I want to work on a video project that helps students acknowledge and historicize difference and otherness. I will collect images, stories, interviews, and descriptions of cultural practices that involve women across cultures and contextualize these materials in their historical contexts. I’m thinking of this video as an assemblage of different modes and forms (a collage). My goal is to use associations and relations of different visual and alphabetical elements (I’m resisting the linear patriarchal structure that highly values logos in both content and form) to create a coherent whole that tells stories of difference.
Here’s a tentative task list:
- I need to do some research. I see this project as the outcome of the marriage between the theory and pedagogy of transnational feminism and that of multimodal composition studies. Therefore, I’m going to read works in both fields. From transnational feminist theory and pedagogy, I will incorporate the theories of the following scholars: Chandra Mohanty, Uma Narayan, and Lila Abu-Lughod. As for multimodal composition studies, I will look for articles that tackle themes of transnationalism, globalization, the linkage between technology and literacy, evaluating the uses of technology with a critical eye, etc. (C. Selfe and Wysocki touch upon some of those themes).
- I have to think of what stories, images, cultural practices, etc. are controversial / different and usually make the audience uncomfortable to a certain degree (I’m not aiming at something scary here nor my goal is to alienate the audience). Work on a storyboard?
- I will use Creative Commons to find the materials. I need to familiarize myself with Movie Maker. I will type up some quotes that I think might enhance the video experience. Maybe include parts of interviews? Stories?
- I want to emphasize the importance of being aware of the politics of representation, so I might narrate parts of this video and let the “Other women” speak for themselves. I might include conversations in different languages.
- I will look for different cultural music (Creative Commons?) that corresponds with the stories/images I want to include in this video.
Sounds fascinating. You may be able to go beyond creative commons materials within fair use law. That would be good, so that you can use film clips, poems, essay excerpts, and other copyrighted materials.
ReplyDeleteYou say "collage" but I think you might mean this loosely or metaphorically, as to say not a linear, hierarchically organized argument.
The multimodal composition stuff should help you with getting users to consider the affordances and particular qualities of different modes, genres, etc.