The purpose of this project is to identify memory and loss in my family’s history. Influenced by Alexandra Hidalgo’s work on her family and Venezuela, I will explore the untold history of the Philippines through my mother’s experience. I will also bring to light stories and myths that have not made it into textbooks. In terms of topics, right now I am focusing on stories of war, politics, immigration, and hauntingly…ghosts of course. I hope my project will bring insight into the history and culture of the Philippines from a Filipino perspective and not a Western perspective. One example is the history of the Spanish American War of 1898 which is often not told from a Filipino perspective, but from an American or Spanish one (this film is an example – 1898, Our Last Men in the Philippines). You can see that this Western perspective is also particularly a male one. I hope this project will not only bring different perspectives but also intersectionality and lived truths.
I was extremely impacted by Kristin Arola’s phrase “slow composition” and I hope to process my family’s stories in a careful and meaningful way. While I do not have a whole semester to dedicate for my revisions, I plan to be mindful of what I choose to include and how I decide to craft my project.
I plan to draw from Alexandra Hidalgo’s Cámara Retórica: A Feminist Filmmaking Methodology for Rhetoric and Composition as well as her work “Family Archives and the Rhetoric of Loss.” Because I my work draws so much from Hidalgo, I plan on implementing feminist filmmaking practices which are similar to the principles outlined by Sano-Franchini’s article on Feminist Rhetorics and Interaction Design. I am particularly interested in the principles of being socially responsible and inclusive.
In a time now that we are especially polarized, this project is aimed for anyone willing to watch. The aim is to show that while we have many differences, we are all alike in that each of us have stories to tell and have experienced loss.
So to provide an overview, I will be utilizing the following:
- Software: iMovie or OpenShot (or both)
- Hardware: camera, iPhone, laptop (possibly a video camera too)
- Possible Publications/Books/Articles: Cámara Retórica (Hidalgo), Theorizing Histories of Rhetoric (Ballif), DEFINING ALTERNATIVE RHETORIC: Embracing Intersectionality and Owning Opacity (Wallace), Archives, Heritage, and History (Lowenthal), Toward a Rhetoric of Self-Representation: Identity Politics in Indian Country and Rhetoric and Composition (Cushman), Digital Memories: The Democratisation of Archives (Garde-Hansen)
- People to interview: mom, sister and possibly friends/co-workers
I plan on creating several chapters focused on family, memory, culture, and loss. These chapters will be in the form of videos which I hope to create in a free software such as iMovie and then host the files on Vimeo. After hosting the videos, I will place them on either my blog or my ePortfolio (which I have not used in a while). I will also accompany the video project with a paper of about 12 pages that will review methods, process, and reflection.
Note: the tentative title for this project is a play on words…”balikbayan box” is a box of items that Filipinos send from the US to their families in the Philippines. Typically clothing is sent. So “unpacking family memories” is a pun 🙂
And just because I’m obsessed with the “nostalgic user experience” – I’m just sharing this link for fun: https://www.canva.com/learn/nostalgia/
You are amazing! The Baylikbayan Box is a brilliant organizing idea for the story.
I like a fairly small focus on your immediate family, since you’ll be able to work closely with them, not be overly distracted by trying to get permission from a wide range of subjects, and be able to do justice to their stories while not overextending yourself.
I think your preliminary bibliography looks excellent. Cushman’s book is an excellent find.
What’s next? How will you start? Are you a storyboarder, would it help to post notes as blog posts or keep a private log or journal? Will you script the segments first, or start recording interviews and edit them down in video?
Hi Professor Davidson,
Thank you! I never thought myself to be a creative person, but I’m finding in this class that in order for me to be creative, I need to “slowly compose” my thoughts to turn them into something. I think I will start the project in two ways: I will start recording and start writing down my methods (to begin the paper portion). I plan to start recording this weekend!
I also had this outrageous idea to create a multimedia project like the Goggles did with Pine Point – but I would need to gain ever more technical skills which would hinder progress with the rest of the project.