where remembering and forgetting intersect with the promises held out by the internet.
WORK IN PROGRESS, comments more than welcome, here or @professmoravec
This project traces a woman named Bonnie Johnson who came to stand for the countless women who live on in the footnotes of the “academic colony,” while their authors remain sister/outsiders. Although Bonnie Johnson, I eventually learn, held an MA in women’s history from Sarah Lawrence College, her contribution to feminist thought and history is largely relegated to one pivotal publication, Black Women on Black Women Writers.
As Gloria T. Hull said, black feminists live "on that line between the either/or and both/and" the very metaphor invoked by Johnson along with her co-author Camille Bristow in “Both And” given at the 1979 conference, The Second Sex Thirty Years Later, an event best known as the occasion for Audre Lorde speech that became The Master's Tools. Leaving behind, or rather looking behind this well known work, I trace Johnson using the digital means made possible by the internet-as-archive.
In the process now of over 6 months of tracing Bonnie Johnson, I’ve come to understand this project, which I describe as an “unghosting” of an “apparition”, in several ways. The first concerns the politics of digitization, access, and archival silences, while the other concerns the dynamics of histories, specifically the politics of exclusion, or where remembering and forgetting intersect with the promises of “every (wo)man her own historian” held out by the internet.
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As Gloria T. Hull said, black feminists live "on that line between the either/or and both/and" the very metaphor invoked by Johnson along with her co-author Camille Bristow in “Both And” given at the 1979 conference, The Second Sex Thirty Years Later, an event best known as the occasion for Audre Lorde speech that became The Master's Tools. Leaving behind, or rather looking behind this well known work, I trace Johnson using the digital means made possible by the internet-as-archive.
In the process now of over 6 months of tracing Bonnie Johnson, I’ve come to understand this project, which I describe as an “unghosting” of an “apparition”, in several ways. The first concerns the politics of digitization, access, and archival silences, while the other concerns the dynamics of histories, specifically the politics of exclusion, or where remembering and forgetting intersect with the promises of “every (wo)man her own historian” held out by the internet.
In large part my thinking has been influenced by Clare Hemmings recent work Why Stories Matter, which analyzes the narratives of feminism over the past three decades. Hemmings argues that feminist scholarship itself has erased that which it claims to value most, the voices of the marginal. Although Hemmings focuses on gender and cultural studies, I found her methodology and conclusions quite provocative when applied to history. How, I wondered, could I avoid perpetuating these erasures, or ghostings as I came to think of them?
Discussion of "where remembering and forgetting intersect with the promises held out by the internet."
Looking at the Legacy
Learning with Lucille Clifton and Sonia Sanchez, I am very familiar with Dr. Hull and her scholarship. I often take her research into consideration when I consider Black Feminist Writers and the ways their writings contextualize the human experience.With that said, I am ecstatic about this project and what it adds to the respective disciplinary and interdisciplinary scholarship.
When considering non-dominant and marginalized subject matter, such as black feminist/feminist histories and writings, erasure has been a longstanding issue.
I appreciate learning about Bonnie Johnson and her connections. I hope that this specific project will be available for the next 30, 40, 100 years. It seems each generation about black feminist scholarship dominated by recovery work and associated research. This particular work a.) addresses issues of erasure and b.) propels black feminist/feminist scholarship in new directions. #kudos.
Posted on 9 December 2013, 7:07 pm by DaMaris Hill (@digifeminist) (@damarishill) | Permalink
Why Stories Matter and a Riff
@ “In large part my thinking has been influenced by Clare Hemmings recent work Why Stories Matter, which analyzes the narratives of feminism over the past three decades. Hemmings argues that feminist scholarship itself has erased that which it claims to value most, the voices of the marginal. Although Hemmings focuses on gender and cultural studies, I found her methodology and conclusions quite provocative when applied to history. How, I wondered, could I avoid perpetuating these erasures, or ghostings as I came to think of them?”I appreciate the ways this project embraces and embodies Hemming’s theories. This project will add enormously to the conversation about where the erasure and forgetting happens and why it happens within the academy, including institutions that interact with researchers.
Like most artists and scholars that explore and document marginalized experiences, I recognize how consciously and/or subconsciously industries and individuals reinforce dominant narratives that may privilege patriarchal and white supremacist philosophies. --In this instance, I would like to explore the ways anthology technology has begun to contribute to erasure and recovery work.
Anthology technology has created ‘minute meal’ readings for courses that formally required more interesting and wide ranging dialogues - regardless of themes. (embracing open access academic policies can begin address these concerns.) In short, anthologies are easy. This convenience is often at the expense of broad, inclusive and yet diverse perspectives that include marginalized perspectives and scholarship.
Unfortunately, the pressures of the academy (budget, production, technology restrictions and ect) make anthologies extremely attractive and convenient. Most scholars and researchers that are aware of marginalized scholarship and welcome it, may sacrifice a few desired readings for the convenience of one text.
I believe that some of the concern with erasure has to do the embracing of anthologies and associated conveniences. By sacrificing certain desired (maybe not-desired) marginalized readings, scholars compromise the preparedness and intellectual integrity of students.
Hence, generations of scholars are not aware of the perspectives that have been erased or dismissed in the collected anthology. By the time the third and fourth generation of scholars passes through the academy (20-25yrs), the forgotten research has become another recovery research project.
Posted on 9 December 2013, 7:42 pm by DaMaris Hill (@digifeminist) | Permalink
Tracing the Processes of Erasure
I hope you will be okay with me having more questions than I have answers. I say this because I am aware of black feminist thought and its importance but I am by NO means an expert in the field. Black feminist thought courses weren't taught in my undergrad institution and if they were taught at my grad institution I missed it in my focus on my research. Because of that, my questions might be addressed in the scholarship or even in your larger work but you got me interested so here goes.The social historian in me wants to know more about who Bonnie Johnson was, what she wrote, how she came to be a part of the project, what happened to her in life, and how/why more people don't know about her. The same questions could be applied to the other women in her cohort of feminists. Tracing her work both in and out of the spotlight of publication might help to reveal what happened to these women and why. In essence, I want to know more about the processes of erasure--was she pushed out, dismissed out, ignored out or did she simply leave of her own accord because she wanted to do something else like fulfill other responsibilities of life, caregiving, health, etc? I ask these questions thinking about the Politico piece criticizing Michelle Obama and the really smart intersectional feminists' responses to it. Indeed, any work on unghosting must also investigate the ghosting. This seems important because many people talk about the erasure of the feminist work of black women, lesbians, and even black lesbians but has anyone investigated the process(es) of erasure? Were there crashing symbol moments or was it death by a thousand cuts? Did the culture of dissemblance raise its head? Did activists move on to do other work that was important to them?
See, more questions than suggestions. I hope it helps. :)
Posted on 10 December 2013, 1:25 pm by KEW | Permalink
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