Analysis Of Power And Emotion Throughout History
The history of emotion is a difficult topic to analyze, considering that no one can truly experience emotions and accurately speak of the past without living through it. A persons emotion is unique and only includes their perspective or feelings on an issue. For example, one may express how they felt during their time of struggle, while, another may celebrate hardships and speak upon accomplishments and resilience. Emotion can easily shift the mood of a narrative, which may impact the mood of its listeners or readers. Just like the game ‘Telephone,’ the history that was once told by a historian who witnessed an event firsthand may or may not be delivered accurately through each generation. Most of what we know about history is passed down throughout generations, with each generation having new revisions, being told from another perspective. A lot of history has been ignored, or “silenced,” to deem it more acceptable in the eyes of its narrator. Only the strongest voice can be heard and makes its way to the history that we all hear about. This paper will discuss the history of emotions and the different forms of storytelling throughout the generations from various cultural, traditional, economical, and political aspects.
Discuss the following quote: “History does not belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. ”History told from generation to generation cannot accurately convey the messages, experiences, emotions, and memories that were in the minds of those that witnessed the events. There is a physical, emotional, and spiritual detachment from those who were there at the time with those who weren’t. The “Discovery” of the Americas highlights the idea behind a narrative of power. When Columbus first set foot in the Americas and invaded the land, it did not happen without violence. However, today, Columbus day continues to be celebrated as the day Christopher Columbus ‘landed’ in the Americas. Trouillot says, “The naming of the ‘fact’ is itself a narrative of power disguised as innocence. ” (88) Calling this encounter a discovery conceals any aspect of violence that took place at the time and erases any negative connotations that followed the word ‘conquest’ or ‘invasion’. The narrators in this case are those who come from power, suppressing all emotions and experiences from the indigenous people who were harmed. On the subject of Slavery, when Disney planned to open a park in Virginia, many protested against it.
A lot of people knew that the concept would not accurately demonstrate African American slavery, regardless of how disturbing or agonizing it is. It’s simply impossible to recreate the emotions and experiences that the slaves had gone through in the past. “The value of a historical product cannot be debated without taking into account both the context of its production and the context of its consumption” (Trouillot, 109) William Styron, a popular novelist, felt that this exhibit would have misrepresented the experiences of both blacks and whites. Trouillot says, “Styron, whose grandmother owned slaves, asserted that Disney could only ‘mock a theme as momentous as slavery’ because ‘slavery cannot be represented in exhibits. ’ Whatever the images displayed and the technical means deployed, the artifacts of cruelty and oppression ‘would have to be fraudulent’ because they would be inherently unable to ‘define such a stupendous experience. ’” (Trouillot, 107) Trouillot believes that the struggles and the dilemmas of both blacks and whites during this time would be impossible to recreate, saying that the displays at the exhibit would be a ‘cheap romanticism’.
Furthermore, Cascardi suggested that authenticity is a relationship to what is known, rather than a type or degree of knowledge. No matter how accurate Disney Virginia could have been, it could never measure up to the first hand experiences and emotions that were endured during those times. How does silence distort the historical narrative? How does this silence invoke emotion?Many silences are well known throughout history. The discovery of America was not just a simple discovery. Columbus was known and celebrated for the discovery, but the violence and crude acts were silenced. Haitian history is not complete and entirely true. The history of the Haitian Revolution, told mostly from the perspective of the French, has also been silenced. The whispers and silences in African Oral History was done so in order to avoid spreading of their ‘unwanted baggage. ’ Each silence in history was controlled from a supreme power, however, some had its own purpose.
The West silenced the violence and crude acts of Columbus and instead created a day to celebrate his conquest. The Haitian people were silenced due to a huge percentage of their population being illiterate, resulting in the French taking over and writing their history. Without education, they were able to be controlled without much struggle. In African Oral History, however, silencing was actually influenced by political considerations. Indeed, silence has distorted the historical narrative and invoked emotion among society. Silencing the Past is about history and power. “It deals with the many ways the production of historical narratives involves the uneven contribution of competing groups and individuals who have unequal access to the means for such production. ” (Trouillot, 13) Silencing is the ability to exclude or suppress experiences and emotions throughout history. “The positivist position dominated Western scholarship enough to influence the vision of history among historians and philosophers who did not necessarily see themselves as positivists. Tenets of that vision still inform the public’s sense of history in most of Europe and North America: the role of the historian is to reveal the past, to discover or, at least, approximate the truth. Within that viewpoint, power is unproblematic, irrelevant to the construction of the narrative at such. At best, history is a story about power, a story about those who won. ” (Trouillot, 17) Power plays a huge role in the production of history.
Only the strongest voices are heard, and those voices may not always record every instance in history. The power of silence, in these cases, encompass the ability to transform each narrative by removing certain details. What are the silences of resistance against Western Historiography?In “An Unthinkable History,” Trouillot talks about the silencing of the Haitian Revolution by Western Historiography. The title of the chapter comes from the unthinkable act of rebellion that eventually leads to the former French colony’s independence. Trouillot says, “The general silence that Western historiography has produced around the Haitian Revolution originally stemmed from the incapacity to express the unthinkable, but it was ironically reinforced by the significance of the revolution for its contemporaries and for the generation immediately following. ” (Trouillot, 76) Western historians were (and still are) so in denial about these incidents that they left a blank line along that time period on the historical timeline. Doctor Dawn Dennis mentions in class that ‘Western’ represented power, money, trade, and exclusiveness. This ties into the fact that much of Haitian history was influenced by Western culture. “Most Haitians are illiterate and unilingual speakers of Haitian, a French-based Creole. Only a few members of the already tiny elite are native bilingual speakers of French and Haitian. ” (Trouillot, 49) Trouillot goes on to say that the majority of the primary sources and published memoirs were written exclusively in French.
The voice of power entitled to the French allow for the silences to take place. The Haitian Revolution was not even considered a threat to either the French or the British, because it was thought that this revolution would only temporarily cause disaster and eventually return to order. Erasure and banalization are two factors that make up the formula for silence. Erasure is the idea of being in denial of the facts displayed (and deleting facts). Banalization is the idea of generalization and oversimplification of the reality of events. They are two forms of power that allowed Western Historiography to silence the past and its people. These two factors can be seen repeated all throughout history.
For example, these events include the Discovery of the Americas, the Holocaust, and African American Slavery. In addition, racism, slavery, and colonialism are the three themes repeated throughout history as well. We see racism in everyday life, but it was worse in the past. Slavery and colonialism go together when it comes to the history of the United States and any country that has taken land from indigenous people. These three themes, along with the formula for silence, make up what is known to be history as it is depicted by the West. What are the “whispers behind closed door,” and how do “whispers” contribute to our understanding of the emotions of history?“Whispering behind closed doors” can be mistaken as gossip, but it is a method used to keep the truth from being suppressed. Sandra Greene, the author of “Whispers and Silences” describes whispering as ‘hidden transcripts. ’ “In such cases, the silence that accompanies an official discourse about the past is the public face of a set of “hidden transcripts,” alternative narratives that refuse to be forgotten. ”(Greene, 43) Hidden transcripts meaning that information that was being left out of an original narrative, but will not be forgotten information. When whispering behind closed doors, the whisperers are distributing information secretly and trying to reveal their truth of an experience or event.
In the reading, “Whispers and Silences” we follow the author's journey when interviewing, Axovi, a priest, and had him describe the history of the Awomefia office. Axovi had described the awoamefia as not only associated with powerful priests, but that he was a priest himself. Then an older woman had told the author the information was all wrong and awoamefia was really a fetish priest. This information was delivered in secret to keep the truth hidden. The reading mentions that silencing is used for political reasons as well. By silencing we can forget and worry about the events that are trying to be suppressed. Another example of silencing will involve Joseph Stalin and his reign of the Soviet Union, which was solely based on fear. This article also suggests that whispering is a way to keep hidden information relevant, sort of like keeping it in an archive, away from “the eyes and ears of a political and social elite. ” (Greene, 43) As the reading explains “According to these authors and others, forgetting has been convenient. To speak of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean slave tragedy is thought by many to connect the teller of such accounts with unwanted baggage from the past. ” (Greene, 42) So silencing is useful for the group that wants to keep the information hidden. Governments use this same system to not deal with issues that would cause pain to others. Hidden transcripts keep people educated and reminds them of the information that is trying to be wiped away. With whispering behind closed doors, that information will stay alive and kept away in the archives.
Analyzing the history of emotion, we see the strategy that was used to suppress society’s emotions was silencing. According to the reading of “Whispers and Silences,” the author writes “Silence often occurs-as evident in the silence around the slave trade-because it is understood by the larger public to be one way to protect one's self, one's family, and one's community from the pain and the divisiveness that can follow in the wake of disclosure. ”(Greene, 42) With whispering, the truth comes to light in hidden transcripts. Whispering is one aspect that shapes the history of emotion since it affects the information that is being released. Information about the past can be difficult to accept, which is why it was trying to be avoided. Without whispers we wouldn't be able to understand emotion. Describe the power of fear, and discuss how the use of fear (in rhetoric) perpetuates cultural ignorance and cultural supremacy in distinct landscapes of Europe and the Americas?
Fear is a tool used to create a sense of vulnerability within a society, enabling a supreme power to take control. This was apparent during Stalin’s reign in the Soviet Union. He used acts of terror including secret police, purging, and propaganda to control his people. They were frightened of him and would do anything for him no matter the cost. Not only was he a truly evil man, but his propaganda would often represent him as a good father figure and would often have newspapers stockpiled with fictitious stories. His reign could be compared to the “Whispers behind closed doors. ” The people of the Soviet Union were silenced from saying how they truly felt about Stalin and how their country was truly doing. Some resorted to becoming whispers and tried to be free from Stalin's reign. He was more worried about cleaning his country instead of worrying about his people. In result, about 30 million people died under Stalin’s reign and the Soviet union was left in ruins. Another man who was similar to Stalin was Vladimir Putin. Reviewing their reigns, they had similar tendencies and beliefs. When Putin ran for office, anyone else running against him ended up broke, were killed, or were poisoned. He was silencing people and using fear for votes. The people of Russia saw what he was capable of and were forced to put him in office. Also, when journalists visited Russia they most likely spoke with whispers to hear the hidden transcripts of Russia. Those journalists were killed and through that, he still invokes this kind of fear today. He changed the terms on how long he can remain in office and the people did not question him out of fear, resulting in his presidency.
During the Thirty Years War, fear of a mythical creatures, superstitions, and the devil were utilized to be alternatives for the things unknown. Between 1618 and 1648, over 8 million period died during this period of military war. All the bad things happening that no one had scientific reasoning to back up with, fell to the responsibility of the devil. Myths, lores, and legends were created to explain why crops were dying, why there was plague, and why there was famine in the country. These fears were passed on to control the people in Germany. Similar to mothers convincing their kids that Stalin was a great father figure, the people of Germany were told that the devil was responsible for all of these terrible encounters. Fear throughout these generations were ingrained in the minds of society. Even generations after having experienced these events, the memory of it all has already been planted into their minds and continues to spread throughout to the minds of the generations to come. When these memories are told several decades later, generally they are over exaggerated, due to the repression of these stories. After analyzing the history of emotion throughout history, we can see the power of narratives. History as we learn about it today may be different from history when it was first being told. With each generation that passes, it is consumed and reported from different perspectives. Some information may be silenced, or manipulated in a way that allows society to accept it. Most importantly, we need to understand that history is primarily told and understood from the strongest voices. Not every story will be told exactly the same way.
