"Don't Let Me Be Loney" reaction post.

So I feel that it is safe to say that within the first few pages of Claudia Rankine's text it becomes extremely clear that this is unlike any text that we have read thus far. Its elongated form, and multimedia presentation place it in a category of its own.

Although the idea of a more-or-less direct narrative is
not exactly present in this text, It is probably closest to Selah Saterstrom's approach in her choice of presenting The Pink Institution. Rankine utilized images, minimal amounts of text, and a hybrid prose/poetry form. This isolates the text from any seemingly obvious classification and provides a great foundation for discussion---whether positive or negative---before even considering the actual content of the story.

In regards to what we have been discussing in class
as of late regarding the basis of determining "what is ethnic lit?"
I am curious to see if any of you would consider this as "ethnic lit"?
It seems to me that it fits a lot of the criteria we discussed,
although this time it is turned on our culture.
-It contains a lot of content directly related to and focused on aspects of a particular
culture (American culture, post-"turn of the millennium" and mostly post-9/11) and an experience in or shaped in large part by this culture.
-It obviously shows a critique of this culture through the way in which the culture is presented in the text.
-Rankine is part of the culture she is writing about (she was born in Jamaica and partially raised there but migrated to New York City at an early age).

So again, I am just curious as to how you all feel about this being in the same "ethnic lit" category as say, Diaz's piece. I'm not saying it is one way or the other---I'm still on the fence myself and hopefully will have made a concrete conclusion regarding this issue by Thursday, but as of now I can at least identify that most of the indicators are present.

As far as the content of the text, I enjoyed it very, very much. I really enjoy the stream of consciousness style writing, and Rankine does a phenomenal job of presenting her "story" in this way.

An obvious theme that began to surface after only a few pages was the blurring of the line between unity and isolation. making purposeful shifts from referring to "you", speaking as "I" to speaking as "we", even saying "whats the difference?"(pg.92). There is discussion about the "I" as a personal pronoun and "I" as a blanketing statement, and identifying yourself with/as an embodiment of a country ("The America that I am"-pg 92).

The previous parenthetical statement encapsulates the much of the political
critique peppered throughout the book. Not only does Rankine critique the
administration of the time explicitly, but she also focuses on a critique
of Individual American's reactions to the administration, the media that cultivates the ideology planted by those in power, and our obsessions and preoccupations as individuals and as a society.

This concept of covering all levels of the self is what I mean when I reference the blurred line between unity and isolation.

There is the self and your concerns, needs, reactions and emotions; the subgroup and its concerns, needs, reactions and emotions; the large group and its concerns, needs, reactions and emotions; and lastly the entire society and its concerns, needs, reactions and emotions.
The level at which the preoccupation with fear and media-birthed concepts, the obsession with television, the tendency to tire of things quickly and to become easily disinterested, and the emotional instabilities and requisite prescription quick-fixes all occur at is left completely in a haze.

does the text provide primarily autobiographical snapshots or snapshots of American culture as a whole?

most of the text can be taken as an overarching statement, at the very least regarding a subgroup. arguably many things can be taken as reference to a large group, and oftentimes it is clearly about society as a whole.

One feature of the book which is also apparent from the first page is
the use of images. I feel the inclusion of imagery not only accentuates the
genre-stretching aspect of the text, but also helps to illustrate
part of Rankine's point (both literally and figuratively)
that as a culture we depend on the visual stimulation of the media
to a degree that it is absurd. The tendency to tire of things
quickly and to become easily disinterested----the force driving pop
culture almost entirely---Is also represented in this form through the static
televisions. I took these to be "channel switches" essentially.
Rankine switches the focus of her "story" after each of these and
I feel that they are not excluded from the socially critical content of the book.

Overall I feel that the book is very successful in what
it attempts to communicate to the reader, and does so in
a way that is unique and intriguing in the reading process.
I feel that although it is a very different reading experience than many
are used to, It is no less valuable as a result.

Hopefully all of this wasn't too difficult to follow, and hopefully this can get some conversation started on the book. I hope that there will be plenty of interesting interpretations and ideas surrounding the experience of reading Don't let Me Be Lonely come Thursday and I hope the majority of you enjoyed the text as much as I did.

-Alexander