I have always thought that narratives are closely tied to the fundamentals of culture, whether that be a nation's culture, religious culture, or technology culture. But not only are specific cultures influential on the narratives being written, but narratives also inspire and cultivate the culture itself. I feel like Selfe said it best in her post: "we've seen increasing numbers of teachers and scholars... turn to personal narratives as an effective way of exploring the social, cultural, political, ideological, and historical formations that have shaped the literacy practices and values of peoples and groups" She is describing the impact that cultures have on literary components and literature itself.
Another component to this relationship is the people that bridge the culture and the literature together. We all come from different backgrounds and that affects not only what stories we write, but the transformation and identity we have formed in to get to this point. Everything that we have experienced and become, like Kraus says within Selfe's article, is "socially embedded, and readable" in our writing.
Like I have previously stated, not only does culture affect literature and vice versa, but the narrative affects the narrator, and vice versa. Putting into words our emotions and personal stories emphasizes and affirms certain characteristics about ourselves.
I found this article very interesting and it really just articulated how I feel about the mutually-defining relationships between culture, literature, narratives, and narrators.
One of the things I would have loved to see discussed within this context, and that your post reminded me of, is the question of whether this defining relationship between culture and literature is lost when it is translated into different languages. Some of my favorite books were translated from other languages; books like Cry the Beloved Country and The Alchemist were both translated and are really beautiful in the English language. And choosing a language to write in, in the case of a storyteller being bilingual, is also a reflection of the values that are presented in their story. Some indigenous authors believe that translating texts is the equivalent of cultural appropriation. In this aspect, it can also be said that "narrative affects the narrator, and vice versa."
ReplyDeleteIn light of your response to this article, I just wanted to say that I feel like the opportunity to see your ePortfolio benefited me as a digital narrative about your professional life because it helped me to see your career goals and experience in a personable way. I feel like after having seen your ePortfolio, I better understand you, respect you, and gained insights about you. It also gave me the opportunity to compare your experiences with my own.
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