I got inspired to add some context to my study about the "10 little..." because of Meena's feedback on my last assignment. I am grateful to Iyatunde who filmed it for me and helped as an outside eye.
10 little from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.
password: citizenship
Questions:
1. What is your experience watching this?
2. Do you feel this revision addresses Meena's comment: "This study also makes light to me of the tension between the different uses of the word Indian in a colonial context, but is specific to Shyamala's positionality as a South Asian woman. Unless maybe there is a way to FLIP the original meaning of the song but smake it specific to people's identity and history"
Is there anything else that you imagine I could do to address the above comment?
3. Are there any other red flags or questions this brings up for you?
4. Do you have any ideas of what I should wear? Iyatunde thought of a t-shirt with #noDAPL #BLM (of course the blacklivesmatter is not addressed in this section of our piece just yet).
5. Any other thoughts?
10 little from Shyamala Moorty on Vimeo.
password: citizenship
Questions:
1. What is your experience watching this?
2. Do you feel this revision addresses Meena's comment: "This study also makes light to me of the tension between the different uses of the word Indian in a colonial context, but is specific to Shyamala's positionality as a South Asian woman. Unless maybe there is a way to FLIP the original meaning of the song but smake it specific to people's identity and history"
Is there anything else that you imagine I could do to address the above comment?
3. Are there any other red flags or questions this brings up for you?
4. Do you have any ideas of what I should wear? Iyatunde thought of a t-shirt with #noDAPL #BLM (of course the blacklivesmatter is not addressed in this section of our piece just yet).
5. Any other thoughts?
1. I feel sad, contemplative, reflective. I get a set of personal insights from Shy that usefully complicate a familiar song.
ReplyDelete2. I think it addresses Meena's concern well! I particularly liked the line "living cross-continental confusions based on colonial delusions."
3. A common misconception regarding native peoples is that they (we?) are gone, extinct, completely wiped out by genocide and assimilation, when in fact indigenous people the world over have survived and held onto cultural traditions against incredible odds. This study, while poignantly pointing towards and condemning genocide, does not acknowledge the continued existence and resilience of native peoples.
4. I like Tunde's idea! The hands-up-don't shoot gesture hints at the BLM movement. I could see your video followed by another take on the song by Tunde that addresses the n-word version of the song and BLM. Maybe the two of you could wear the same shirt?
5. The first version had an clear emotional arc from joyful wonder to sad mourning, which for me pointed towards a changing understanding of the implications of the song (from a child's naivete to an adult's more politicized understanding?). In this version, it's like you've already had the realization that the song is problematic, and so there is a more constant sthyai bhava of sadness/compassion.
I had to listen to the line "thanking of the giving/not knowing of the taking" a couple times before I understood it. Something about the phrase "thanking of the giving" is confusing to me.
There's a slight shift in color between different video cuts, and I wondered if that was intentional or held any meaning.
I like how you changed your gestures and utilized depth by moving your hands in and out of the camera: it gave more visual interest and added some more layers of meaning.
Some feedback from an anonymous friend:
ReplyDeleteI resonate with Cynthia's comments #1 and #3. I understood the reference the first time. I appreciated the deliberate hand gestures and the solemn tone. I understand I'm wondering if there's an additional section to add that shows the next level of understanding, that Native people are still here, resilient and powerful?
Also maybe there could be a celebration of South Asian Indian resilience too and/or a connection across cultures that colonizers confused?
-J
1. What is your experience watching this?
ReplyDeleteSad.
2. Do you feel this revision addresses Meena's comment: "This study also makes light to me of the tension between the different uses of the word Indian in a colonial context, but is specific to Shyamala's positionality as a South Asian woman. Unless maybe there is a way to FLIP the original meaning of the song but make it specific to people's identity and history"
I think so! The absence of using any word at that place in the song's lyrics, reveals a very potent space of transformation in my opinion. And your first person poetic writing also reveals your own positionality a little bit more.
Is there anything else that you imagine I could do to address the above comment?
Continuing to hone in on your first person poetic writing in reference to your specific positionality. Still feels a little vague. I don't have any specific ideas yet but I will think about it.
3. Are there any other red flags or questions this brings up for you?
Similar to Cynthia, it hurts to hear people talk about the genocide of native peoples in the past tense without talking about the living, current issues and struggles of indigenous resilience. In my opinion, it's an attempted genocide because against all odds, native communities still exist. So is there is a way to not end on 1? What happens if you did one more round, or maybe an incomplete round? So like you go from 1 to 10, then 10 to 1, but what happens if you do a third round (with your first person interjection), but maybe not all the way up to 10?
4. Do you have any ideas of what I should wear? Iyatunde thought of a t-shirt with #noDAPL #BLM (of course the blacklivesmatter is not addressed in this section of our piece just yet).
I like the idea of #noDAPL T-shirt. This would also address the above concern of only talking about native folks in the past tense. This would make it very present day, contemporary, urgent.
5. Any other thoughts?
I love Cynthia's idea of Iyatunde doing their own take on the song, with first person writing, and making a video! No pressure ;-)
I feel like your abhinaya stays in the same place. And that's ok if that feels right for you. But perhaps with a third round counting from 1 to whatever number you feel, there would be more of an arch/journey to your expression?