Adichie Chimamanda gave a warning against the single story in
her TedTalk. She said one story becomes representative of the culture and
creates incomplete stereotypes. I have had several conversations with my
in-laws and some of my friends over the past few days that illustrate this idea
fully. One of my friends is traveling to Greece soon. He wanted to talk to my
in-laws about some sites he should see when he is there because my in-laws
lived in Greece for almost two years. He went on and on about the idealized
version of Greece he couldn’t wait to see and mentioned the Acropolis as the
site he most wanted to visit. My in-laws started giggling right away. The
Greece they lived in was dirty and corrupt and the Acropolis is in ruins
(literally and figuratively). They said he should get a refund for his trip if
he wanted to enjoy his travels!
Another conversation I had with a friend of mine centered on
countries on our travel bucket list. When he paused to think, I said “What
about France?” because I had been there and really enjoyed it. He went on this
rant about how he had no desire to visit France even though he wanted to see
the Eiffel Tower because the French are all rude and hate Americans. I told him
how I heard the same thing before traveling there and we talked about how we
didn’t even know how we all had that preconceived idea about France. It was
similar to Chimamanda’s example with the American who heard about one abusive
Nigerian husband and thought all Nigerian men were like that. I told him how I
was worried about this when I went there so I brushed up on the little French I
remembered from high school to hopefully have a better experience. Although I
had fun speaking broken French with the locals who thought my accent was funny,
I didn’t see any rude French people when I was there. Again, a single story
becomes representative of the culture.
Clearly, having a single story doesn’t always result in
negative stereotypes. During a lengthy conversation with a local Jamaican at a
resort, I quickly realized he had a single story about the United States. The story
he knew was very limited and greatly idealized. When he talked about the United
States, he only knew about California and New York City. He talked about all
the freedoms in the United States as if there were no set of complex rules or
laws. He wanted to leave Jamaica for a while to come to the United States and
make a bunch of money, so he could bring it back to Jamaica. I’m not saying
that can’t or won’t happen but his romantic idea about the United States was
certainly not the whole story!
Multiple stories can greatly alter the way in which we view
a country and/or people. Getting a more complete view provides a better
understanding without relying on incomplete stereotypes as Chimamanda states.
However, I think the multiple stories need to come from personal experience to
be truly authentic and revealing.
Hey Adam,
ReplyDeleteI like how you use three distinct stories to prove your point. . . about stories. I imagine these conversations as the really in-depth satisfying chat you have over a beer. It would be cool to see that image (or the way it actually occurred) brought out a bit to make it a little more real for your reader. Is there a way you could incorporate dialog into these paragraphs to make them come alive? Overall, I like that you show stereotypes good and bad about other cultures and the US. Good work!
-Kimberly Strong
Adam,
ReplyDeleteAdichie is one of my favorite authors (Americanah is one of the most readable novels I encountered in this program), so I was immediately captivated by your introduction. As she points out in the TED Talk, the stereotypes that become single stories aren't necessarily false, but they aren't representative of the entire culture. I can relate to your experiences visiting France - I only met a few rude Frenchmen in my time there, but I think it had more to do with being from a major urban center such as Paris than a cultural representation. Single stories are simply threads of understanding that ought to be added to larger tapestries of cross-cultural creation.
I'm interested to read more about your experiences in Jamaica - that seems like an opportunity to relate to postcolonial challenges of our globalized world. I can definitely see why New York and California become single-story-cities, and I'm also interested to hear about how you might have described your own home to the local. How have your different experiences influenced your understandings of perceptions of America and local cultures? What are some single stories you would disprove? I think you have so many interesting travel experiences you could share - the postcolonial discourse is a great resource!
Thanks,
Justin
Adam,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post. I love anecdotes. Applying your research—TedTalk—in your introduction establishes your main point: “one story becomes representative of the culture and creates incomplete stereotypes.” Thank you!
You expand the main point with personal experiences, one of the best rhetorical strategies: “I have had several conversations with my in-laws and some of my friends over the past few days that illustrate this idea fully.” The stories were interesting and relevant, with a bit of humor: “They said he should get a refund for his trip if he wanted to enjoy his travels!” Most typical of stereotypical assertions is “the American who heard about one abusive Nigerian husband and thought all Nigerian men were like that.” However, you address a broader view when you state and prove, "a single story doesn’t always result in negative stereotypes.” That gives the rest of the story, an important concept.
The Jamaican story is interesting. You state, “He talked about all the freedoms in the United States as if there were no set of complex rules or laws. He wanted to leave Jamaica for a while to come to the United States and make a bunch of money.” I wonder, if by chance, he was not giving his “total” perception of the U.S., concerned about offending an American. It’s just a thought.
Your conclusion sums up the main points: “Multiple stories can greatly alter the way in which we view a country and/or people.” I completely understand “I think the multiple stories need to come from personal experience to be truly authentic and revealing.” The problem is that personal stories can be so misleading when they come from one’s “limited” life experiences.
You may want to include visuals since it's included on the grading rubric.
What I enjoy most about your travel journal is your willingness to be “You.” That counts!
Adam, how right you are. It is amazing how our preconceptions of places can be shaped. For instance, I grew up learning about the Pyramids of Giza, wanting to travel to Egypt to see them in all of their magnificence and grandeur. Although I still have Giza on my bucket list, it was knocked down quite a few places when my friend came back from seeing the Pyramids and described Giza as filthy, putrid, overpopulated, and swamped with sewage. Sounds lovely, right? Even though I have never been to Giza, I already have an opinion of it. I wonder how that would change by going there myself.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the final line of your post, that personal experiences add to authenticity when contributing to the narrative about multiple stories. What happens when it isn’t possible to get the firsthand story? How do we go about getting different perspectives?
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if you have images to go with some of these great anecdotes, specifically from France and Jamaica. I haven’t been to either of these places and they would add visual interest to your story.
Could you provide any sort of background or conclusion to your anecdotes about Greece and Jamaica? It would be interesting to know why your in-laws lived in Greece. Is your wife Greek? I think this background would add texture.
When you were engaged in conversation in Jamaica, did you try to provide accurate information to the person you were talking to? If so, how did you do this? This conversation reminds me of what Chimamanda said in the TED Talk about stereotypes; it’s not that their untrue, it’s that they’re incomplete.
Overall, your post provides three solid examples of how the single story can be detrimental. The examples and your argument are strengthened by the fact that two of these stories are based on your firsthand experience.
Renada
Adam,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you recognize the responsibility we have as individuals to mitigate stereotypes and endeavor to discover primary source material for our own understandings. The examples you provided demonstrate how stereotypes are as harmful to other countries as they are to ours, and that is why we are both creators and destroyers of this imagery.
Often, travelers operate as self-contained units, intent only to live the experience they've imagined, but you have shared the importance of being open to others and for others. You can build upon this message be being more explicit in your descriptions of stereotypes: what does it look like or feel like to live in a "dirty and corrupt" Greece? How did your friend imagine the Acropolis? Adding detail will help others who don't have the opportunity to travel to these places better perceive the extent to which the perspectives diverged.
Great theme!
L.
Adam,
ReplyDeleteI like how you structure this post around three quick stories. I connected with your in-laws laughing about the Acropolis in a way. I was in Greece years ago and I can see what they meant by their description--although how can you not see the Acropolis? I also connected with your use of the idea that all French people are rude. I was in France recently and my experience was much like yours. It makes me wonder if French people used to be ruder or if our conceptions of rude have changed? I did notice that the older women in France dress much more formally than the younger generation, so maybe there has been some generational shifts regarding how open they are to tourists as well. I am wondering if you meant to highlight the text at the start of the blog, or if that formatting might be cleared up? Also, I wonder if there are some images you might use to reinforce your narrative? Thanks for sharing your insights. --Dawn