What struck me immediately as I was reading Citizen was the repetition of certain themes throughout the piece. Most notably, Claudia Rankine continuously alluded to the concept of being seen. At the beginning of the piece, Rankine describes the disconcerted feelings of an unnamed individual. It is here that Rankine begins her discussion on visibility and, particularly invisibility, with the following, "...before it can be known, categorized as similar to another thing and dismissed, it has to be experienced, it has to be seen" (Rankine, 9). I interpreted this statement as a reference to the black individuals in the novel who express similar feelings. Reading this book as a form of protest made the entire experience different than it would have been if I had regarded the piece as book of many similar poems. It is true that the piece includes poems that resemble one another, but when reading the piece as a form of protest I interpreted the poems as amplifying one another. I feel like the quote mentioned previously sets the stage for the following poems that all echo one another. In each poem, it seems a black individual experiences discrimination in either a direct or indirect manner. Each situation is different, but the majority of the speakers feel as though they have experienced or witnessed egregious demonstrations of racism. However, toward the end of the book, I noticed the following statement by Rankine, "What happens to you doesn't belong to you, only half concerns you" (Rankine, 141). To me, this quote signified Rankine's belief that all of the events that she had described thus far represented oppression by whites on black people as a community, rather than individual black citizens. The book as a whole made me wonder whether or not Claudia Rankine is herself black and, if so, has she experienced any of the situations she described personally. I looked her up on the Internet and noticed that she is, indeed, African American, but I'm still left wondering if any aspects of this book were autobiographical in nature. In regards to the images used in the book, I feel that many succeeded in augmenting Rankine's message. However, some of the images were rather odd. On page 19, for example, Rankine included an image of a sculpture by Kate Clark entitled Little Girl. I immediately was taken aback by this image of an animal with a human-like face. I continue to be somewhat perplexed by how it relates to the context of the book at that point.
Works cited:
Rankine, Claudia. Citizen. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2014. Print.
Clark, Kate. Little Girl. 2008. Citizen. By Claudia Rankine. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press. Page 19. Print
So much has changed for me after our class discussion on Claudia Rankine’s Citizen. After taking literature courses in the past, I tried to read this book analytically. I looked for metaphors, allusions, and repetition. It was admittedly difficult to avoid reading the book as a compilation of related poetry. What truly helped solidify my image of Citizen as a form of protest was our discussion of the images. Many of the images made sense to me immediately. They corresponded with the text and even amplified the message. For example, on page 91 Rankine included an altered photo photograph of a lynching. The original image is from the Hulton Archive and is titled Public Lynching. Prior to this image, Rankine wrote the following, “…inside our lives where we are all caught hanging, the rope inside us, the tree inside us, its roots our limbs, a throat sliced through and when we open our moth to speak, blossoms, o blossoms, no place coming out” (Rankine, 90). This directly correlated with the image. I found our discussion of the absent victims in the photo very insightful because there were many ways to interpret the image. In addition, as we discovered in class, those who hadn’t seen the original photo were not aware that it had been altered.
ReplyDeleteIn my original post I commented on Rankine’s inclusion of an image of Little Girl, a sculpture by Kate Clark, on page 20. I was confused by the image and it made me feel uncomfortable looking at it at first. After hearing Kayla’s interpretation of the image, I realized it could have some relevance to Citizen if analyzed further. I realized after our discussion that the image was intended to make me feel uncomfortable. I wasn’t supposed to see it and be reminded of happy memories or loved ones. Kayla explained how the image could represent the distorted view of black individuals in society as animals with faces. To read the passage prior to the image and think about this analysis is unsettling. I know think that Rankine used the image to magnify the following statement, “It’s as if a wounded Doberman pinscher or a German shepherd has gained the power of speech” (18). It seems intuitive now that I would have connected these words with the image that follows. Kayla’s interpretation definitely put these segment of Citizen into perspective for me