (my generation) managed without all the social media we use today. The ability to network is exponentially greater than it was 20 years ago. Through social media, I've met many people who are reading my site, or my facebook page, or my tweets. Some of this evolves into in-person meetings when the opportunity is there for both of us. And of course, I've met people who, prior to social media, were invisible to me, too. I feel awkward as heck, sometimes, stepping out of my comfort zone, but it is necessary.
Jason Lee's post is a perfect example of what is possible with social media. It is my presence on social media that got me an invitation to write about the use of "Geronimo" for the military operation that resulted in Osama bin Laden's death: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/05/04/osama-bin-laden-was-no-geronimo/
Following Jason, and Malinda Lo, and Cynthia Leitich Smith, and Edith Campbell on Facebook or Twitter (and now I'm adding Tumblr to what I seek out), I learn a lot. The invisible becomes visible.
As to why American Indians are invisible to mainstream American society... I think children's literature is part of the answer. Too much historical fiction in which we just go away. And of course, not enough coverage of Native news in the major newspapers. If you want to know what we care about, read our newspapers. As evident yesterday, my voice is seen as strident, but in the continuum of Native voice, I'm rather measured and diplomatic. To read Native news, here's some options:
Indian Country Today Media Network: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/
Yesterday's Native News Online ran a piece called "US Presidents in their own words concerning American Indians" http://nativenewsonline.net/currents/us-presidents-words-concerning-american-indians/
Scan the archives of Native America Calling (radio program that airs daily). See "Past NAC Programs" on left of their main page: http://www.nativeamericacalling.com/
Lisa Mitten, of the American Indian Library Association, has a terrific page on media. Take a look: http://www.nativeculturelinks.com/media.html
So. In today's technology age, visibility/invisibility is a choice we make.
Debbie
Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2014 11:21:35 -0500
Since the conversation has come back to it and because I think it very much relates to If I Ever Get Out of Here, I wondered if I could direct attention back to Debbie Reese's original post about invisibility (copied below. Sorry about my wacky font.) In it she asks: invisibility *for whom*? I feel like this "for whom?" has been a central (if sometimes implicit) thread in this conversation as a whole. I'd point back to Ebony Elizabeth Thomas' post, too, about the movie Frozen and the act of reading/writing/drawing the self into imaginative spaces. (I don't know if people went to the original blog posts Ebony referenced, but they include a powerful and relevant discussion about cultural appropriation, and the dynamics of being spoken for/about, or speaking as.)
Debbie's post also included a link to a discussion between Toni Morrison and Junot Diaz-- which she referenced in the context of this question of "invisibility for whom?" Debbie also pointed out to me that Toni Morrison's own comments about The Invisible Man come in relation to a discussion of her work as an editor, where she (Morrison) approached her authors' writing with this "for whom" as a central question and a potential space for imaginative liberation. If people missed it, I'll include the link here, too: http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/12/watch_toni_morrison_and_junot_diaz_talk_about_race_and_writing.html (On my device, the content started at about the one hour mark.)
For anyone who hasn't read Toni Morrison's foundational book Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination, I'd just like to point towards it in this context as well. In many ways (my own reading) I think her book dismantles this particular idea of invisibility, by turning attention to the source of the "for whom" that lies beneath it. For those who haven't read it, I also just wanted to mention Zetta Elliott's 2010 article in the Horn Book, "Decolonizing the Imagination": http://archive.hbook.com/magazine/articles/2010/mar10_elliott.asp
I haven't had a chance to finish If I Get Out of Here yet, but these questions seem to be central ones in Gansworth's book as well. As Debbie mentioned, and as came up in the discussion of How I Became a Ghost, so far there seems to be a crucial exploration of what it means to claim one's own identity and sense of self in relation to and with others. The novel opens with Lewis cutting off his braid, as a potential symbol of removing something of himself in order to be more visible to the white kids at school. The opening of the story keeps returning to this question: does Lewis have to give up something of his own identity to be seen in that white world? He considers that maybe his own nickname should be "the Invisible Boy" and when he wonders what it would mean to be "like everyone else, a Dear Boy" instead (a transformation that involves skin bleach and "a few modifications") he thinks about Billy Shears pretending to be Paul McCartney:
"But the cost of becoming Paul McCartney would be giving up the identity of Billy Shears for the rest of his life, never being a member of the Shears family again. Could I be a Dear Boy and still be Indian? Was there a way to make an informed decision-- any way to find out what would happen without stripping my Indian life away completely first?" p. 31
It seems like there is also that "for whom" circling here, too. As in Debbie's discussion of invisibility, Lewis isn't invisible-- not to himself, or at home, or to his community on the reservation. Who is the "everyone else" he wants to be like? There's a question of what the outside gaze means here: whether it really has the power to define him, what it sees and what he wants it to see, and whether he ultimately wants to concede a power that is really his own... And, what seeing one another means in a friendship that has all of these powerful questions circling around it.
I'm looking forward to reading more!
Sarah
Subject: Jason's post re social media, and a question about invisibility From: Debbie Reese <dreese.nambe_at_gmail.com> Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2014 11:42:00 -0500
Off list, I was asked why Native people in the US, in comparison to aboriginal people in Australia, are so invisible.
The question reminded me of something Toni Morrison said in the conversation between her and Junot Diaz a few weeks ago at the NYPL. She said something to the effect that the title of Ellison's book--Invisible Man--was a stark comment on the imagined audience for the book. To her, the protagonist was not invisible. You can watch the conversation. There was one pearl after another from the two: http://colorlines.com/archives/2013/12/watch_toni_morrison_and_junot_diaz_talk_about_race_and_writing.html
The point is, invisibility is relative to who you are.
Last night visiting with my daughter, she asked how we (my generation) managed without all the social media we use today. The ability to network is exponentially greater than it was 20 years ago. Through social media, I've met many people who are reading my site, or my facebook page, or my tweets. Some of this evolves into in-person meetings when the opportunity is there for both of us. And of course, I've met people who, prior to social media, were invisible to me, too. I feel awkward as heck, sometimes, stepping out of my comfort zone, but it is necessary.
Jason Lee's post is a perfect example of what is possible with social media. It is my presence on social media that got me an invitation to write about the use of "Geronimo" for the military operation that resulted in Osama bin Laden's death: http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/05/04/osama-bin-laden-was-no-geronimo/
Following Jason, and Malinda Lo, and Cynthia Leitich Smith, and Edith Campbell on Facebook or Twitter (and now I'm adding Tumblr to what I seek out), I learn a lot. The invisible becomes visible.
As to why American Indians are invisible to mainstream American society... I think children's literature is part of the answer. Too much historical fiction in which we just go away. And of course, not enough coverage of Native news in the major newspapers. If you want to know what we care about, read our newspapers. As evident yesterday, my voice is seen as strident, but in the continuum of Native voice, I'm rather measured and diplomatic. To read Native news, here's some options:
Indian Country Today Media Network: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/
Yesterday's Native News Online ran a piece called "US Presidents in their own words concerning American Indians" http://nativenewsonline.net/currents/us-presidents-words-concerning-american-indians/
Scan the archives of Native America Calling (radio program that airs daily). See "Past NAC Programs" on left of their main page: http://www.nativeamericacalling.com/
Lisa Mitten, of the American Indian Library Association, has a terrific page on media. Take a look: http://www.nativeculturelinks.com/media.html
So. In today's technology age, visibility/invisibility is a choice we make.
Debbie
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Received on Wed 26 Feb 2014 10:27:41 AM CST
