Life history is the reproduction of a number of events captured by interviewing an individual of whom a story will be told or written. The methods by which life histories are collected possessed several advantages and disadvantages for the interviewee and interviewer as well as the audience for whom the narrated story is intended to enlighten. Life history is an important method that could be used to recapture someone’s experiences, traditions, values, social, and economic status as well as to demonstrate the evolvement of the individual by telling his or her story. Although most societies had some forms of writing, but storytelling was the art that connected the people.
Storytelling has been the central method by which events were transmitted
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Life histories have several advantages if the method is used properly. Researchers can gather gainful information about the culture, custom, social norms of a community and how hierarchical authority is structured. Secondly, collecting first-hand data on the social and economic statuses, classes, gender, and values of a community allow readers to discern information on the development its people. However, one of the disadvantages of using this method is when stories are told with a particular interest. It may help promote prejudice, racism and a condescending perception of the individuals …show more content…
Kirk Hoppe’s article addressed four parts: the meeting, the telling, the writing, and the reading, that applied to creating a life narrative text. There are several issues associated with Hoppe’s processes with respect to telling the stories of African women. It would be overreaching to relate for one or two even hundred studies to the way of life of all African women. For one, most of the studies were conducted with motives and sometimes with pre-determined purposes. To that end, if the collection of the evidence was corrupted then the writing was likely corrupted and less likely to appear in the interviewee’s voice. Hence, these studies do not tell us anything substantive about women’s role in the communities. These stories only solidify the Western audience’s preconceptions of the African people as being poor, dying of starvation and was rescued by the coming of Christianity into their
The black women’s interaction with her oppressive environment during Revolutionary period or the antebellum America was the only way of her survival. Playing her role, and being part of her community that is not always pleasant takes a lot of courage, and optimism for better tomorrow. The autonomy of a slave women still existed even if most of her natural rights were taken. As opposed to her counterparts
Rooks, Noliwe. The Women Who Said, I AM. Vol. Sage: A Scholarly Journal On Black Women 1988.
The opening of the novel places the reader not in Falola's shoes as a child, but rather as an adult scholar attempting to procure information from his own family. This proves easier said than done as Falola takes us through the process of obtaining specific dates in a society that deems them irrelevant. By examining the difficulty that Falola has in this seemingly simple task, the reader begins to understand the way in which time and space are intertwined and weighed in Africa. This concept of "connections between words, space, and rituals" encompasses the way that Africans perceive the world around them - as a series of interrelated events rather than specific instances in time (Falola 224). This approach also stems from the concept that the family unit, the village, and the elders come before the individual in all instances, making a detail such as a birthday unimportant when it comes to the welfare of the whole. Introducing the reader to the complexities of African conventions, Falola expands their minds and challenges them to view the forthcoming narrative with untainted eyes.
The memoir of Old Elizabeth presents a rare and important slave narrative in which the stories of African American women intersect with the experiences of African American people in roles of religious leadership. Elizabeth broke many of societies conventions at the time by preaching and holding religious meeting despite being woman. Her religious work was met with backlash from the church and from many other people who did not accept the idea of a woman leading religious services, yet she continued to practice until her health would no longer allow for it. This is unusual as it spends most of the narrative on the time after she was free rather than focusing on the time that she was enslaved the way that many slave narratives do.
Hunter-Willis, Miya. Writing the Wrongs: A Comparison of Two Female Slave Narratives. Diss. Marshall University, 2008. Dissertations & Theses: Full Text, ProQuest. Web. 22 Sep. 2011.
Storytelling has a special importance in culture throughout the African continent; Anansi the spider in Ghana, is one great example of an African fable that teaches children important lessons including respect for elders, the importance of wisdom, and the importance of culture. These stories have been retained and perpetuated by oral tradition, despite the western emphasis on written records; African tribes have preserved history and culture well thorough oral historians. The translator, D.T. Niane, explains the validity of oral history well by stating that written text can contain inaccuracies as well (xv). The importance of the oral aspect of djelis method relays the information in a personal manner, as Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate states, “writing lacks the warmth of the human voice,” therefore by creating a written text of an oral story it “does violence” to it (xvi). I was raised in an African community, here in DC and was lucky enough to attend Djeli performances by family friend, Djimo Kouyate, and later his son Amadou. Although I do not speak Manding, Djeli Djimo Koyate, performed the music in such a way that I was able to relate and...
Throughout my life, I've heard many different stories about my family. Because of these stories, I know about my background, and they have helped form my identity. Randall Bass, professor of English at Georgetown University, agrees that stories help shape people's identities. Bass states that, "Individuals derive their sense of identity from their culture, and cultures are systems of belief that determine how people live their lives" (Bass 1). Cultural stories about family history, religion, nationality, and heritage help influence people's behavior and beliefs. Identities of different people come from their cultures. Story telling begins at home. Stories help connect people to their systems of beliefs. They sculpt people's lives by giving them a model of how to live. People receive their earliest knowledge from different stories.(Bass)
Throughout my life I have heard a wide range of stories from my parents. When putting this assignment together I have put these stories into account. Randall Bass, educator of English at Georgetown University, concurs that stories shape individuals ' personalities. Bass expresses that, "People infer their feeling of personality from their way of life, and societies are frameworks of conviction that decide how individuals experience their lives" (Bass 1). Social stories about family history, religion, nationality, and legacy impact individuals ' conduct and convictions. Personalities of diverse individuals originate from their societies. Narrating starts at home. Stories associate individuals to their frameworks of convictions. They shape individuals ' lives by giving them a model of how to live. Individuals get their most punctual learning from distinctive stories. (Bass)
According to the video presented by Margaret Heffernan willful blindness refers to those issues that we should know, we might know, but we choose to somehow ignore. As if our decision was "not to know the bad things that are happening". Willful blindness is present in almost every aspect of our lives. To a certain extent it has its logic and I include myself in it. Sometimes, I prefer not to hear the bad news even though I know they are "there". If bringing to light something that bothers more than facing it, is it worth doing it? Surely we all have things to say about what is being done wrong in our working area. But, we often decide to shut up. In my case, I am afraid even of finding something that is not favorable to me.
Storytelling has been used throughout history to explain the unexplained mysteries in the time of the storyteller. Today the current generation makes it appear that the “stories that sell the most cause” (Kristina) widely spread misconceptions and aggression towards these stereotypes. These misconceptions are seen throughout history, whether it is about the destructive forces of the weather or the animals roaming the planet we call home. Aggression can be seen evident throughout history as well, be it wars of religions live in the crusades, or the war against Afghanistan. Storytelling throughout time has created “a safe space in” (Horn) an environment. They have been used to calm the fears children from ancient times to the present, as well a comfort them when parents as they are told a story to help them sleep. Stories are told through the toughest times from economic failure to bombings raining destruction from above. Historically storytellers have traditionally been the elders of the communities who start to tell younger generations when “the person [is] at a young age” (Horn) and more often then not influences the overall outlook of that child. History has been filled with the tradition of the elders of t...
12 Million Black Voices by Richard Wright is a photo and text book which poetically tells the tale of African Americans from the time they were taken from Africa to the time things started to improve for them in a 149 page reflection. Using interchanging series of texts and photographs, Richard Wright encompasses the voices of 12 Million African-Americans, and tells of their sufferings, their fears, the phases through which they have gone and their hopes. In this book, most of the photos used were from the FSA: Farm Security Administration and a few others not from them. They were selected to complement and show the points of the text. The African-Americans in the photos were depicted with dignity. In their eyes, even though clearly victims, exists strengths and hopes for the future. The photos indicated that they could and did create their own culture both in the past and present. From the same photos plus the texts, it could be gathered that they have done things to improve their lives of their own despite the many odds against them. The photographs showed their lives, their suffering, and their journey for better lives, their happy moments, and the places that were of importance to them. Despite the importance of the photographs they were not as effective as the text in showing the African-American lives and how the things happening in them had affected them, more specifically their complex feelings. 12 Million Black Voices by Richard Wright represents the voice of African-Americans from their point of view of their long journey from Africa to America, and from there through their search for equality, the scars and prints of where they come from, their children born during these struggles, their journeys, their loss, and plight...
In studying the advent of autobiography as a genre in its own right, it would seem to be a particularly modern form of literature, a hybrid form of biography. Also, the distinctions between the forms of the biography, personal history or diary and novel are becoming questioned in that the autobiography is not an account of wisdom accumulated in a lifetime but a defining of identity. 2
Nnoromele, Salome C. "Representing the African Woman: Subjectivity and Self in The Joys of Motherhood." Critique 43.2 (2002): 178-190.
Barrington M. Salmon. “ African Women in a Changing World.” Washington Informer 13 March 2014: Page 16-17
McAdams, D.P. (2001). The psychology of life stories. Review of general psychology, 5 (2), 100.