On Questions of Representation
(thread in General forum)by Jason Price on July 8, 2008, 8:52 p.m.
(On Questions of Representation)
As The Global Lives Project is essentially a project dealing with cross-cultural representation, it is inevitable that difficult moral and political questions and critiques will arise. Indeed, this is one of the great strengths of the project and I think that some of those issues are beginning to come to light, thankfully, as the Global Lives Malawi community grows and the images become available. As a result, I've set up a thread on our discussion board in our facebook group. called "On Questions of Representation..." and thought it might be good to open a similar forum in this venue.
by Jason Price on July 8, 2008, 8:58 p.m.
(Initial Conversation from Global Lives Malawi)
Hi Everyone,One of the most important aspects of the The Global Lives Project is that it calls into question issues related to representation. In response to our first posted video, Cedrick Ngalande posted this thoughtful and important comment:
"I haven't seen the full video so I cannot make specific comments on it. Rather I will just make general comments.
There is a tendency among our friends in the West to portray the stereotypes of Africa - extreme poverty, primitive houses, and Stone Age environments. While this may make good viewing among the westerners, it is hurting our continent big time. There is more to Africa than thepoor villages. There is also a growing and vibrant modern culture – young people getting education, succeeding in entrepreneurship and making political and business decisions. This side of Africa never gets told in the West. As such most investors don't have any desire to go to Africa.
You will not believe how many people come to me in Los Angeles and ask questions like, are there many people with degrees in Malawi? Do you see lions often? Thanks to movies about "Africa" this is the perception created in the minds of westerners many of whom are potential investors."
BELOW, please find my (rather lengthy --- eeek!) reply. It's my hopet that this will serve as a good starting point for further discussion!
Enjoy (and please participate),
Jason
****
Hi Cedrick,
Thank you so very much for making this important point! Indeed, I believe and hope that the Global Lives Project (more broadly) and Global Lives Malawi (in particular) will spark important debates regarding how people are represented in media throughout the world, and the broader impacts of those representations.
I completely agree with your general comment – that Western representations of African societies have an uncanny knack to feed into stereotypes that do no one any good. But I might even take that a step further and say that it’s not just a problem for “our friends in the West”. Indeed, many representations of Africans, by Africans, and for Africans also fall into the same traps that you speak of. So I think it is a broad concern. Though I agree with you that foreigners (of which I am, and will remain, regardless of how much time I spend in Malawi) are particularly to blame. (And, inthat regard, I encourage you and everyone else who cares about theseissues to be critical and skeptical of this project (like any other) at every turn, and to voice those criticisms and concerns. However, I would also encourage you to not presume anything straight off the bat, or simply lump us in with a group that we may not end up being part of.)
I think that visual representations of “Africa” tend to fall into this problem more readily than other forms of representation, or at least it is more blatant. Those late-night, “dollar a day” commercials, Hollywood and its recent fascination with African environs, and new sentimental documentaries all come to mind… And I think these because popular and marketable because exoticism is so easy and so, as you have noted, strangely pleasurable and alluring to so many audiences.
I think of this young, Australian photographer who has copyrighted a number of images from a recent trip to Malawi. I discovered him by chance one night while studying images of Malawi on the popular photo-sharing website, Flickr. While technically accomplished, I found his photos shockingly devoid of context. At their best, his images simply reaffirm some exotic, primitive notion of “Africa”. At their worst, they are exploitative in shocking ways. What is alarming to me, on top of all this, is that he appears to be unwilling to enter into a public debate regarding the nature of his work. Over the last month I have watched him repeatedly delete critical comments from his public account and he has denied an attempt by me to engage with him directly. (I’d actually very much like to discuss the photographer’s work at length later, in a different venue.)
So where does The Global Lives Project fit into the mix here? And is it different? Well that remains to be seen, of course. But we shall encourage the answer to be determined through public debate, here and elsewhere; and that is as it should be. If some people determine that the project (broadly) or this shoot (in particular) is part and parcel of those broader problems – well, then, they will be able raise it up as an example of what’s wrong with those kinds of social and cultural representations. It will not surprise you, however, that I don’t feel that way about this project...
So why do I feel this is different, then?
The short answer is that while this shoot might not challenge stereotypical notions of “Africa” by showing “the Africa they never show you” , it STILL DOES ATTEMPT TO CHALLENGE THOSE NOTIONS by looking much, much deeper at the “Africa” they have shown you before. And I think that is an important and crucial step in revising the way people imagine life in “Africa”. In other words, it is not only what we are showing (the content), but how we are showing it (the form).
The goal here is to pay close attention to the minute details in a full, unedited day in the life of one person. That kind of commitment offers an incredibleamount of dignity to the subject and her environment; and the footage becomes a wellspring for all types of thought, reflection, and analysis. While our short, edited clip might have an element of entertainment value, I assure you that, by and large, this product is distinctly non-commercial (with 8 hours of sleep, 4 hours of darkness, 5 hours in a school, and 3 hours doing monotonous chores how could it be!). A very large part of our footage, in fact, is recorded inside the walls of a classroom! In this regards it is exactly what you call for in your post - “a young person getting an education” (and a girl, for that matter!). While many people in this forum have applauded the work for nostalgic reasons, I do hope it goes much further than that. Ultimately, I hope it enables people to develop a more patient and thoughtful way of seeing their everyday lives in relation to others. In our increasingly chaotic, interconnected world (where we are, ironically, both connected and yet isolated from one antoher somehow), that might be a very good thing.
In a project like this, some discontent is inevitable, and particularly the claim that you make here. But I can assure you Cedrick, that there are no lions in this video : ) . And I can also attest to the fact that there aren’t really any images of human suffering either – no AIDS patients, no 'cripples', no beggars, no real visible poverty beyond a bare foot here and there, a candle, or a thatched roof... (and we can discuss the relativity of poverty and its visual signifiers in another venue!) And while that may put you at ease because our footage doesn’t contribute to typically pathological representations of ‘Africa’, it may make someone else uneasy tomorrow because of their belief that that is an essential part of Malawian society!
But that goes with the turf. For better are for worse, this isn’t something like astronautics or investment. There are rarely clear-cut right and wrong answer. The important thing, I think, is to be open and honest and to encourage thoughtful debate such as this…
One of the beauties of this particular project – The Global Lives Project, that is – is that it intends to become a comprehensive library of the human experience. And so it encourages more and more videos, and more and more dialogue in the future - a kind of infinite regress that promotes tolerance and broader understanding of ourselves and others. (I know that might sound corny or sentimental, but I believe it to be true.)
So if there is something missing now, all I can say is... ‘Of course there is!’
But this is a start, and we still have a lot of work to do….
With sincere hope for your continual participation,
Jason
****
So what do people think?
by Jason Price on July 8, 2008, 8:58 p.m.
(Initial Conversation from Global Lives Malawi)
Hi Everyone,One of the most important aspects of the The Global Lives Project is that it calls into question issues related to representation. In response to our first posted video, Cedrick Ngalande posted this thoughtful and important comment:
"I haven't seen the full video so I cannot make specific comments on it. Rather I will just make general comments.
There is a tendency among our friends in the West to portray the stereotypes of Africa - extreme poverty, primitive houses, and Stone Age environments. While this may make good viewing among the westerners, it is hurting our continent big time. There is more to Africa than thepoor villages. There is also a growing and vibrant modern culture – young people getting education, succeeding in entrepreneurship and making political and business decisions. This side of Africa never gets told in the West. As such most investors don't have any desire to go to Africa.
You will not believe how many people come to me in Los Angeles and ask questions like, are there many people with degrees in Malawi? Do you see lions often? Thanks to movies about "Africa" this is the perception created in the minds of westerners many of whom are potential investors."
BELOW, please find my (rather lengthy --- eeek!) reply. It's my hopet that this will serve as a good starting point for further discussion!
Enjoy (and please participate),
Jason
****
Hi Cedrick,
Thank you so very much for making this important point! Indeed, I believe and hope that the Global Lives Project (more broadly) and Global Lives Malawi (in particular) will spark important debates regarding how people are represented in media throughout the world, and the broader impacts of those representations.
I completely agree with your general comment – that Western representations of African societies have an uncanny knack to feed into stereotypes that do no one any good. But I might even take that a step further and say that it’s not just a problem for “our friends in the West”. Indeed, many representations of Africans, by Africans, and for Africans also fall into the same traps that you speak of. So I think it is a broad concern. Though I agree with you that foreigners (of which I am, and will remain, regardless of how much time I spend in Malawi) are particularly to blame. (And, inthat regard, I encourage you and everyone else who cares about theseissues to be critical and skeptical of this project (like any other) at every turn, and to voice those criticisms and concerns. However, I would also encourage you to not presume anything straight off the bat, or simply lump us in with a group that we may not end up being part of.)
I think that visual representations of “Africa” tend to fall into this problem more readily than other forms of representation, or at least it is more blatant. Those late-night, “dollar a day” commercials, Hollywood and its recent fascination with African environs, and new sentimental documentaries all come to mind… And I think these because popular and marketable because exoticism is so easy and so, as you have noted, strangely pleasurable and alluring to so many audiences.
I think of this young, Australian photographer who has copyrighted a number of images from a recent trip to Malawi. I discovered him by chance one night while studying images of Malawi on the popular photo-sharing website, Flickr. While technically accomplished, I found his photos shockingly devoid of context. At their best, his images simply reaffirm some exotic, primitive notion of “Africa”. At their worst, they are exploitative in shocking ways. What is alarming to me, on top of all this, is that he appears to be unwilling to enter into a public debate regarding the nature of his work. Over the last month I have watched him repeatedly delete critical comments from his public account and he has denied an attempt by me to engage with him directly. (I’d actually very much like to discuss the photographer’s work at length later, in a different venue.)
So where does The Global Lives Project fit into the mix here? And is it different? Well that remains to be seen, of course. But we shall encourage the answer to be determined through public debate, here and elsewhere; and that is as it should be. If some people determine that the project (broadly) or this shoot (in particular) is part and parcel of those broader problems – well, then, they will be able raise it up as an example of what’s wrong with those kinds of social and cultural representations. It will not surprise you, however, that I don’t feel that way about this project...
So why do I feel this is different, then?
The short answer is that while this shoot might not challenge stereotypical notions of “Africa” by showing “the Africa they never show you” , it STILL DOES ATTEMPT TO CHALLENGE THOSE NOTIONS by looking much, much deeper at the “Africa” they have shown you before. And I think that is an important and crucial step in revising the way people imagine life in “Africa”. In other words, it is not only what we are showing (the content), but how we are showing it (the form).
The goal here is to pay close attention to the minute details in a full, unedited day in the life of one person. That kind of commitment offers an incredibleamount of dignity to the subject and her environment; and the footage becomes a wellspring for all types of thought, reflection, and analysis. While our short, edited clip might have an element of entertainment value, I assure you that, by and large, this product is distinctly non-commercial (with 8 hours of sleep, 4 hours of darkness, 5 hours in a school, and 3 hours doing monotonous chores how could it be!). A very large part of our footage, in fact, is recorded inside the walls of a classroom! In this regards it is exactly what you call for in your post - “a young person getting an education” (and a girl, for that matter!). While many people in this forum have applauded the work for nostalgic reasons, I do hope it goes much further than that. Ultimately, I hope it enables people to develop a more patient and thoughtful way of seeing their everyday lives in relation to others. In our increasingly chaotic, interconnected world (where we are, ironically, both connected and yet isolated from one antoher somehow), that might be a very good thing.
In a project like this, some discontent is inevitable, and particularly the claim that you make here. But I can assure you Cedrick, that there are no lions in this video : ) . And I can also attest to the fact that there aren’t really any images of human suffering either – no AIDS patients, no 'cripples', no beggars, no real visible poverty beyond a bare foot here and there, a candle, or a thatched roof... (and we can discuss the relativity of poverty and its visual signifiers in another venue!) And while that may put you at ease because our footage doesn’t contribute to typically pathological representations of ‘Africa’, it may make someone else uneasy tomorrow because of their belief that that is an essential part of Malawian society!
But that goes with the turf. For better are for worse, this isn’t something like astronautics or investment. There are rarely clear-cut right and wrong answer. The important thing, I think, is to be open and honest and to encourage thoughtful debate such as this…
One of the beauties of this particular project – The Global Lives Project, that is – is that it intends to become a comprehensive library of the human experience. And so it encourages more and more videos, and more and more dialogue in the future - a kind of infinite regress that promotes tolerance and broader understanding of ourselves and others. (I know that might sound corny or sentimental, but I believe it to be true.)
So if there is something missing now, all I can say is... ‘Of course there is!’
But this is a start, and we still have a lot of work to do….
With sincere hope for your continual participation,
Jason
****
So what do people think?
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