So my first impression of Citizen is mixed to keep it simple. But of course simple is not enough to get a good conversation started so lets mucky it up a little with some further explanations about how this book influenced me. My first impression coming out of finishing it was, in all honesty, quite a bit of confusion because I've never had to read something that mixed this kind of poetry with prose. What caused my confusion were mostly the lines where I could not really comprehend what was being said, one example of this was around page 60 or 61. Its these types of pages that would render the message and how it can be seen as protest lyric. In a more positive note about the book and how it speaks as an object of protest there is very clear voice through the poetry and prose and it speaks to the African American community loud and clear, and in my opinion it does it well during the personal stories it tells in short paragraphs which I thought were very powerful as a part of the book. A string of them I liked especially can be found on pages 12-16. The everyday quotidian aspect of these accounts were to me the main focus if we are to analyze this book as a piece of protest.
My favorite quote in this book that might perhaps be the best agent of protest is, "because white men can't police their imagination black men are dying," (135).
Rankine, Claudia. Citizen: An American Lyric. Minneapolis. Graywolf, 2014. Print.
Hey Frank! First if all, I totally agree with on the subject of a mixed first impression! This was also my first time reading a book with this type of poetry. Going off of your confusion with page 60 & 61, those were two paragraphs that I had a great amount of trouble breaking apart. Currently, I am still not exactly sure what Rankin is trying to say.
ReplyDeleteAfter, you say that the book speaks to the "African American community loud and clear." Although I agree that the audience could be African Americans, I also believe that the audience could be those that are of that decent. This book gives examples of our race reality and in my opinion, it gives readers who are not "Black" the reality of what it is like to live in the U.S. as an African American. For me, as a white male, it took me back during some examples of the stories told and Rankin made me picture the story in my head when she uses the phrase "you" or "your". It made me think about how I felt during the stories and in a way, made me angry and upset.
All in all, this book is an eye opening experience for readers and it really makes us, as Americans, think about race in our society.
We have to consider what the target audience is in the citizen. We have on one side the African American intended audience, which is obvious, and which you have already pointed out, and then as Scott has pointed out use of "you" gives everyone a voice as the audience. however I don't think we can just limit it just to that. If we are thinking of this text as text of protest, we have to also imagine that the Rankine had every bit of intention to make the most impact she could. Who, then, would be most effected by this book? Sure, African Americans can easily relate to the scenarios that occur in the book, but what difference does that make? We can also just say that it generally incorporates everyone with the use of "you" but then the audience becomes to broad of a scope. I think her intended audience was white middle class America, where the idea of race seems to be the least prevalent, in other words, the most ignored. Americans are scared of the question of race, just look at how the presidential candidates act when the race question comes into play, they stumble and often times give scripted out responses that are generic and bland. The thing is, racism hasn't disappeared from this country, it has simply been ignored, especially in middle class white communities. I think Rankine is trying to answer the race question in a way that relates us all to the situation of race. She makes us responsible for our actions. She doesn't use "they" or "I" but "you" so that the reader can not only identify with the people and scenarios in the book, but so that they can feel responsible for their own actions in the past, and answer to them emotionally, maybe with guilt, maybe sadness.
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