"And still a world begins its furious erasure--
Who do you think you are, saying I to me?
You nothing.
You nobody.
You" (Rankine 142).
You" (Rankine 142).
Me.
Me nobody.
Me nothing.
Who do I think I am, saying you to me?
And still a world beings its furious erasure--
In this passage, I turned Rankine's lines upside down and switched all of the second person pronouns to first person. In Citizen, many binaries exist, most notably between a controller and those controlled. In her poems, Rankine uses "you" to suggest that each individual microaggression that she describes is intimately felt by the reader. Rankine's use of pronouns provides a template for understanding each event. When she writes in the second person, she induces experience in the reader; when she writes in third person, she allows the reader to make their own person decision about the meaning of the event.
Therefore, by switching and flipping this passage, it is possible to view this description upside down. When Rankine first writes this passage, she creates develops "you" as a person who has crossed a line. She speaks aggressively about this "you" and makes the reader feel the power of this aggression. When it is written from a "me" perspective, there is a somber tone, where it almost seems she has taken personal accountability for whatever event has just occurred. "You" is offensive and "me" is defensive.
In this passage, I turned Rankine's lines upside down and switched all of the second person pronouns to first person. In Citizen, many binaries exist, most notably between a controller and those controlled. In her poems, Rankine uses "you" to suggest that each individual microaggression that she describes is intimately felt by the reader. Rankine's use of pronouns provides a template for understanding each event. When she writes in the second person, she induces experience in the reader; when she writes in third person, she allows the reader to make their own person decision about the meaning of the event.
Therefore, by switching and flipping this passage, it is possible to view this description upside down. When Rankine first writes this passage, she creates develops "you" as a person who has crossed a line. She speaks aggressively about this "you" and makes the reader feel the power of this aggression. When it is written from a "me" perspective, there is a somber tone, where it almost seems she has taken personal accountability for whatever event has just occurred. "You" is offensive and "me" is defensive.
I think that your analysis of Rankine is genius! The idea of switching the point of view of Rankine's word really does show what Rankine would want reader to get out of her words. One thing different about this from my opinion is that the word I will use for "you" and "me" will be blaming and self-victimizing, respectively.
ReplyDeleteSuch a fascinating juxtaposition, Hannah. I agree with Eunseo as well; Rankine allows the reader to engage with the text a la Nabokov through the variety of mediums with which she spreads her message-- Art, haiku, video. I find the opening line of this passage you selected particularly interesting: "And still a world begins its furious erasure--." Rankine views the pattern of aggression and submission as one that will tear society apart. Her message becomes truly worrying when you realize how ubiquitous this power imbalance is in modern society-- in the workplace, on the socioeconomic spectrum, even between the two genders. Rankine's ideas align with Benjamin's theory of dominance in "Bonds of Love" as well. Both authors argue that complete control and hegemony of another is detrimental to the development of the personal identity as well as the interpersonal relationships upon which our society depends. I don't believe there is an easy way to wean ourselves off of this binary that has become ingrained in our daily lives, but as Rankine, Benjamin, and countless others have shown, it is vital that we start dismantling it immediately.
ReplyDeleteHannah, I find it very interesting how you changed Rankine's perspective through this one quote (but also Rankine as a whole, because most of her lyric is in the second person). The entire time I was reading the lyric, I wanted to turn it around in the way you did, so I find it fascinating to read this way. By turning Rankine's quote "upside down", I find it to be harsher personally, but I think it has a very similar effect as Rankine intended. It points a finger to what I interpret to be me personally, or to white people. Reading it in this way, I feel as though it directly pulls me into action, and forces me to be aware of myself. After reading the "upside down" version and then going back to Rankine's version, I was also given a very different perspective. I rethought/ had to revisit what I had previously thought about what Rankine was saying, and now when reading the quote by Rankine in the original form, what I had earlier overlooked as general, I now found to be accusing and more direct.
ReplyDeleteFascinating way to view Rankine's ideas in "your" own eyes. I think this deserves a more in-depth analysis of how the me-you dichotomy works to function throughout the lyric.
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