Graffiti: Controversial Community Art

In reading my classmate’s blogs on Graffiti, many common themes emerged. One of the more prominent themes was that of graffiti as vandalism vs. graffiti as art. I found that the entries by Lauren and Erika, when read together, complimented each other and provided a good basis for understanding graffiti’s role in the community and the changing ideas surrounding it, which help explain the reluctance of some to accept artistic graffiti as art.

Lauren’s overall argument seems to have been that artistic forms of graffiti (“graffiti art”) reinforce and represent images of a community. One aspect of her blog that provides a real contribution to the understanding of graffiti is that she clearly differentiates vandalism graffiti from art graffiti. Rather than taking the, ‘I know it when I see it,’ approach that many other students chose, she clearly differentiated graffiti that “result[s] from a desire to create artwork” as “graffiti art”, and destructive graffiti with ties to violence or crime as “vandalism graffiti.” She provides examples of each type from Vancouver’s Kerrisdale neighborhood and explains how the vandalism graffiti at a bus stop does not reflect the community’s image for itself, whereas the artistic murals represent pictorially the multicultural, diverse, higher socio-economic status of Kerrisdale as a community. Murals, because they represent the community, are allowed to stay, she says, whereas vandalism graffiti is quickly removed because it subverts the image of itself Kerrisdale wants to promote. Thus, she shows how art graffiti is a positive part of a community.

Marais and Taylor similarly discuss how graffiti comes in many forms and thus requires a non-homogeneous solution (2010:57). They also contrast publicly sanctioned graffiti art with vandalism graffiti, which they usually define as tagging. Like Lauren, Marais and Taylor believe that graffiti has a place in the community and they add that artistic graffiti can actually deter people from engaging in vandalism graffiti (2010:57). This confirms the idea that art graffiti has a place in a neighborhood like Kerrisdale, because it represents the community through deterring unwanted vandalism graffiti, and through its artistic representation of the community.

Like Lauren and Marias and Taylor, Erika believes that graffiti can be excellent for a community, reinforcing, the fact that the presence of public art graffiti reduces incidences of vandalism graffiti and stating that art graffiti promotes creativity and “a sense of community.” However, Erica’s main purpose is to examine the history of graffiti. In doing so she concludes that graffiti has evolved into something with all the characteristics of a legitimate art form, but its history of association with gangs and violence taints the image of art graffiti. She continually advocates the idea of graffiti artists as true artists, and says that,  “Hateful graffiti is being removed to make way for the new era of graffiti… where… works of art can be admired and appreciated for what they are.” Erika indicates, however, that this process is not complete and for many people graffiti is still associated with crime; this is where Lauren’s blog compliments Erika’s. Lauren’s clear differentiation between the two types of graffiti makes way for art graffiti and vandalism graffiti to exist as separate entities, without the negative associations people currently have of the word crossing into the art side. Gomez reinforces this idea, stating that as the law fails to recognize some graffiti as art, it is inevitable that people will as well (1993:697). Thus with clearer distinction between graffiti art and graffiti vandalism, it will be possible to recognize graffiti art as art, which can have a positive contribution to communities.

Finally, to return to the idea of art graffiti, Metcalf says that anything can be art, but only if recognized as such by the “artworld” (1997:68). Last month, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) showcased the first major U.S. exhibition of solely graffiti and street art, focusing portions of its exhibit on graffiti as it relates to the wider context of its community. The graffiti artists showcased at MOCA are finally getting recognition as legitimate artists by those in a position to confer that status on them. Additionally, those same people recognize that graffiti is closely tied to its community. This exemplifies Erika’s position that graffiti’s image has changed, and Erica and Lauren’s shared idea of art graffiti as a medium facilitating positive representations of a community.

Graffiti image from MOCA. http://www.moca.org/audio/blog/?p=1522

Works Cited

Gomez, Marisa A.

1993 Writing on Our Walls: Finding Solutions through Distinguishing Graffiti Art from Graffiti Vandalism. University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform. 26(Spring): 633-708.

Lauren

Graffiti: Cultural and Coail Construction Stemming form art or vandalism? http://anth378-lauren.blogspot.com/

Marais, Ida and Myra Taylor

2009 Does Urban Art Deter Graffiti Proliferation? An evaluation of an Austrailian commissioned urban art project. In British Criminology Conference. British Society of Criminoology. www.britsoccrim.org/conferences.htm

Metcalf, Bruce

1997 Craft as Art, Culture as Biology. In The Culture of Craft: Status and Future. Peter Dormer, ed. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Museum of Contemprary Art.

2011 Announcing Art in the Streets. http://www.moca.org/audio/blog/?p=1522

Szarbathy, Erika

Graffiti. http://anthropologicalimplicationsofmedia.blogspot.com/

Marxism, Interpellation, and Ideology in Persepolis

Persepolis is an animated French film, which follows the life of Marjane Satrapi, from her childhood before, and during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, and into adulthood. It recounts, from her perspective, her struggles coping with the new political and ideological system after Iran becomes an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Khomeini and how she adapts to life in Vienna after her parents send her away to protect her from herself and the authorities. The film is particularly suited to Marxist analysis because it is within its historical context and through the idea of interpellation that the ideological messages of the film can be best understood. 

Interpellation is the idea that “an individual’s identity is forged by society, but that same individual is also complicit in that creation” (Gray 2010:51). Given the context of ideological revolution in which the events of the film occur, it becomes clear that people’s identities were not formed cohesively by one state ideology and this is the basis for the film’s message. 

Marjane herself, grew up in a liberal household and was influenced by her parents, who believed in progress; her uncle Anoush, who was a Marxist; by her time at the French school in Tehran; and her time in university in Vienna. She reveled in the freedom afforded her by her parents beliefs and the beliefs of her Western education, so she was not quick to accept the new ideology presented her by the Ayatollah, even at a young age. Her identity was forged and set in stone not by the new regime, but by the relatively liberal and progressive beliefs of the old one. Also the revolutionary atmosphere of the people forged her identity. She was complicit in accepting the revolution, but never moved on from it to the Ayatollah’s belief system. Audiences are meant to identify with Marjane, and thus with her struggles with and disapproval of the Islamic Republic. The result is a critique of the new ideology, and the people who mindlessly accept it without question. 

 

A still image from the film Persepolis. 

http://shadowsitcave.blogspot.com/2010

/05/hypothetical-film-festival-ariana.html

For people like Marjane’s teacher and a gardener turned powerful hospital administrator, when presented with the Ayatollah’s rules and vision for Iran, they readily accepted it. In the case of the teacher, Marjane sees her as a mindless follower; one day she is adamantly teaching a Shah approved curriculum of modernization, and the instant the Ayatollah takes control she begins worshipping him in class and teaching how women should be modest and not lead men to temptation. In other words she completely succumbs to the new ideology, simply because it is the new ideology, with no regard for her personal beliefs. Through her teaching she also passes on Iran’s new ideology to her students. This convinces many of Marjane’s classmates, but not Marjane. The motivations for the gardener are associated in large part with the socio-economic benefits it brings him. He goes from being an uneducated servant, to being promoted to a high level public official position, simply because he practices orthodox Islam. For the teacher as well, keeping her job might have been a major motivation for her ready acceptance. However, he also abuses his power and will not allow Marjane’s uncle to be transported out of the country for life-saving surgery, citing as his reason that only the gravely ill can receive overseas treatment. The result is that Marjane’s uncle dies. 

These two examples demonstrate the process of interpolation, showing how and why people embraced the new ideology, and how it was replicated and passed on. They are also key to elucidating the position that the state’s ideology is not a good one. First, by bringing into the foreground the processes of interpolation and state-ideology-forming, as they relate to the weak teacher and greedy gardener, and placing them in opposition to Marjane’s strength and conviction in her beliefs, the Iranian government is portrayed as coercive and immoral. The film does not advocate adoption of a specific ideology for Iran per say, but the criticism people blindly following the government, as well as the criticism of a friend of Marjane’s in Vienna, who disregards politics and sees it as frivolous, subtly sends the message that people need to actively choose their political Ideology and social system, not blindly follow someone on the basis of religion, greed or adoration alone.   

  

Works Cited

Gray, Gordon

   2010 Film Theory. In Cinema: A Visual Anthropology, Pp.35-73. Oxford, New York: Berg.

           

Paronnaud, Jason and Marjane Satrapi

            2007 Persepolis.

 

Community Radio

Personally, previously when I thought of a media genre that fosters community building, radio would not have been the first to come to mind. However, the following examples demonstrate that radio is by no means a one-way mode of communication, broadcasting only the voices of a few; rather, what creates radio programming is the voice of the people, and therefore it reflects the voice of the people. Radio simultaneously reflects and creates community.

            For people living in Fort McPhereson in the Northwest Territories, their local radio station CBQM provides a means for everyone in the community to speak and be heard by the community. As one announcer says, they’ll let pretty much anyone on the air if they ask. This is shown in the range of people who host a show over the course of the documentary including: the pastor, a policeman, and a pair of ragtag musicians with questionable musical talent, among others. The messages of the pastor and policeman are messages for the community on events, and official announcements, such as sharing the problem of house eggings. One does not actually need to be a host to get a message out, however; many of the shows operate as an open dialogue between host and listener, with listeners calling in messages which are instantly relayed over the airwaves. For example, Deborah invites Christine to her house over the radio. CBQM, in keeping everyone apprised of community events and concerns, and giving everyone an almost voyeuristic view into the lives of people that want to make thier personal buisness known, radio in Fort McPhereson simultaneously reflects and creates the community.

Image from: 

http://movies-sawyerneilcaldwell.blogspot.com/

            Austrailian aboriginal radio has a similar structure, but nationwide, not just within one town. Queensland’s station 4AAA broadcasts nationally, and allows families to send messages to incarcerated members of their families along with a song dedication. These messages resonate with members of other communities who hear them, because the problems plaguing aboriginal communities are similar across the country. This means 4AAA closes gaps of distance and creates community locally and a sense of imagined community of aboriginees across the country, as well as in individual towns. Listeners may not ever meet each other, but knowing they have shared experiences and stories leads them to identify as one community. This is heightened by the use of aboriginal kinship terms in broadcast messages, creating a sense of separation of the aboriginal community from the non-indigenous Australians(Fisher 2009:295). Thus, in reflecting common struggles of the community and using shared kinship terms, radio also creates a sense of community among Austrailian Aboriginees that goes beyond one locale, and spans the country.

            To reflect community, however, radio need not share individual stories. For example, during the Revolution in Algeria, people turned to radio for news of the revolution. The program Voice of Fighting Algeria was not voiced by all Algerians, but by those leading the revolution. The broadcast, however, reflected the desire of a large segment of the native Algerian population to end the repressive colonial regime. In this way, it reflected the national community of nationalist revolutionaries, but it also ''consolidat[ed] and unifi[ed] the people'' (Fanon 1965:84). People only needed to say I listened to the Voice in order for others to know that they were on the same side (Fanon1 1965:87). The French authorities began jamming the program, leading to it hopping from signal to signal. As a result, even those who were not fighting on the front line had the shared experience of searching for the signal and fighting the French control of the airwaves to stay informed. They also relived the events of the revolution collectively through conversation about the program(Fanon 1965:85). The Voice reflected the revolutionary desires of the Algerian people, and brought them together by creating a shared sense of struggle and community among all those who wanted to see the French fall from power. 

Naturally, these broadcasts can only reflect and create community if people are listenting to them, and they almost universally are. In sharing many voices and community specific concerns, with a specific audience in mind, communities are created and brought together because they see themselves reflected in the programs they listen to. 

Works Cited

Allen, Dennis

            2009 CBQM. National Film Board of Canada.

Fanon, Frantz

            1965 This Is the Voice of Algeria. In A Dying Colonialism, Pp. 89-97. New 

             York: Grove Press.

Fisher, Daniel

            2009 Mediating Kinship: Country, Family, and Radio in Northern Australia.

            Cultural Anthropology 24(2): 280-312.

 

Reuse of Harry Potter in Cosplay and Doujinshi: Authorial Intent and Social Norms

The use and reuse of media is commonplace today, with digital technology and the
Internet making media easily available to people worldwide. The Harry Potter series, written by J.K. Rowling, is one such example of a cultural media product that has gained immense global popularity. Looking at Harry Potter in the context of how its Japanese fandom reuses elements of the series, specifically the characters, provides a particularly interesting frame for analysis of reuse as some forms can be particularly contentious. Unlike song and dance sequences, which are removable from the context of the original films they appear in (Novak 2010:60), I would argue that characters are so integral to a story and thus require a higher degree of adherence to the source material. In the case of Harry Potter, when characters are reused in a way that retains the original context or authorial intention they are acceptable; however, when character is reused in a way that perverts or associates the characters, and thus the original text, with socially taboo behavior, it is unacceptable.

One way Japanese fans, (and many North American ones as well), acceptably reuse characters from Harry Potter is by engaging in cosplay. Cosplay involves dressing up in a costume resembling that of a favorite character from an anime (cartoon), movie or game, usually at a convention, and often involves hours of painstaking labor crafting the costume by hand. This is a form of impersonation, that is acceptable to authors and within the fan community and while some in wider society may find the act of dressing up on a day other than Halloween strange, generally nobody takes issue with this behavior, (aside perhaps from people who would take issue with the original works on religious or other grounds to begin with). This is acceptable in part because dressing up in a costume and the act of impersonation do not defy any social norms; there are times when it is perfectly acceptable for everyone to do these things, thus the author’s work is not associated with any practices or ideas that may be harmful to the original work.

Additionally, the costumes, as mentioned above, are usually incredibly well designed and thus can be seen as a tribute to the author’s original work. Cosplayers do not take liberties with the original character designs or costumes, they try to make exact replicas (see Figure 1). Therefore, no harm is done to the characters being reused and the author’s original work is being praised in that someone wants to take the time to re-create their creation.

            When characters or aspects from the story are reused in ways that place characters in socially unacceptable situations or simply severely altered from their original selves, both the artist themselves and fans can feel as though the work is being violated. This can be seen in doujinshi (fan produced comics), which reuse popular characters in original stories and are popular among a subgroup of anime and manga (comic) fans. It is not doujinshi’s use of the characters themselves that is the problem, but the context in which they are used. Doujinshi often place characters in distorted sexual relationships, taking a heterosexual characters and placing them in a homosexual relationships, taking siblings and placing them in incestual relationships and many involve rape. One such Harry Potter doujinshi sees James Potter raped by a group of Slytherin students, while Remus Lupin watches from a closet. Orbaugh speculates that Rowling might, like some Japanese authors, find doujinshi’s use of her characters an “unforgivable violation”(2010:184). She and Hahn Aquila also note the outrage of many Harry Potter fans, the majority of whom are not part of the doujinshi reading subculture, who voice their outrage through online message boards(Orbaugh 2010:184; Hahn Aquila 2007:42). These reuses by some fans are unacceptable because they involve taboo actions like rape, and because they alter the source text in ways that completely alter the characters, which are an integral part of the original.

             

             Novak says that with reuse there is a ‘tension between “tribute” and “mockery” that can never be resolved’(64). While doujinshi may not be a direct mockery of the original texts, it does alter them to a point that it could harm the reputation of the Harry Potter franchise if it became associated with them, in the same way a mockery might. Cosplay on the other hand, is acceptable, because it is clearly a tribute, upholding the intention of the author’s creation. How true a reuse stays to the original work, and whether or not it associates that work with immoral acts determines the acceptability of the reuse. 

 

Figure 2: A picture of a Harry Potter doujinshi depicting Harry kissing Draco. http://www.flickr.com/photos/unforth/2351423810/

Figure 1: A cosplay of Lord Voldemort. http://fullcosplay.tumblr.com/post/449153212/cosplay-lord-voldemort-harry-potter-series

Works Cited

Novak, David

2010 Cosmopolitanism, Remediation, and the Ghost World of Bollywood. Cultural Anthropology 25(1): 40-72.

Orbaugh, Sharalyn

2010 Girls Reading Harry Potter Girls Writing Desire: Amateur Manga and Shoujo Reading. In Girl Reading Girl in Japan. Tomoko Aoyama and Barbara Hartley eds. 175-188. London: Routledge.

Hahn Aquila, Meredith Suzanne

2007 Ranma ½ Fan Fiction Writers: New Narrative Themes or the Same Old Story? Mechademia 2:34-47.

The Writing on the Stall: Identity and Anonymity in Bathroom Graffiti

Graffiti comes in many varied forms, which range from being viewed as artistic to unsightly acts of pure vandalism, or both (Carrington 2009:409). In all its forms however, graffiti is a powerful mode of expression, especially for those who feel their voices have no other outlet (Şad and Kutlu 2009:39). Murals can, through artistic expression, make a dull public space more enjoyable and give a city or neighborhood character. Gang tags, denoting territory, often make people feel unsafe. But what of those more mundane graffiti writings we encounter on a daily basis? For instance, the convoluted conversations, social commentaries and insults we often find scribbled on the walls of bathroom stalls or study cubicles.

This particular variety of graffiti has one important characteristic that characterizes its expression. The nature of a stall in a public bathroom makes it a rare public space that also affords a great deal of privacy to the person inside. As a result, the things written there are seen by many, and could have been written by any of the numerous people who make use of it daily. Thus graffiti writing here is, for all intents and purposes, anonymous. Fuhrer, as quoted in Carrington, said that all manner of urban, “graffiti are announcements of one’s identity, a… testimonial to one’s existence in anonymity (2009:410).” In other words, graffiti writings are anonymous statements of an individual’s identity and presence in the world.

Furthermore, in part due to the factor of anonymity a bathroom stall provides, graffiti written here can allow the individual to express opinions they share that are socially unacceptable, without fear of social repercussions reflecting on their individual person. According to Islam, bathrooms are private spaces where “normally unsanctioned” behavior can appear (2009:248). This, coupled with Carrington’s idea that writing in this space reveal real social attitudes, because people do not fear repercussion, makes bathroom graffiti a genre full of insight into society, all because of its anonymous nature.

To evidence this, Şad and Kutlu in their study of Turkish university students studying education, identify two types of graffiti: graffiti written in classrooms or labs and graffiti written in bathroom stalls. They say that more socially acceptable topics and doodles are likely to be written in classrooms, and more controversial topics like sex, homosexuality and politics are written of in bathroom stalls (2009:51). It is the factor of anonymity that creates this division of content.

If this more controversial subject matter is being discussed in bathroom stalls and the content reflects on society, what exactly do these writings say about us? Gladly, it seems the “normally unsanctioned behavior” that is expressed here is not without reproach. Şad and Kutlu give numerous examples of graffiti as it is written in the bathroom stalls of a Turkish university. One inscription says, “Death for gays!” and the response to it is, “Freedom for gays! (Şad and Kutlu 2009:48)” This is a similar spirit to what I am accustomed to seeing in UBC campus bathrooms, if someone writes something hateful, others are quick to respond with reverse messages. I would like to believe, in putting all the above factors together, that it is then possible to infer that in society there are those that have hateful viewpoints, but the majority disagree. Hopefully those people will still stand up to unjust discrimination if their voices are not shielded by anonymity.

I was disappointed as I opened the door of stall after stall in the women’s bathroom on the main floor of the Student Union Building this week. The walls, which are usually full of intellectually provocative questions, offensive remarks, poetry and any number of other random writings, had recently been scrubbed clean, (or mostly so), and only a few unprovocative remarks had begun to replenish the supply. It made me wonder, with respect to anonymity, if people feel their identity is more at risk when they are the first to write something? After all, when the wall is full, nobody seems to hold back their opinions, be they good or bad.

Walter Benjamin’s Aura, Copies and Jai Ho

Walter Benjamin in his article “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” says that new technologies allowing for the “mechanical reproduction” of works of art have in some contexts become art forms in their own right, but at the same time they have changed the way people view art, and taken something essential from it. He suggests that with copying technology, works of art lose their aura.

Aura is a complex aspect of an object having to do with an authenticity that stems from a unique “presence in time and space”, the very existence of an original, the proximity to the thing, and other factors (Benjamin 1936). The destruction of aura occurs in many ways with the mechanical reproduction of art. Benjamin takes an especially harsh criticism of film, saying that reproduction on a large scale “substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence” and this leads to a “shattering of tradition” of which “film is the most powerful agent (1936).”

In following Benjamin’s argument, the four YouTube videos being examined here, (the official music video, the Pussycat Dolls Jai Ho, a dance by the Hagens and a Tamil dance performance to the song), are certainly guilty of many of the aura destroying characteristics he puts forth. First, their very existence as reproductible video is a fault. As they are readily available on the Internet, in an endless number of identical copies, they are guilty of jeopardizing the aura of the original through sheer volume. Arguably, their existence as digital media further jeopardizes the authenticity, because for Benjamin, the presence of an “original” is key to authenticity, and the original of any one of these, especially the amateur copies could have been erased long ago after being moved onto a computer from a camcorder, for example.

Secondly, as we are not in the presence of the performers, but rather are experiencing their performance with the camera mediating it, we lose the performer’s aura, because their presence is synonymous with their aura (Benjamin 1936). Furthermore, the different camera angles that are used in film, and in these videos, as well as the fact that a scene can be cut to include sections from different takes, thus giving a fragmented, distorted view of reality, also destroys aura. In the official Slumdog Millionaire video, even if they had filmed the entire dance sequence in one shot, the fact that it is interspersed with scenes from the film only lets us see a portion of it, therefore showing the viewer only the fragmented reality Benjamin speaks of. Therefore, because of their nature as film, the four videos all violate the aura of the originals.

My understanding of this article was that this loss of aura had to do with the creation of exact copies, which as shown above certainly applies to each of the works individually. However, the presence of multiple imitations, (all the videos save the official music video), which take some aspect of the original but create their own unique version, could further destroy the aura of the original, potentially more than just in having multiple copies of the same work.

For example, the pussycat dolls, create new song lyrics and loosely imitate the setting and costumes of the original music video, however the melody remains the same, and because of their costumes and the train station setting it is clearly in some ways a copy of the original. However, the overall mood and message of the video is entirely different. The Pussycat Dolls bring their own style to the song and the change in lyrics and costumes completely removes any of the purity of finding your one true love, your “destiny,” a line echoed in their song and the movie itself; rather the video and song become more about sex than a special connection and the struggle to find the one you love.

The amateur renditions as well remove some of the artistry that come from the original video. With inexpert dance moves, no costumes, and lesser camera quality somehow they are not as visually appealing, at least for myself. While I do not feel their presence, and the presence of a multitude of others like them detract from the original, I might think of those imitations when thinking of the original, and the connection could in some way taint it. Maybe in thinking of the Pussycat Dolls the love story will seem less profound. Or maybe I will laugh remembering the Hagen’s enthusiastic dancing. Either way, the original no longer exists apart from association with those other versions. Whether this effect is positive or otherwise I cannot say definitively, however, if Benjamin believed a simple copy could detract from the original I cannot imagine he would approve of lesser copies, being widely distributed as well.

Mazarella’s “Culture, Globalization, Mediation”

William Mazarella’s “Culture, Globalization, Mediation” is a literature review of works on media and globalization. He is interested in the issue of mediation, which he defines as, “the processes by which a given social dispensation produces and reproduces itself in and through a particular set of media (Mazarella 2004:346).” He talks of mediation in terms of globalization and the interaction between cultures. Specifically, with mediums globalization like satellite television and the Internet facilitating the increasing interconnectedness of people and cultures, people have begun a process of mediation of those new ideas they become exposed to. Mazarella wants to look at places where mediation is having real effects on the way people live their lives, or “nodes of mediation (2004:352).

He suggests that through interactions with media originating in different cultural backgrounds, people can explore aspects of themselves and their own culture, without being taken in by the new ideas they are being exposed to. There might be aspects of life that seem very similar to their own but also aspects that are very foreign to them in the media that they encounter. It is through processes of mediation that people and cultures grow from encounters with the unknown in media (2004:355). Mediation is a way in which people become and discover “who [they] are through the detour of something alien to [themselves](2004:356).”

Despite finding meaning and identity through difference, there is no risk of becoming homogeneous. This is because difference is one factor that aids social reproduction. Essentially, there is no risk of losing the “local” through encounters with difference in media, because people mediate to make meaning for themselves. Through processes of mediation people try to understand others just as they try to understand themselves. Sometimes it is not possible to come to an understanding, or to appropriately convey the differences through available media. However, people are constantly trying to make meaning from encounters with media portraying others and broaden their understandings and possibilities this way.

The Media and Cholera in Haiti: Foul or Fair?

Photo:Ramon Espinosa/Associated Press










          To say that life has been tough for the people of Haiti since January 2010, when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake devastated their nation, would be an understatement. With over 200,000 killed, 300,000 injured and approximately 1.5 million people left homeless after the disaster (World Vision 2011), the nation was, and largely remains, in ruins. Upon seeing the earthquake’s aftermath in the media people, governments and NGOs worldwide opened their hearts to donate their money, time and resources on a massive scale; however, despite this a second disaster befell Haiti in October 2010, an outbreak of cholera.

Cholera causes only mild illness in the majority of the people who contract it, however in a small percentage of infected people, (approximately 5%), life threatening dehydration can occur. According to the Centre for Disease Control two conditions must be met for cholera to spread: “(1) there must be significant breaches in the water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure used by groups of people, permitting large-scale exposure to food or water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae organisms; and (2) cholera must be present in the population (CDC 2010).” Given that the huge number of homeless in Haiti remain in “temporary” tent villages, with poor sanitation and water distribution systems, the first requirement is obviously met. However, it was not anticipated that cholera infection would become a problem because Haiti did not meet the second condition. Now that it is present, however, it cannot be ignored; while only a small percentage of people will become gravely ill from cholera, when virtually the entire nation’s population is at risk, the number of severe cases becomes unacceptably high. As of Mid January 2011 almost 4000 people had died of cholera in Haiti (BBC 2011a).

Gourevitch, in his article “Alms Dealers,” takes a critical account of aid organizations, saying that despite having good intentions, things don’t always go well for them and they’re not accountable for their actions (2010:109). He also outlines the critique Linda Polman puts forward in her book, “The Crisis Caravan: What’s Wrong With Humanitarian Aid?” explaining how the media brings attention to the work of aid organizations, but not always positively. For example/ in Sierra Leone, when the R.U.F.’s soldiers realized that amputees were attracting support from international aid agencies due to international news coverage, specifically by the BBC, they increased the number of amputees dramatically. Additionally, many amputees began hoarding prosthetics and going around without them to keep the media attention, and the aid, coming. Meanwhile, people kept sending support, not knowing they were essentially part of the problem.

This villainization of the media is not entirely warranted, at least not in the case of Haiti. The media cannot be faulted for its failure to mention fears of cholera from the outset, when nobody could have foreseen that cholera would make its way to Haiti. It cannot be faulted for the amount or continuation of coverage it gave the problem. A search of the BBC news website shows that there were 92 articles published about the cholera epidemic between October 21, 2010 and January 23, 2011 (BBC 2011b). Until the beginning of January, multiple articles were written daily. That seems like good coverage considering that the media tends to give new stories priority, and a lot happened in the world this year. For example, if Haiti remained the feature story we would not have known about the disastrous flooding in Australia, or the trapped Chilean miners. It is simply the nature of the news to prioritize the next big story, and I would argue that that is in large part due to popular demand and what will bring in readership. Responsibility also lies with readers to go beyond the headlines if they want to stay informed.

Haiti received massive amounts of aid, and without media attention it likely would not have; the world would not have been aware of the issue in the first place. Certainly the ability to move people to action is a power the media has, and one to be taken seriously, but the media is limited by the constraints of its structure as a mode of reporting current affairs. With prolonged situations, it cannot continue to give priority to every issue. In fact, it would be irresponsible to keep the public from learning of new issues facing the world by focusing on just one. Therefore, the media is a limited resource for mobilizing aid, with only limited responsibility, and should not be judged for its role in sufficiently or insufficiently aiding the cholera epidemic in Haiti.

The First Post

Welcome! This blog is for my anthropology of media class at the University of British Columbia. Throughout the term I’ll be posting a variety of assignments relating to the anthropology of media. If you found your way here accidentally, I hope you find it interesting. Enjoy.