EmergenceHumanitiesPostgraduateResearchJournal

‘MythvsReality’VolumeIX,Winter2017

ii

EmergenceVolumeIX,Winter2017

EditorsYaelGordonLewisBrennenEditorialTeamEmiliaMataixFerrándizAdamHusseyKirstyBoltonJosephOwenLianPatsonEleanorShiptonAniaOstrowskaEmilyHookeAlexSessaJennieLewisLeannaBrinkleyKhaledA.Al-AnbarGonzaloPerezHaNguyenAmiraBenabdelkaderBinhNguyenAnnaAugustyniakJaneRa

CoverImagePedroLinares‘Alebrije’papermachesculptureTheChildren’sMuseumofIndianapolis

EmergenceispublishedbytheUniversityofSouthamptonPrintCentre

ISSN:2041-8248

iii

Contents

Editors’Introduction 1

Foreword 4

HumanitiesGraduateSchoolStudentNetwork(GradNet) 5

Anexplorationofteachers’beliefsabouttheglobalspreadofEnglish

inaChileanELTprogramme

GonzaloPérez

7

‘NovicebutExpert?’:AstudyofAssistantLanguageTeachers(ALTs)

inJapan

HirokoTsujino

19

ListeningthroughaGenre-BasedApproachUsingNarrativeTexts

GracielaArizmendiGonzalez

35

(Mis)representationandLiberation:SitesofMemoryandLossin

RadwaAshour’sGranada

IslamEl-Naggar

49

FairyTale,FableandtheRealityofEvil:RepresentingtheHolocaust

inJohnBoyne’sTheBoyintheStripedPyjamas

SophieMelissaSmith

59

TheCunningComedian:TheMythicTricksterandModernSatirical

Comedy

OonaghPennington-Wilson

70

PerformingTruthandMythinStoriesWeTell

AdamVaughan

82

‘ZolotyiVeresen(GoldenSeptember)-ChroniclesofGalicia1939-

1941’andtheformationofUkrainiannationalidentity

SolomiiaKratsylo

95

CollaborationandResistanceattheParisOpéra:Nationalismand

resistanceinthefirstOccupationballetpremiere,2July1941

AbaighMcKee

112

1

Editors’Introduction

Thearticlesinthisyear’seditionofEmergencewereallbasedonthethemeof‘Myth

vs Reality’, following on from the annual Humanities Postgraduate Conference,

organisedbytheUniversityofSouthampton’sHumanitiesGraduateSchoolNetwork

(GradNet)on27March2017.

Thefirstthreearticlesallreflectonlanguageacquisitionprocesses.Gonzalo

Pérez explores teachers’ beliefs about the global spread of English in a Chilean

English Language Teaching (ELT) programme. The article explores how teacher

trainers inoneELTprogramme inChile rationalise theEnglishthat theyspeak, the

Englishthattheyteach,andtheEnglishthatispromotedintheirprogrammes.The

beliefsthattheseteachersholdinrelationtothespreadofEnglishrevealshowELT

programmes, and their developers, understand and respond to this phenomenon,

especiallyincontextswhereEnglishhasnoofficialstatusorcolonialhistory.

Hiroko Tsujino then discusses Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) in Japan.

ThearticleexaminesboththerealitiesandthemythsofALTsinJapanwhoworkin

elementaryand/or secondary schools fromqualitativenarrativeapproach,utilising

metaphors to investigate theALT’s self-perceptionsabout theirprofession.Tsujino

goesontoshedlightonthegapsbetweenthestereotypical imagesandtheactual

practicesofALTsasawayofinvestigatinghowlanguageteachers’formtheiridentity

andnegotiatethosegapsastheylearnandachieveprofessionaldevelopment.

GracielaArizmendiGonzalezexplores thetopicof listeningthroughagenre

basedapproachusingnarrativetexts.Shearguesthatwhilstlisteningisacrucialskill

in second language learning, those learning often struggle and are less proficient

whenlisteningtothesecondlanguage.Inthatrespect,genrebasedinstructiongoes

beyondcognitiveperspectivesandlinksthelanguageusedtosocialandcontextual

conventions.

We then have two articles from within English studies. Islam El-Naggar

discusses the sites ofmemory and loss in RadwaAshour’sGranada. Theworks of

both Ashour and the theorist Edward Said represent life-long appeals to the

responsibility of the individual subjects in themaking of their history. This paper

examines the potency of individualist endeavours against a more collective

2

judgement. More specifically, it questions and limits the interpretative agency of

politicalsubjectswhenfacedwithseminalhistoricalevents.

Next, Sophie Smith examines representations of the Holocaust in John

Boyne’sTheBoyintheStripedPyjamas.TheessayaskswhetherBoyne’suseoffairy

tale and fable tropes marks a sophisticated medium that facilitates Holocaust

education or, conversely, whether inexpert use instead create damaging

misrepresentations. It, thus, contributes to larger debates about how children

shouldbeeducatedabouttheHolocaust.

WethenhaveanarticlefromOonaghPennington-Wilson,whichexploresthe

concept of the ‘trickster’ both historically and with reference to modern political

comedy.Research intothefictionalormythiccharacterswhohavebecomeknown

as ‘tricksters’ hasproliferated since the latenineteenth century. These ambiguous

figures functionat theboundariesof society,oftenbreakingand/or reassertingan

existingsocialorderinthecourseoftheirexploits.Thisessaysuggestsanumberof

connectionsbetweenthesetraditionaltrickstersandrepresentationsof‘cunning’in

modernpoliticalcomedy.

NextaretwoarticlesfromwithinFilmStudies,whichboth,intheirownway,

examine the theme of ‘Myth vs Reality’ within documentaries. Adam Vaughan

analysescinematicrepresentationsinthedocumentaryStoriesWeTell(SarahPolley,

2012).Thisessayarguesthatmanycontemporarydocumentariesare‘performative’,

inthesensethattheirsubjectmatter isonlygivenmeaningastheyarefilmedand

then viewed. This is followed by a close textual analysis of the film that uncovers

how performative strategies are used to create a complex dialogue between

filmmakerandfilmviewerthatblurstruthandfictionintheconstructionofidentity.

Solomiia Kratsylo then examines the influence of the documentary Zolotyi

Veresen. Chronicles of Galicia 1939-41 in shaping modern Ukrainian national

identity.Heressayexamineshowthefilmexplorescollectivememoryandtheextent

to which it is a deliberate attempt to shape national identity through a selective

representationoftheGalicianoccupation.

The final article comes from researcher within History. Abaigh McKee

discusses‘CollaborationandResistanceattheParisOpéra’,throughtheuseofballet

musicduringtheNaziOccupationofParis(1940-44).Heressayusesprimarysource

3

materials, includingpersonalandbureaucraticcorrespondence,musical scoresand

performanceprogrammestounderstandtheballetcompany’sactivitiesduring the

Occupationfromamusicological,historical,politicalandculturalperspective.McKee

thuscontributedtoscholarshipsurroundingcultural lifeduringtheOccupationand

offersanotherwayofunderstandingtherealityofthisperiod.

Wewould like to thank everyonewhohas been involved in producing this

year’seditionofEmergence,particularlytheauthorsandtheeditorialteam.

LewisBrennen,PhDCandidate,History,UniversityofSouthampton

YaelGordon,PhDCandidate,Film,UniversityofSouthampton

(Editors,Emergence,2017)

4

Foreword

ItgivesmegreatpleasuretowritetheForewordtothisthe9theditionofEmergence.

This edition draws much of its content from the 10th annual conference of the

Humanities Graduate School Student Network (GradNet), a conference which has

nowbecomearegularhighlightoftheacademicyearinHumanities.Sixofthenine

articlesinthisvolumecomefromtheconference,thethemeofwhichwasMythvs

Reality.Theconferenceitselffeatured21papers,plusaselectionofposters,with20

presenters from the University of Southampton, as well as from Leeds Trinity

University,UniversityofSheffield,UniversityofBirmingham,andUniversityCollege

London. The GradNet conference provides an important forum for postgraduate

researchers toexchange ideasandapproaches, aswell as anopportunity to share

experiencesacrossinstitutionsanddisciplinaryboundaries.

The journal brings together contributions from awide range of disciplines:

Classics,English,Film,History,andModernLanguages.Thediversityandcomplexity

of the subjects tackledmirrors thebreadthanddepthofpostgraduate research in

theFacultyofHumanities.

On behalf of the Faculty, I would like to thank all of those involved in

GradNet, not only for organising theMyth vs Reality Conference and editing and

producingthisjournalbutalsofortheiractivitiesthroughouttheyear.GradNetplays

a vital role in stimulating the exchange of ideas through reading groups and

seminars, as well as fostering a sense of community amongst postgraduate

researchersintheFacultyofHumanities.Iwouldalsoliketothankandcongratulate

all of the contributors to this latest editionofEmergencewhoseworkwill further

enhancethejournal’salreadyexcellentreputation.

DrJamesMinney

InterimDirector,GraduateSchoolFacultyofHumanities

5

HumanitiesGraduateSchoolStudentNetwork

TheHumanitiesGraduateSchoolStudentNetwork(GradNet)isaninclusive,student-

ledcommunityforallpostgraduatesintheFacultyofHumanities.Itstrivestocreate

an atmosphere in which students are able to connect, both as individuals and as

developingprofessionals.

Weaimto:

• Buildandmaintainavibrantpostgraduatecommunityforthestudents,by

thestudents.

• Cultivateidentitiesasacademicresearchers,bothindividuallyand

collectively.

• Engageincurrentacademicdebate.

• Nurturetheacquisitionanddevelopmentoftransferableskillsforfuture

careers.

• Provideopportunitiesforsocialinteraction

Inordertoachievetheseaims,we:

• Offerdiscussion-based,peerreviewedseminarsledbycurrentstudents.

• Organisesocialandculturalevents.

• Organizeanannualconference.

• Produceanannualjournal,Emergence.

Emergence

Our most recent conference was held on 27 March 2017. Emergence is a peer-

reviewedjournalthatbuildsupontheachievementsofthisconference,asseveralof

the articles are drawn frompapers published on the day. This year, as itwas last

year,theCallforPaperswassentoutnationwide.Thishasledtoabroad,insightful

journal that showcases the research possibilities of the Humanities. The journal

helps postgraduate scholars to develop their skills as academic researches and

writers,thusbuildingtheiracademicprofilesforthefuture.

6

GetInvolved

IfyouareinterestedinparticipatinginanyoftheGradNetactivities,youcanjoinour

mailinglist,FacebookpageorfollowusonTwitter.Thereisnojoiningfee,andyou

arewelcometoattendasmanyorasfewoftheeventsasyouwish.Alternatively,if

youwishto jointheGradNetCommitteeandbecomeinvolvedwithorganisingour

nextevent,conferenceorjournaledition,pleaseemailus:Gradnet@soton.ac.uk.

HumanitiesGraduateSchoolStudentNetwork

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/humanities/index.page

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/gradnetsoton

Twitter:http://twitter.com/GradNetSoton

MikeWarner

PhDCandidate,History

ChairofGradNetCommittee(2017)

7

Anexplorationofteachers’beliefsabouttheglobalspreadofEnglishin

aChileanELTprogramme

GonzaloPérez

UniversityofSouthampton

ThecurrentstatusofEnglishasaninternationallanguageisopeningupthedebate

aboutwhatweunderstandas‘subjectmatterEnglish’.Traditionalconstructs inthe

English Language Teaching (ELT) profession such as the native speaker, standard

English,andthecultureofEnglisharecurrentlybeingquestionedduetothegrowing

numberofusersofEnglishasaLinguaFranca(ELF)whouseEnglishforintercultural

communicationmainlyamongnon-nativespeakers.ResearchonGlobalEnglisheshas

highlighted the need to abandon the current English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

paradigm,whichconsidersstandardEnglishandthenativespeakerasthenorm,and

adopt a global perspective of English that embraces the linguistic and cultural

diversityofEnglishinstead.

This article explores how teacher trainers in one ELT programme in Chile

rationalisetheEnglishthattheyspeak,theEnglishthattheyteach,andtheEnglish

thatispromotedintheirprogrammes.Thebeliefsthattheseteachersholdinrelation

tothespreadofEnglishwill revealhowcurriculumdevelopers forELTprogrammes

understand and respond to this phenomenon, especially in contextswhere English

hasnoofficialstatusorcolonialhistory.Here,Ipresentpartofamultiplecasestudy

thatcomprisesqualitativedatagatheredatthreeChileanuniversities,usingavariety

ofdatacollectionmethods.

Owing to space limitations, this article presents findings obtained only

through interviews carried out in one of the three institutions. The findings reveal

that teachers in this programme respond to the global dimension of English by

rejectingtraditionalnormativeapproachestoEnglish,suchasRPpronunciation,and

alsobypromotingtheacquisitionof‘ChileanEnglish’amongtheirstudents.Further

analysis of the results obtained through the other data collection methods will

8

eventuallyhelptorevealhowwidespreadthenotionof‘ChileanEnglish’is,asaform

ofEnglishinitsownright,amongandwithinELTprogrammes.

Introduction

ThegrowingnumberofusersofEnglishasanadditionallanguageandthevarietyof

contextsinwhichEnglishisusedasalinguafrancaaroundtheworld,havesignificant

implicationsfortheteachingofEnglish.TheculturalandlinguisticdiversityofEnglish

hasbroughtintoquestionthevalidityofthetraditionalmodelofthenativespeaker

(NS) as the only legitimate linguistic target in English Language Teaching (ELT),

especially in contexts where English does not have a colonial history or official

status.ELTpublishersandresearchershave,tosomeextent,startedtoacknowledge

theneedforaparadigmshiftthatchallengesthecurrentnormativeapproachtoELT

in the classroom. However, there is little evidence of change in the beliefs and

practicesofELTpractitionersorimplementationofalternativeapproachestoEnglish

assubjectmatter inELTprogrammes.1Consideringthisreality,thisarticleexplores

thebeliefsthatteachertrainersatanELTprogrammeinChileholdinrelationtothe

Englishthatispromotedinthetrainingoffutureteachers,aswellastheirself-image

asusersofthelanguage.

ELTandtheglobalspreadofEnglish

Traditionally,theteachingofEnglishinwhatKachrucalls‘ExpandingCircle’contexts

–territorieswhereEnglishdoesnothaveanofficialstatusorcolonialhistory–has

followed an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) model.2 That is, English is learnt

primarilyforcommunicationwithitsnativespeakersand,therefore,theteachingof

English in these contexts has largely focused on the mastery of standard forms,

placingspecialemphasisoncorrectnessandaccuracyintheacquisitionofBritishor

AmericanEnglish.However,asDeweypointsout,thistraditionalviewoflanguageis

‘in conflict with the sociolinguistic realities of most English language learning,

teaching,andusingcontexts’asitignoresthecurrentglobaldimensionofEnglishby

1MartinDewey,'TimetoWakeupSomeDogs!ShiftingtheCultureofLanguageinElt',inCurrentPerspectiveonthePedagogyofEnglishasaLinguaFranca,ed.byYaseminBayyurtandSumruAkcan(Berlin:DeGruyterMouton,2014),pp.121-34.2BrajBKachru,'TeachingWorldEnglishes',inTheOtherTongue:EnglishacrossCultures,ed.byBrajBKachru(UrbanaandChicago:UniversityofIllinoisPress,1992).

9

reinforcingamonolithicandfixedformofthelanguagewhichdiffersfromthereality

of language use in intercultural communication.3 In response to this view of ELT,

researchonGlobalEnglishes,andespeciallyonEnglishasaLinguaFranca(ELF),has

stressedtheimportanceofadoptinganalternativeperspectivetoELTthatembraces

theculturalandlinguisticdiversityofthelanguageandtheneedtochallengelong-

standing beliefs about the nature of language as a set of rules rather than as a

dynamicmeansofcommunication.

Eventhoughitispossibletoseeafewexamplesofattemptstoincorporatea

Global Englishes perspective in mainstream ELT literature and teacher training

courses,‘argumentsbeingputforwardfromanELFperspectivehavetendedinELT

tobegreetedwithscepticism,ifnotopenhostility’.4Forexample,Jenkins’sstudyon

attitudes towardsELF revealeda rangeof conflicting viewsamong teachers in the

ExpandingCircle.5InlinewithJenkins’sfindings,YoungandWalshstudiedhownon-

native teachers conceptualised the English they learned and taught, and they

concluded that the teachers in their study had adopted ‘a need to believe in a

“standard” formof the language’, evenwhenacknowledging that sucha standard

does not correspond to the actual reality of English.6 These views about language

appear to be widespread in the ELT profession in general, as they seem to be

commonlysharedbyteachersfromdifferentcontexts.Inlightofthisphenomenon,I

drawattentiontothe formationofELTpractitionersatpre-service level,especially

from the perspective of teacher educators in ELT programmes, since their views

aboutlanguagearelikelytohaveaconsiderableeffectonthebeliefsaboutEnglish

offutureteachers.

EFLteachers’beliefs

3Dewey,'TimetoWakeupSomeDogs',p.121.4AlessiaCogoandMartinDewey,AnalysingEnglishasaLinguaFranca:ACorpus-DrivenInvestigation(LondonandNewYork:Continuum,2012),p.171.5JenniferJenkins,EnglishasaLinguaFranca:AttitudeandIdentity(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2007).6TonyJohnstoneYoungandSteveWalsh,'WhichEnglish?WhoseEnglish?AnInvestigationof"Non-Native"Teachers'BeliefsAboutTargetVarieties',Language,CultureandCurriculum,23:2(2010),123-137(p.135).

10

Inrecentyears,therehasbeenagrowinginterestinthebeliefsthatteachersholdin

relationtodifferentaspectsoftheirprofessionalformationandpractice,becauseof

the role that these beliefs play in what teachers do in the classroom. Although

researchershave traditionallyapproached thecomplexityof teachers’mental lives

from a variety of perspectives – such as studying beliefs, attitudes, values and

knowledge as separate constructs – differentiating them in empirical research is

problematic because they lack clear-cut theoretical boundaries.7 Therefore, I

understand teachers’ beliefs as an umbrella term that brings together all these

complex cognitiveprocesses that influencea teacher’s views,decision-makingand

practices.

Research on teachers’ beliefs has identified core characteristics based on

threekeyagreedassumptions.8Firstly,it isarguedthatbeliefsmustbeinferred,as

theymaynotbedirectlyobservedormeasured,whichresultsinresearchershaving

to elicit themusing a varietyofmethods. Fives andBuehl point out that teachers

may not be fully aware of their own beliefs because some of them can be

unconsciouslyheld.9Secondly,asPajaresargues,‘theearlierabeliefisincorporated

intoabeliefstructure,themoredifficultitistoalter,forthesebeliefssubsequently

affect perception and strongly influence the processing of new information’.10 As

some beliefs are more resistant to change, teachers are likely to justify their

positions even in the presence of contradictory evidence or can even go against

logical reasoning.11 And third, it has been largely documented that teachers’ own

experiences as learners shape their beliefs as teachers. This is a phenomenon

commonlyreferredtoas‘theapprenticeshipofobservation’,whichstressesthefact

thatbeforeteachers join initial teachereducationprogrammes, theyspenda large

7SimonBorg,TeacherCognitionandLanguageEducation(London:Bloomsbury,2015).8HongyingZheng,'AReviewofResearchonEfl/EslPre-ServiceTeachers’BeliefsandPractices',JournalofCambridgeStudies,4:1(2009),73-81.9HelenroseFivesandMichelleM.Buehl,'SpringCleaningforthe"Messy"ConstructofTeachers'Beliefs:WhatAreThey?WhichHaveBeenExamined?WhatCanTheyTellUs?',inApaEducationalPsychologyHandbook:Vol2.IndividualDifferencesandContextualFactors,ed.byKarenR.Harris,SteveGrahan,andTimUrdan(Washington,D.C:AmericanPsychologicalAssociation,2012),pp.471-99.10M.FrankPajares,'Teachers’BeliefsandEducationalResearch:CleaningupaMessyConstruct',Reviewofeducationalresearch,62:3(1992),307-332(p.317).11BalasubramanianKumaravadivelu,LanguageTeacherEducationforaGlobalSociety:AModularModelforKnowing,Analyzing,Recognizing,Doing,andSeeing(London:Routledge,2012).

11

number of hours observing how other teachers behave and perform in the

classroom.12 In the case of ELT, teachers ‘enter the profession with largely

unarticulated, yet deeply ingrained, notions about what language is, how it is

learnedandhowitshouldbetaught’.13

ContextandMethodology

This study is part of a multiple case study that intends to reveal the language

ideologies that operate in Chilean ELT programmes by exploring the beliefs about

Englishthat teachereducators in three initial teachereducationprogrammeshold.

Using semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis,

thiscasestudyaimstoexplorehowteachers in theseELTprogrammesrespondto

the global spread of English in their curricula and practices, and the views that

teachereducatorsattheseprogrammesheldinrelationtotheideaofEnglishthatis

promoted inChile. In thisarticle, Ipresent the resultsobtained inonlyoneof the

cases(henceforthProgrammeA)throughtwosetsofsemi-structuredinterviews.

InordertobecomeateacherofEnglishinChile,studentsenrolinuniversity

programmesthatrangefrom4to5years in length.Applicantsarenotrequiredto

demonstratea specificproficiency inEnglish, as they learn the languagealongside

other subjects. At the end of their initial teacher education course, students are

expectedtoachieveaC1levelintheCommonEuropeanFrameworkofReferencefor

LanguagesCEFR,14althoughasyetthisisnotacompulsoryrequirementtobecomea

qualified teacher. Courses on phonetics and grammar dominate the curriculum of

most of ELT programmes in Chile since, as Barahona observes, ‘there is an

understandingthattobeateacherofEnglish it isnecessarytomasterEnglishata

native-likeproficiency level,andthatRPEnglish isthebestaccentforanon-native

teacherofEnglish’.15

12DanC.Lortie,SchoolTeacher:ASociologicalInquiry(Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,1975).13KarenE.JohnsonandPaulaR.Golombek,'ASocioculturalTheoreticalPerspectiveonTeacherProfessionalDevelopment',inResearchonSecondLanguageTeacherEducation:ASocioculturalPerspectiveonProfessionalDevelopment,ed.byKEJohnsonandPRGolombek(NewYork:Routledge,2011),pp.1-12.(p.1)14MinisteriodeEducación,'EstándaresOrientadoresParaCarrerasDePedagogíaEnInglés',ed.byMinisteriodeEducación(Santiago:GobiernodeChile,2014).15MalbaBarahona,EnglishLanguageTeacherEducationinChile:ACulturalHistoricalActivityTheoryPerspective(London:Routledge,2016),p.49.

12

The selection of programmes for this case study followed a purposive

samplingselection,whichisanon-probabilitysampletechniquethat‘liesinselecting

information-rich cases for study in depth’.16 Programme A was considered of

particular interestbecauseof itsparticipation in settingup theChileanMinistryof

Education’s standards for ELT published in 2014. In addition, this programme

implemented a curriculum innovation that aimed at integrating subjects that are

traditionally treated as separate modules in Chilean ELT programmes. That is,

courses on English phonetics and grammar are incorporated in the language skills

modulesinsteadofrunninginisolation.Itisimportanttomentionherethatstudents

inthisprogrammeareexpectedtopasstheBritishCouncil’sAPTIStestbytheendof

their course as proof of C1 proficiency. Eight teachers from the ELT staff at this

highereducationinstitutionagreedtoparticipateinthestudy.

Findings

The interviews were transcribed using the transcription conventions included in

Appendix 1. Later, theywere analysed using thematic analysis by coding the data

andcreatingcategoriesthroughestablishingrelationshipsamongemergingcodes.17

Due to space limitations, this article focuses primarily on findings related to how

these teacher educators conceptualise the English that is promoted by the

programmeinthetrainingoffutureteachersofEnglish.

Mostof the teachers inProgrammeA showeda strong resentmentagainst

the emphasis on accuracy that they experienced during their own training. In

addition,theyexpressedtheneedtodifferentiatetheirpracticesfromthosethatare

perceivedascommoninwhattheycall‘traditionalprogrammes’,whichareChilean

ELTuniversityprogrammesthatnormallyincorporateuptosixcoursesonphonetics

andgrammar.InExtract1below,Javier,ateachereducatoratProgrammeArefers

tohowhisownexperienceasatraineeunderanintensenormativeapproachdiffers

from his current view of English. In addition, he points out that his students

16MichaelQuinnPatton,QualitativeResearchandEvaluationMethods,3rdedn(ThousandOaks,CA:SagePublications,2002),p.230(emphasisinoriginal).17VirginiaBraunandVictoriaClarke,'UsingThematicAnalysisinPsychology',QualitativeResearchinPsychology,3:2(2006),77-101.

13

experience ‘shock’when they are told that they are not expected to sound like a

nativespeaker.

Extract1:

Javier: asteacherswewerealltrainedundertheRPNORMso:therewasno

choice, I mean, those who had little interest in American English,

FORGETIT,Imean,thisisRPandthat’sit[...]butapparentlyafterthe

shock [my students] seem very RELIEVED, they’re like ‘you know

what? I don’t need to worry about an accent, I mean, because I

already have one (1) what I need to do is communicate and be

intelligible’

Not only does Javier distance himself from the traditional view of training

pre-service teachers of English, but also shows resistance to the imposition of a

native-speakerbased formof Englishby stating thathis students ‘alreadyhavean

accent’asChileanspeakersofEnglish.Variationsfromastandardnorm,inhisview,

areconsideredtobeacceptableandevenencouragedforeffectivecommunication.

Thisperspectiveissharedandpromotedbyotherteachersfromtheprogramme.For

example, inExtract2belowCristina reflectsonhow featuresofBritishEnglishare

noticeableinherspeechbecauseofhertraining,butalsoevidencesanappropriation

ofEnglishasherown languageby incorporating featuresofChileanSpanish inher

useofEnglishtosuitherowncommunicationstyle:

Extract2:

Cristina: Oncesomeonesaid‘butyouhaveaBritishaccent’–NO(.)Idon’t

haveit(.)no,notatall(.)butMAYBEtherearesomethingsthat

youcanperceive,maybebecauseofthetrainingbutIthinkthatif

Ihad todefinemyEnglish Iwouldsay that it'sChileanEnglish

because (.)as thetimehaspassedby Ihave incorporatedsome

Chileanexpressions,soactuallyinmyclassesIsayMOVEPO

14

WhentalkingaboutherownEnglishintheextractabove,Cristinadescribesit

as ‘ChileanEnglish’becauseofthe inclusionofexpressionsofChileanSpanishsuch

as‘po’,whichisanon-standardintensifiercommonlyusedattheendofasentence.

AsthereisnotadirecttranslationforpoinEnglish,userslikeCristinafinditusefulto

employ it in frontof anaudience thatunderstands itsmeaning (e.g. her students,

hercolleagues,aChileanresearcher).ThedatacollectedatProgrammeAappearsto

suggestthattheteachersinthisprogrammesharethebeliefthatthepromotionof

‘Chilean English’ – as a form of reinforcement of the trainees’ own identity as

Chilean teachers –may act as a response to the traditional native-speakermodel

thatmostofthemfollowedduringtheirowntraining.Furthersupportforthisclaim

lies in the views of Silvia, an experienced teacher from this programme,who also

validates the idea of acquisition of ‘Chilean English’ among Chilean teachers of

English,asExtract3belowshows.

Extract3:

Silvia: [asregardsSpanish] whereareyougoingtostudyinChileorin

SpainorColombiaorMexico?whichaccentdoyoulikemore?it

DOESN’TMATTER (.) you can have a mix, you can speak with

yourownaccentand itwillnotmakeanydifferenceas longas

you speak accurately, clearly and fluently, and you use that

languageasatool,whateverlanguageyou'retryingtoteach[…]

so what difference does it make if you speak South African

English or, I don't know, New Zealand English? (.) or CHILEAN

ENGLISH(.)butdignifiedChileanEnglish

Even though Silvia’s view seems to be in line with the beliefs of her

colleagues presented in Extracts 1 and 2 above in relation to the validation and

promotionofateacher’sownformofEnglish,sheraisesafewissuesrelatedtoan

‘accurate’ use of the language that are not explicitly discussed by her peers. She

suggeststhatusersofEnglish,morespecificallyteachers,shouldbeallowedtomix

between different varieties of English, and use their own L1-influenced

pronunciation,providedthatthey‘speakaccurately,clearlyandfluently’.Thisviewis

15

reinforcedbyhercommentreferringtoa‘dignified’versionof‘ChileanEnglish’asan

acceptable form of English. The findings presented here reveal that teachers at

InstitutionA share thebelief that it is notnecessary to adopt a specific varietyof

EnglishinordertobecomeasuccessfuluserorateacherofEnglish.Whatismore,

theyopenlypromote, and in some cases, admit using, a localised formof English.

However, tensions still exist when it comes to describing what is and is not

acceptableintheuseofEnglish.

The analysis of the interview data also evidenced a strong influence of

experiencesincountrieswhereEnglishisanationallanguageontheirbeliefsabout

English.Inmostcases,teachersreportedamismatchbetweentheEnglishthatthey

learnt as trainees and the reality of English. Two of these teachersmade explicit

reference tocommunicationproblemsthat theyexperiencedbecause theirEnglish

was‘sobookish’duetotheirpre-servicetraining,whileatthesametimereporting

how being exposed to a multicultural community helped them develop an

awareness of how English is used in intercultural communication. Extract 4 below

presents Cristina’s view of the influence of her training on her communication in

EnglishinanEnglish-speakingcountry.

Extract4:

Cristina: IlearntlotsofrulesbutasItoldyouIrealisedthatIwasn'tfluentat

all so I think that itwas fullof rulessoyouhavetorespect thisand

that(.)butatthemomentthatIwasthereandhadtocommunicate

myEnglishwassobookish

These findings tend to challenge theoretical assumptions about teachers’

beliefs.Theemphasisonlinguisticaccuracythattheseteachersexperiencedintheir

training is generally rejected in their espousedbeliefs.However, it is necessary to

exploretheirbeliefsinpracticeinordertounderstandwhetherandhowtheseviews

about English arepromoted in the classroom, and theway inwhich long-standing

normativeviewsaboutlanguagelearningandteachingaredealtwith.Whatismore,

afurtherexplorationcanalsorevealhowwidespreadthenotionof‘ChileanEnglish’

is–andperhapshowwidelyencourageditis–intheELTprofessioninChile.

16

Conclusions

Researchon ELThas tended to state that there is little uptakeof the implications

that the global spread of English has had for the teaching of English in Expanding

Circlecontexts.Althoughteachereducationprogrammes inChilehavetraditionally

followed an approach that places the native-speaker as the norm in terms of

linguisticproficiency,thisstudyrevealsthatthebeliefsofteachereducatorsinChile

have started to change in favour of a more inclusive perspective, which places

emphasisoneffectivecommunicationoveraccuracy.However,itisimportanttobe

cautious in these claims, since contradictions and inconsistencies may occur in

practice,suchas the implementationofNative-speakerbasedtestingsystems,and

ideasofwhatconstitutesacceptablecommunicationinEnglish.

Theresultspresentedherearenotexpectedtobetakenasageneralisation

ofELT training inChile:on thecontrary, theyaremost likely tobe regardedasan

exception,consideringtheprogramme’simplementationofcurriculuminnovationin

recentyears.Whatismore,acomparisonbetweenthebeliefsandpracticesfoundin

this programme and in other initial teacher education programmes in Chile could

contributetoabetterunderstandingoftheviewsaboutEnglishthatarepromoted

orchallengedinthetrainingofEnglishteachersinthiscontext.

17

Bibliography

Barahona, Malba, English Language Teacher Education in Chile: A cultural

historicalactivitytheoryperspective(London:Routledge,2016)

Borg, Simon, Teacher Cognition and Language Education (London:

Bloomsbury,2015)

Braun,Virginia, andVictoriaClarke, 'Using thematic analysis inpsychology',

QualitativeResearchinPsychology,3:2(2006),77-101

Cogo, Alessia, andMartin Dewey,Analysing English as a Lingua Franca: A

Corpus-drivenInvestigation(LondonandNewYork:Continuum,2012)

Dewey,Martin,'Timetowakeupsomedogs!Shiftingthecultureoflanguage

inELT',inCurrentPerspectiveonthePedagogyofEnglishasaLinguaFranca,ed.by

YaseminBayyurtandSumruAkcan(Berlin:DeGruyterMouton,2014),pp.121-34

Fives, Helenrose, and Michelle M. Buehl, 'Spring cleaning for the "messy"

constructofteachers'beliefs:Whatarethey?Whichhavebeenexamined?Whatcan

theytellus?',inAPAEducationalPsychologyHandbook:Vol2.IndividualDifferences

and Contextual Factors, ed. by Karen R. Harris, Steve Grahan and Tim Urdan

(Washington,D.C:AmericanPsychologicalAssociation,2012),pp.471-99

Jenkins, Jennifer,English as a Lingua Franca:Attitudeand Identity (Oxford:

OxfordUniversityPress,2007)

Johnson, Karen E., and Paula R. Golombek, 'A sociocultural theoretical

perspectiveonteacherprofessionaldevelopment', inResearchonsecondlanguage

teachereducation:A socioculturalperspectiveonprofessionaldevelopment, ed.by

KEJohnsonandPRGolombek(NewYork:Routledge,2011),pp.1-12

Kachru, Braj B, 'Teaching World Englishes', in The Other Tongue: English

acrossCultures,ed.byBrajBKachru(UrbanaandChicago:UniversityofIllinoisPress,

1992)

Kumaravadivelu,Balasubramanian,LanguageTeacherEducationforaGlobal

Society: A modular model for knowing, analyzing, recognizing, doing, and seeing

(London:Routledge,2012)

Lortie,DanC.,School teacher: A sociological inquiry (Chicago:University of

ChicagoPress,1975)

18

Ministerio de Educación, 'Estándares Orientadores para Carreras de

Pedagogíaen Inglés', ed.byMinisteriodeEducación (Santiago:GobiernodeChile,

2014)

Pajares,M.Frank,'Teachers’beliefsandeducationalresearch:Cleaningupa

messyconstruct',Reviewofeducationalresearch,62:3(1992),307-32

Patton,MichaelQuinn,Qualitativeresearchandevaluationmethods.3rdedn

(ThousandOaks,CA:SagePublications,2002)

Young,TonyJohnstone,andSteveWalsh,'WhichEnglish?WhoseEnglish?An

investigation of 'non-native' teachers' beliefs about target varieties', Language,

CultureandCurriculum,23:2(2010),123-37

Zheng, Hongying, 'A review of research on EFL pre-service teachers’ beliefs and

practices',JournalofCambridgeStudies,4:1(2009)

Transcriptionconventions

(.) Pauseoflessthanasecond

(2) Approximatepauselengthinseconds

CAPS Strongemphasis

[author’scommentary] Author’scommentary

/Italics/ WordsandphrasesinalanguageotherthanEnglish

? Risingintonation(questions)

“ Quotations

[…]

Gapbetweenthesectionsofthetranscriptionthatwere

notincluded

19

‘NovicebutExpert?’:AstudyofAssistantLanguageTeachers(ALTs)in

Japan

HirokoTsujino

UniversityofSouthampton

In recent years, more and more English speakers, mainly from the West, teach

English in non-English-speaking countries and they are typically labeled as ‘native’

English-speaking teachers (NESTs). It is sometimes claimed thatoneof the reasons

behindthe languageeducationpolicywhichattempts toemployNESTs isbasedon

the ‘native speaker as expert’myth, or native-speakerism.1 Those foreign teachers

are usually called Native English Teachers (NETs) or Assistant Language Teachers

(ALTs) inJapan,teachingEnglish inall levelsoftheeducationsystem:fromnursery

school to university level, and in the private sector such as language schools for

adults. Many of them are believed to have no or little experience of teacher

education, but they tend to be treated as experts in theworkplace since they are

nativespeakersofthelanguage.Conversely,itisalsotruethatnon-experiencedALTs

canactasskillfulteachersbecauseoftheirownlanguagelearningexperiencesand

theirpersonality.2

This paper explores both the realities and themyths of ALTs in Japanwho

workatelementaryand/orsecondaryschoolsfromaqualitativenarrativeapproach,

utilizingmetaphors to investigate theALTs’ self-perceptionsabout theirprofession.

ExploringthegapsbetweenthestereotypicalimagesandtheactualpracticesofALTs

is away of investigating the process of language teachers’ identity formation and

howtheyactas‘experts’eventhoughmanyofthemarenovices.Indelineatingthe

process of teacher learning, the notion of ‘investment’ and both sociocultural and

1 Jack C Richards, 'Second Language Teacher Education Today', RELC journal, 39 (2008), 158-77;AdrianHolliday,TheStruggletoTeachEnglishasanInternationalLanguage (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2005).2HirokoTsujino,‘TeacherLearninginCommunitiesofPractice’(unpublishedPh.D.thesis,UniversityofSouthampton,forthcoming).

20

sociotemporalfactorsneedtobeconsidered.3Thisstudyhaspossibilitiesnotonlyto

promote the further understanding of the realities of the ALTs in Japan, but to

contributetotheprofessionaldevelopmentoflanguageteachersinwidercontexts.

Introduction

As FionaCopland,MonikaDavis, SueGarton, and SteveMann reported, there are

several different schemes to employ native English-speaking teachers (NESTs)

aroundtheworld.4TheyarewidelyutilisedtopromoteEnglish languageeducation

invariouscontextsandtogivelearnersopportunitiestocommunicateinthetarget

language.Nowadays,however,thereismuchdebateoverwhetherNESTsarereally

needed in language education and how we can judge the ‘nativeness’ of the

language. We should be aware of the conflicting views on NESTs such as ‘native

speaker fallacy’ and ‘native-speakerism,’ which stand on the belief that ‘the ideal

teacher of English is a native speaker’.5 Sometimes it can cause a serious social

justiceproblemasHoughtonandRiversdemonstrate:

‘Native-speakerismisprejudice,stereotypingand/ordiscrimination,typicallybyor

against foreign language teachers, on the basis of either being or not being

perceived and categorized as a native speaker of a particular language,which

can form part of a larger complex of interconnected prejudices including

ethnocentrism,racism,andsexism.Itsendorsementpositionsindividualsfrom

certain language groups as being innately superior to individuals from other

languagegroups.Thereforenative-speakeristpoliciesandpracticesrepresenta

fundamentalbreachofone’sbasichumanrights.’6

3RonDarvinandBonnyNorton,'IdentityandaModelofInvestmentinAppliedLinguistics',AnnualReviewofAppliedLinguistics,35(2015),36-56.4FionaCopland,MonikaDavis,SueGarton,andSteveMann,InvestigatingNESTSchemesaroundtheWorld:SupportingNEST/LETCollaborativePractices(London:BritishCouncil,2016).5RobertPhillipson,LinguisticImperialism(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1992);GeorgeBraine,NonnativeSpeakerEnglishTeachers(London:Routledge,2010),p.3.6StephanieAnnHoughton,andDamianJRivers,Native-SpeakerisminJapan:IntergroupDynamicsinForeignLanguageEducation(Bristol:MultilingualMatters,2013),p.14.

21

Additionally, the ‘native-speaker as expert’ syndrome can be observed in

various contexts since ‘untrained native-speakers teaching EFL overseas are

sometimescreditedwithanidentitytheyarenotreallyentitledto…findingthatthey

have a status and credibilitywhich theywould not normally achieve in their own

country’.7Becauseofthat,NESTsoftenmisstheopportunitiesofreasonableteacher

training for their professional development. In most cases, they tend to rely on

apprenticeshipmodelsof learningandevennoviceNESTsmustfit inthe individual

settingsbythemselves.8

Inthisarticle,Iexploretheself-perceptionsofALTs,whoareatypeofNESTs,

through the metaphoric expressions in the questionnaire answers to investigate

their actual status and positions at school education in Japan, revealing the

conceptual gaps between the myths and realities of ALTs that are still under-

researched.

ResearchBackground

EnglishistaughtasaforeignlanguageinJapan,likemanyothercountries.Thestatus

ofEnglishisextremelyhighanditisusuallyconsideredtohaveafunctionasagate-

keepingdevicebothinacademicsettingsandbusinesssectors.9Ingeneral,a‘foreign

language’ isasynonymof ‘English’ inJapananditseemsthatnoonewoulddoubt

thestatusofEnglishasthemostimportantlinguafrancatogaincompetitivenessin

the globalised world.10 English might be considered a multilingua franca at some

institutions and it is one of the most important subjects in school education.11

Nevertheless,mostpeopleuseJapanesefordailycommunicationandsomemaysay

there isnourgentnecessity touseEnglish in Japan.Even though Japanesepeople

usenumerous loanwords fromEnglish, somepeople say that they are ‘allergic’ to

English.12 Indeed,asanEnglish teacheratapublicseniorhighschool, I sometimes

7Richards,‘SecondLanguageTeacherEducation’,p.168.8JeanLaveandEtienneWenger,SituatedLearning:LegitimatePeripheralParticipation(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1991).9DavidGraddol,EnglishNext(London:BritishCouncil,2006).10RyukoKubota,'TheImpactofGlobalizationonLanguageTeachinginJapan',inGlobalizationandLanguageTeaching,ed.byDavidBlockandDeborahCameron(London:Routledge,2002),pp.13-28.11JenniferJenkins,'RepositioningEnglishandMultilingualisminEnglishasaLinguaFranca',EnglishesinPractice,2(2015),49-85.12RyukoKubota,'IdeologiesofEnglishinJapan',WorldEnglishes,17(1998),295-306.

22

encountered studentswho suggested that they do not need English because they

are happy to live in their island countrywithout having contactswith the outside

world, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as ‘galapagosization’.13 Of course,

others are eager to use English as a useful communication tool to broaden their

views,sothereareconflictingperceptionsaboutEnglish,suchasglobalisationversus

galapagosization.14

Under these mixed realities in English language education, the ministry of

education, culture, sports, science and technology (MEXT) released the ‘English

education reform plan corresponding to globalization’ in 2014, and it showed

intentions of making efforts to expand placement of ALTs, promote utilization of

community members (formulate guidelines for such external staff use, etc.), and

strengthen and enrich ALT training programs. From my own experience as an

English teacher, I came across many issues ALTs are facing, for instance, the

problematic status of ALTs as ‘just assistants’, the various kinds of employment

systemsfromthegovernment-sponsoredwell-paidfull-timepositiontoapart-time

despatchedcontractwhichneedstoberenewedannually,andlimitedorimpractical

teachertrainingopportunities.15

Inrelationtothenotionofnative-speakerism,whichisdefinedas‘apervasive

ideology within ELT, characterized by the belief that “native-speaker” teachers

represent a “Western culture” from which spring the ideals both of the English

language and of English language teaching methodology’, there seems to be a

tendencyformanyoftheALTstocomefrom‘theEnglish-speakingWest’asTable1

shows.16

13AkiraSuehiroandShigetoSonoda,‘GalapagosizationofJapaneseSociety:日本社会のガラパゴス化を考える',学術の動向GakujutsunoDoukou,17(2012),60-65.14YukikoMiyazaki,'ForeignLanguageEducationinJapanintheglobalisedworld:国際化・グローバル化社会における日本の外国語教育についての考察',日本英語英文学NihonEigoEibungaku,24(2014),45-71.15MEXT,FiveProposalsandSpecificMeasuresforDevelopingProficiencyinEnglishforInternationalCommunication[ProvisionalTranslation],(2011)<http://www.mext.go.jp/component/english/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2012/07/09/1319707_1.pdf>[Accessed:29/05/2017].16Holliday,TheStruggletoTeachEnglish,p.6.

23

Table1:ThenumberofJETALTsbycountry(CLAIR)17

Fromthestudents’perspective,sometimestheyshowapreferenceforwhite

teachers and there is a belief that ‘the idealized non-Japanese EFL teacher is a

“nativespeaker”ofEnglishfromtheU.S.etc.’18Ontheotherhand,however,some

students see that both local English teachers and NESTs are equally-equipped in

termsoftheirteaching.19

Looking closely at the ALTs in Japan, how they perceive themselves in the

school context is still largely unknown. Therefore, I invited ALTs in different

employment systems to investigate the real pictures of ALTs through metaphor

analysis.

Method:Metaphoranalysis

17TheCouncilofLocalAuthoritiesforInternationalRelations(CLAIR)<http://jetprogramme.org/en/>[Accessed:09/09/2017].18DamianJ.RiversandAndrewS.Ross,'IdealizedEnglishTeachers:TheImplicitInfluenceofRaceinJapan',JournalofLanguage,Identity&Education,12(2013),321-39(p.336).19MasatakaKasai,Jeong-AhLee,andSoonhyangKim,'SecondaryEFLStudents’PerceptionsofNativeandNonnativeEnglish-SpeakingTeachersinJapanandKorea',AsianEFLJournal,13(2011),272-300.

24

ThefocusisputonthemetaphorsprovidedbytheALTsbecausetheycanbeseenas

ausefulwaytounderstandhowALTs‘constructrepresentationsofthemselvesand

theirexperience’.20ToexploreALTs’self-perceptionsthroughconceptualmetaphors

explained by metaphoric linguistic expressions, a questionnaire survey was

conducted,followingsnowballsampling.Ipreparedanonlinesurveywithquestions

about biographical information, educational background, teaching and teacher

trainingexperiences,andtherespondent’sperceptionsaboutthejobasanALTand

languageeducation in Japan,with respondents able to take asmuch timeas they

want to complete. I set an open-ended question at the very end, asking them to

thinkaboutametaphorandcompletethesentence:‘AnALTis…because….’.Thirty-

twopeople(16maleand16female,20ofthemareintheir20s)fromtheUS(14),

Australia(7),NewZealand(4),Canada(3),theUK(3),andSouthAfrica(1)whohad

work experience as an ALT in Japan participated in the Internet-based survey in

2014.21Allthedata, includingeightsemi-structuredfollow-upinterviewsviaSkype,

werecloselyexaminedtosupplementthereliabilityofthefindings.22

AccordingtoGerardSteen,metaphorshavethreebasicfunctions: linguistic,

conceptual,andcommunicative.23Metaphorscanbeusedto fill lexicalgaps in the

language system by naming, they offer conceptual frameworks for mutual

understanding by framing, and produce an alternative perspective on a particular

topic in amessage by changing. The ALTs’ ‘underlying attitudes and beliefs about

both what they teach (the subject) and about stable, characterising features of

institutional learning environments (e.g. teacher, learner, classroom, lesson, book)

canbeinferredfromtheiruseofmetaphoricallanguage’.24Myexperienceasalocal

20ClaireKramsch,'MetaphorandtheSubjectiveConstructionofBeliefs', inBeliefsaboutSLA,ed.byPaulaKalajaandAnaMariaFerreiraBarcelos(Springer,2003),pp.109-28(p.125).21HirokoTsujino,'AssistantLanguageTeachersinJapaneseSchools:IssuesofLanguageandProfessionalIdentity'(unpublishedMAdissertation,UniversityofSouthampton,2014).22SonyaLArmstrong,HopeSmithDavis,andEricJPaulson,'TheSubjectivityProblem:ImprovingTriangulationApproachesinMetaphorAnalysisStudies',InternationalJournalofQualitativeMethods,10(2011),151-63.23GerardSteen,'TheParadoxofMetaphor:WhyWeNeedaThree-DimensionalModelofMetaphor',MetaphorandSymbol,23(2008),213-41.24IanMcGrath,'UsingInsightsfromTeachers'Metaphors',Journalofeducationforteaching,32(2006),303-17(p.306).

25

English teacher and familiarity with the Japanese ELT community helped me

interprettheanswersprovidedbyALTs.

Inthisarticle,Iputthemetaphoricexplanationsinthreecategories(modified

from Lynn Thomas and Catherine Beauchamp) based on howALTs conceptualised

themselvesthroughtheirworkasanALT:1)positive,2)negative,and3)neutralself-

perceptions.25 Actual voices from ALTs through conceptual metaphors were

interpreted to address both existing andpotential problemsofALT systemand to

promotebetterunderstandingsoftherealitiesofALTsinJapan.

Resultsanddiscussion:ALTs’self-perceptionsthroughmetaphors

Several patterns can be observed in the self-declaredmetaphors by ALTs such as

animals(bird,tortoise),objects(clay,canvas,torch,taperecorder,CDs),foods(beer,

chocolate,salt/seasonings),places(pointofculturalinterest,oasis),resources(book,

Wikipedia), and other persons (student, child, comedian). Table 2 shows the

summaryoftheresults,puttingthemetaphorsprovidedbytherespondentsineach

category.

Among the 28 metaphoric expressions, 13 positive, 7 negative, and 8

emotionally neutral metaphors were observed. Here, ‘neutral’ means that the

metaphorcanbeinterpretedinbothpositiveandnegativeways,dependingonthe

situation. Interestingly, the percentage of using metaphors of non-living objects

(75%) ishigher than thatof living thingssuchasanimalsandotherpersons (25%).

Thefollowinglistsaretheanswersputonthequestionnaire.

25LynnThomasandCatherineBeauchamp,'UnderstandingNewTeachers’ProfessionalIdentitiesthroughMetaphor',TeachingandTeacherEducation,27(2011),762-69.

26

“AnALTis…” Positive+(multipleresponses)

Negative–(multipleresponses)

Neutral±

Animals • atortoise • nativebirdchosenbyacuckoo• abirdinacage

Foods • salt/seasonings

• thesprinklesonacupcake• aglassofbeer• aboxofchocolates

Objects • atorchalongadarkpath• incrediblyusefulandnecessarytool(2)• adoortotheworld• livingartefact

• ataperecorder(2)• afreshcoatofpaintonabrokendowncar

• ablankcanvas• yourfavouriteband’sCD• clay• abookwithagenericcover

Places • apointofculturalinterest• anoasis

Resources • resourceforauthenticEnglishpronunciation,conversationpractice,andcommunicationexperience(2)

• Wikipedia

Otherpersons • astudent• aguide

• achildinapoliceuniform• acomedian

Table2:ALTs’self-perceptionsexpressedinmetaphors

[Neutralexpressions]

• AnALTisthesprinklesonacupcakebecausewedonotgetenoughtimeto

digintothecontentofEnglishbutwedomakethecurriculumpretty!

• A glass of beer although you don't actually *need* one, it's great to have

one.

• BeinganALTislikeaboxofchocolatesbecauseyouneverknowwhatyou're

goingtoget.

27

• A blank canvas... They work with so many people who all try to create a

differentpainting.

• An ALT isa bookwith a generic cover, it looks like the same as any other

book, but thosewhoarewilling toopen it up andengagewith it,will find

that it is unique, filledwith depth, and a valuable resource fromwhich to

learn.

• An ALT is your favorite band's CD because sometimes they are good or

sometimestheyarebad.ButtheyareanOKsubstitutefortherealthing.

• AnALTisclaybecauseaschoolcanmakeanALTintomanythings.However,

what type of things the ALT can be also depends on the skill level of the

individualALT.

• An ALT is likeWikipedia, because they know many things about different

subjects regarding culture and language, but they aren't necessarily an

authorityonthesubject.

Examiningtheseneutralexpressions,weseethattheyconnotebothpositive

andnegativeaspects.Someinterestingmetaphorsreferringtoakindofedibleitem

implythatsometimeswecanenjoythem,butnotalways.Acommonconceptioncan

be seen here: that the existence of ALTs at schools are something additional and

theycanbeutilised inaflexiblewayaccordingtothe localteachers’andstudents’

needs.Moreover,notonly theexternal factors,but theALTs’personalqualitiesas

teachers or the motivational factors of different stakeholders can influence the

dynamicsofeachsetting.

[Positiveperceptions]

• AnALTisanoasisbecauseheorshecancreateeducationalactivitieswhich

breathe life into studying and defy the monotonous trudging pace of

conventionalEnglishclasses.

• AnALTislikeatortoise,slowbutimportantmovementsandverylucky

28

• An ALT is like salt/seasonings, because their presence in the dish is

attempting to balance the ingredients andmake the dish recognizable for

whatitis.

• A student because reciprocal learning constantly takes place inside and

outsidetheclassroom.Ilearnsomuchfrommystudents.Iteachandinthe

processIambeingtaught.

• AnALTisatorchalongadarkpath.Welighttheway,butweneedtobeused

inordertobeeffective.

• An ALT is a living artifact because each one can provide a wellspring of

information about his or her native country, and there always exists the

opportunityforlive,meaningfulinteraction.

• AnALTisanincrediblyusefulandnecessarytooltoaidJapanesestudentsin

learningEnglishbecauseoftheunevenqualityofEnglisheducationinJapan

withoutus.

• AnALTisadoortotheworldbecausetheyteachstudentstonotfearwhatis

outsideofthebox.

Nearly half of the respondents express that ALTs can benefit students by

guiding them and providing useful resources to learn English. According to their

answers,itispossibletosaythattheyunderstandthepositionofALTsascreatorsof

thecontactzone,wherestudentscanexperiencetherealisationsofdiversevalues

and things from the outside world. Interestingly, they show a range of ideas in

numerous categories from symbolic explanations to the practical ones. More

noteworthyisthefactthatthereisoneALTwhoperceivesherselfasbothastudent

andateacher.Thisreciprocal learningenvironmentwouldbetheidealsituationto

achievemoreproductivedevelopmentnotonlyforALTsbutforotherteachersand

students.

[Negativeperceptions]

29

• AnALT is thatnaivebird chosenby thecuckoo, for itnurtures to the same

degree as other protectors and yet receives not, the rewards given to the

others.

• AnALT isabird ina cage becausewe rarely get to "fly" i.e. actually teach

Englishaswecameheretodo.Toooftenwehavetoplaysecondfiddle to

JTEs who sometimes have an inadequate understanding of English and

teachingmethodologies,andduetotheconstraintsoftheridiculoustesting

system we do not have so many classes because teachers must focus on

crammingendlessamountsofuselessvocabularyandgrammarpatternsinto

thestudents.

• AnALT is also likea child in a police uniform, because he/she is not taken

seriouslyandisnotnecessarilyaqualifiedprofessional.

• Likeataperecorderbecausemostofthetimewejustrepeatthings

• An ALT is live tape recorder because students sometimes don't [take] us

seriouslyasteachers.

• Afreshcoatofpaintonabrokendowncarbecauseattheendofthedaythe

engine won't run (no one REALLY teaches English), the brakes are useless

(studentsendupbeingwayovertheirhead),andit'sjustatricktoconvince

peopletobuy(lookatus,we'reINTERNATIONAL!).

• AnALTmustbeacomedianbecausethisjobiscertainlyajoke.

Turning to the negative conceptualisations, thosemetaphors represent the

limitations of the work as an ALT. Some of them expressed the dilemma of not

havingenoughrightsandauthoritytomakedecisionstoteachinthewaytheywould

like to. One of the reasons of this might be because of the ALTs’ status as a

‘newcomer’ and the difficulties of getting legitimated participation in the

communitiesofpracticewhichmaypreventthemfromtakinginwardtrajectoriesfor

30

professional development.26 Sometimes they end up having the status of just an

‘edutainer’,notaneducator.27

Aswecansee,itispossibletosaythatALTs’self-perceptionswouldfitinthe

wholerangefroma‘humantape-recorder’to‘usefulresources’orafullyresponsible

teacher. Evenwhentheyarestillnovice,someALTsareconfidentenoughtotake

responsibilitiestoteachstudentsasanexpertbasedontheirownlanguagelearning

experiences observing teachers’ work as a student, a phenomenon known as the

‘apprenticeshipofobservation’.28

Furthermore, the ‘native speaker as expertmyth’mightwork in a positive

way because many of the students may support this view since ‘students’

perceptions of the teachers’ instructionmaybe highly situational. In otherwords,

students’perceptionsmaydependonthecontextualandpersonalparticularitiesof

both the environment and the teacher, such as types of instruction, curriculum

goals, relationshipsbetween teacherandstudent,and idiosyncrasiesorquirksand

otherindividualcharacteristicsoftheteacherinaparticularschoolcontext’.29

Asmanyoftheparticipantsmentioned,‘everysituationisdifferent’anditis

not that uncommon for novice ALTs to work as experts in school settings. The

working environment and the ALTs’ mode of participation in school communities

seemtomakeadifferenceintheirself-perceptionsabouttheirjob.

Conclusion

Asnotedabove,metaphor is auseful tool toexplore language teachers’ identities

andthewaysinwhichtheyconceptualisethemselvesinaneducationalsetting.30In

26LaveandWenger,SituatedLearning;EtienneWenger,CommunitiesofPractice:Learning,Meaning,andIdentity,LearninginDoing:Social,Cognitive,andComputationalPerspectives(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1998).27LauraTaylor,'ThePersonalandProfessionalDevelopmentofNoviceEnglishTeachersWorkinginSouthKorea',inFacesofEnglishLanguageEducation:Teachers,Students,Pedagogy.,ed.byL.L.C.Wong,andKenHyland,(London:Routledge,2017),pp.245-259.28DanCLortie,SchoolTeacher:ASociologicalInquiry(Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,1975).29 Kasai, Lee, and Kim, ‘Students’ Perceptions of Native andNonnative English-Speaking Teachers’,p.292.30 Rebecca L Oxford et al, 'Clashing Metaphors About Classroom Teachers: Toward a SystematicTypology for the Language Teaching Field', System, 26 (1998), 3-50;Martin Cortazzi and Lixian Jin,'Bridges to Learning:Metaphors of Teaching, Learning and Language', inResearching andApplyingMetaphor,ed.byLynneCameronandGrahamLow(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,1999),pp.149-76.

31

thisstudy,ItriedtoinvestigatethediversecharacterisingfeaturesofALTsinvarious

contexts and their self-perceptions especially about their actual status and their

realitiesintheclassroom.OneoftheparticipantALTssaid,‘[a]nALTisaresourcefor

studentsandteachers inteachingandlearninganother languagebecause[in]their

role of being an assistant, ALTs should be knowledgeable of the target language.

However,becauseALTsareassistants,theyshouldnotbeexpectedtohaveasmuch

credential [sic] asa teacher to takeon themain teaching rolewithin theTeacher-

Assistant relationship’. The narrative suggests an unfortunate reality, that the

potentialofthisparticularALTcannotfullyutilised.

Needlesstosay,personalinvestmentwouldbenecessarytogainexpertisein

teaching.31However,weneedtostepforwardtocreatemediationalspaceformore

productiveteacherlearning.Therearemanyobstaclestoovercome,includinglegal

issues about the teacher qualification system, but we can start by fostering

camaraderieamongALTsandlocalteachersbyofferingALTslegitimateparticipation

in communities of practice around them. I personally believe that theALT system

canbeimprovedwhenthegovernmentandthelocalteacherschangetheirmind-set

and invite ALTs to participate as ‘teaching partners’ or ‘co-teachers’.32 To do so,

further research studies need to be done to examine each stakeholder from

differentangles.

31RonDarvin,andBonnyNorton,'IdentityandaModelofInvestmentinAppliedLinguistics',AnnualReviewofApplied Linguistics, 35 (2015), 36-56;AmyTsui, 'DistinctiveQualitiesof Expert Teachers',TeachersandTeaching,15(2009),421-39.32Copland,Davis,GartonandMann,InvestigatingNESTSchemes.

32

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35

ListeningthroughaGenre-BasedApproachUsingNarrativeTexts

GracielaArizmendiGonzalez

UniversityofSouthampton

Morelisteningresearchintegratingcognitiveandsocialdimensionsisnecessaryand

so this study investigated learners’ listening in a Mexican university context to

discoverhowlearners’listeningoccursafterhavingreceivedgenre-basedinstruction.

Two groups, a control and an experimental one, participated in this quasi-

experimental design. Data was gathered through a listening task followed by

stimulated recalls at two different times, before and after the instruction. The

analysis was iterative via open and axial coding. Findings revealed how learners’

listeningwentbeyondcognitiveprocessesbyincorporatingsociocontextualelements

whilelistening.Moreover,genre-basedinstructionhadapositiveimpactonlearners’

listeningperformancealthoughresultsshouldbeconsideredwithcautionduetothe

smallsamplesize.

Introduction

Listening is an abstract and difficult skill to research and to teach in a second

languagelearningcontext.1Itsabstractqualityliesinitsephemeralnaturebecauseit

occurs intimeratherthan inspace.2Listenerscannotgobackandverifywhatwas

said, as is possible in reading.3 In the classroom, teachers assume that learners

absorb the second language similar to the way they acquire their first language,

withoutanyhelporinstructionabouthowtolisten.4Thus,listeninginthiscontextis

eithertakenforgranted, limitedand/orneglected.5Listeningexercisesareusedto

introduceagrammarpoint,toperform,ordevelopotherlearningskills.

1JosephSiegel,‘ExploringL2ListeningInstruction:ExaminationsofPractice’,ELTJournal,68:1(2014),22-40.2MichaelYeldham,‘TechniquesforResearchingL2Listeners’,System,66(2017),13-26.3AmberBloomfieldetal.,‘WhatMakesListeningDifficult?FactorsAffectingSecondLanguageListeningComprehension,’CenterforAdvancedStudiesofLanguages(2010).4NobukoOsada,‘ListeningComprehensionResearch:AbriefReviewofthePastThirtyYears’,Dialogue,3(2004),53-66.5LarryVandergriftandChristineC.M.Goh,TeachingandLearningSecondLanguageListening:MetacognitioninAction(UK:RoutledgeTaylorandFrancis,2012),p.6;GaoLiping,‘AnExplorationof

36

Thepresenceoflisteningactivitiesisnotalwayswiththeaimoflearninghow

tolistenorhowtodeveloplearners’listeningskills.6Learnersoftenhavedifficulties,

cannot completely understand the message received, and often feel stressed,

anxiousanddemotivated.7Forall thosefeaturesand issues, listeninghascaptured

theattentionofresearcherswhoacknowledgethattohelplearnersbecomebetter

listeners,itisnecessarytounderstandtheirlisteningskills.8Then,teacherscangive

learners adequate assistance by teaching strategies that help themmanage their

comprehensionproblems.9Thus,thefollowingsectionpresentsdifferentpedagogies

whichhavebeenproposedtohelplearnersdeveloptheirlisteningskillsforeffective

listening.At theendof the section, I remark that listening researchandpedagogy

have not shown conclusive findings from a cognitive dimension and that research

integratingthecognitiveandsocialdimensionscanshownewinsights.

Literaturereview

The most common and current pedagogy is teaching individual strategies in an

explicitway.10Strategytraininghasamethodtoteach‘howto’listenandhasshown

positiveeffectsonlearners’listeningskills.11However,listeningstrategiestaughtare

notalwaysusefulforalllearners,activitiesorcontextsandsituationswherelearners

areexposedtolistening.

Other scholars suggest that learners learn how to listen through

metacognitiveinstruction(MI)centredonthelearner.12ThesescholarsthinkthatMI

is a better approach for learners’ listening comprehension rather than teaching

individual listeningstrategies. InMI, learnersareguidedtoraiseawarenessofhow

to listen and know the strategies that are useful according to their needs. Later,

L2ListeningProblemsandTheirCauses’(unpublishedPhDthesis,UniversityofNottingham,2014),p.5.6VandergriftandGoh,TeachingandLearning,p.9.7SuzzaneGraham,‘Self-efficacyandAcademicListening’,JournalofEnglishforAcademicPurposes,10:2(2011),113-117.8Yeldham,‘Techniques’,p.13.9AbbasPourhoseinGilakjaniandNarjesBanouSabouri,‘Learners’ListeningComprehensionDifficultiesinEnglishLanguageLearning:aLiteratureReview’,EnglishLanguageTeaching,9:6(2016),123-133.10LarryVandergriftandMarziehH.Tafaghodtari,‘TeachingL2LearnersHowtoListenDoesMakeaDifference:AnEmpiricalStudy,’LanguageLearning,60:2(2010),470-497.11JosephSiegel,‘ThoughtsonL2ListeningPedagogy,’ELTJournal,65:3(2011),318-321.12VandergriftandTafaghodtari,‘TeachingL2Learners’,p.471.

37

learnersbecomestrategicandtransferorapplystrategiesinotherreallifecontexts

and situations.13 However, listening MI is in its infancy.14 Current research has

focused on investigating the effectiveness of themetacognitive instruction per se

ratherthanondiscoveringthelearners’proceduresusedwhilelistening.

Anothercurrentpedagogysuggeststhatlearnersreceivemuchexposuretoa

great variety of different comprehensible and enjoyable texts, i.e. extensive

listening.15However,thispedagogyofextensiveexposureorpracticeisnotsufficient

formanylearners.16ThelengthoftimeofexposurealearnerhasinanL2contextis

not at all comparable to the number of hours a native speaker has in the L1

context.17 Learnersmay fossilizemisunderstandings.18 Teachers could be regarded

onlyastextprovidersratherthanteachinglearnershowtolisten.19

Furthermore,inextensivelistening,learnersdonotlearnwhatandhowthey

should practice or which texts features to listen to in and beyond the classroom,

especially in modern times, when access to listening materials is spread through

differentmeans of mass communication such as TV and the internet.20 Texts are

diverse withmany different characteristics such as language used, structures and

purposesaccording to the context.Wecannotguarantee that learners know ‘how

to’listenwhentheyareengagedinlisteningtothosetexts.

Other scholars incorporate the social aspect by suggesting the teaching of

structural and functional features of texts.21 They say that learnerswho know the

textsstructural featureswouldbeabletoanticipate incoming informationanduse

13Ibid,p.472.14ChristineGoh,‘MetacognitiveInstructionforSecondLanguageListeningDevelopment:Theory,PracticeandResearchImplications’,RELC,39:2(2008),188-213;JeremyCross,‘MetacognitioninL2Listening:ClarifyingInstructionalTheoryandPractice,’TesolQuarterly,49:4(2015),883-892.15WillyA.RenandyaandThomasS.C.Farrell,‘”Teacher,TheTapeisTooFast!”ExtensiveListeninginELT’,ELTJournal,65:1(2011),52-59.16Yeldham,‘Techniques’,p.13.17OwenG.MordauntandDanielW.Olson,‘Listen,Listen,ListenandListen:BuildingaComprehensionCorpusandMakingitComprehensible,’EducationalStudies,36:3(2010),249-258.18Siegel,‘L2ListeningPedagogy’,pp.318-319.19Ibid,p.319.20Ibid,318.21ElvisWagnerandPaulD.Toth,‘TeachingandTestingL2SpanishListeningUsingScriptedvs.UnscriptedTexts’,ForeignLanguageAnnals,47:3(2014),404-422.

38

meaningful skills.22Besides,Ridgwayconsiders that teaching from texts is abetter

pedagogythanstrategyinstruction.23

Learningfromtextsisagenre-basedpedagogy(GBP)thatemergedinwriting

skills and goes beyond cognitive perspectives. GBP has not only been used for

teachingwritingabilities,butalsoforreadingandspeaking.24Furthermore,itcould

alsobeused for listeningskills.25TextorGBPcentreson texts’orgenres’ features

and from three different schools: (a) English for Specific Purposes, (b) Systemic

FunctionalLinguisticsand(c)TheNewRhetoric.

Genretheory

InEnglish forSpecificPurposes (ESP),students learnthestructureofand language

usedinwrittentextsthattheywillneedtoperformeffectivelyinacademiccontexts.

InSystemicFunctionalLinguistics(SFL),studentsnotonlylearnthestructureofthe

textsandthepurposetheyconvey,butalsothelinguisticfunctionsandreasonswhy

peoplespeakastheydoinothercontextsandsituations. InSFL, learners learnthe

text’s features through a pedagogical cycle involving five stages: (a) setting the

context, (b) deconstructing a text (c) constructing a text collaboratively, (d)

constructingatextindependently,andthen(e)linkingrelatedtexts.Theinstruction

is scaffolded going from collaborative to independent learning in a gradual and

explicit way. For example, (a) teachers contextualize the text situation by asking

learnersaseriesofquestionssuchaswhothewritersareandwhatthepurposeof

the text is; (b) learners analyse thewritten language used, the purpose conveyed

and theway language isorganizedor structured; (c) learners together construct a

22Vandergrift&Goh,TeachingandLearning,p.409.23TonyRidgway,‘ListeningStrategies—IBegYourPardon?’,ELTJournal,54:2(2000),179-185.24MalahatShabaniMinaabadandFarhangFallaheKhoshkholgh,‘InvestigatingtheEffectofGenre-BasedPedagogyonEnglishforSpecificPurposeLearners’ReadingComprehension’,WorldAppliedSciencesJournal,18:2(2012),251-60;JarunthawatchaiWisut,‘AProcess-GenreApproachtoTeachingSecondLangageWriting:TheoreticalPerspectiveandImplementationinaThaiUniversitySetting’(unpublishedPhDthesis,UniversityofSouthampton,2010);JoseDavidHerazoRivera,‘UsingaGenre-BasedApproachToPromoteOralCommunicationinTheColombianEnglishClassroom’,ColombiaAppliedLinguistics,14:2(2012),109-126.25MinZhou,‘SuitabilityofGenreApproachinChina:HowEffectiveisitinTermsofSLAforChineseUniversityStudentstoImprovetheirListeningSkills?’,InternationalJournalofHumanitiesandSocialScienceInvention,3:6(2014),57-63.25KenHyland,‘GenrePedagogy:Language,LiteracyandL2WritingInstruction’,JournalofSecondLanguageWriting,16(2007),148-164(pp.154-159).

39

text based on its features; (d) learners can construct another text independently.

Finally,(e)learnerslinkgainedknowledgetoothertextsandcontexts.26

In the New Rhetoric, also known as the Compositional School in the USA,

learningorteachingalanguageisnotitsmaininterest,insteaditistherhetoricused

topersuadepeoplesuchasinpolitics.However,scholarsfromthisperspectiveargue

that teaching from texts is unnecessary.27 For example, regarding ‘narratives’,

learnersexposethemselvestonarrationsineverydaylifeespecially inthelearners’

firstlanguageandsoitisassumedlearnersarefamiliarwiththenarrativefeatures.

However,thesescholarsdonotconsiderthatacquiringfeaturesoftexts/genreinan

L1 is different from learning the texts’ features in a second language.We cannot

assume that learners know thenarrative text features,why texts areproducedas

theyareandsomeoftheirvariations.Thereisnoguaranteethatlearnersknowthat

textvariationsdependonthecontextandsituationwheretheywereproducedand

towhomtextsaredirected.

Duetotheconsiderationsthat (a) there isnotadefiniteconsensusonhow

learners can become more effective listeners; (b) positive results from genre

instructionhavebeenfoundinwritingandreadingresearchatuniversitylevelinthe

UK and Australia; and research about listening from texts is scarce, I investigate

listeningfromagenre-basedperspective.28

The investigation aims to discover learners’ behaviours while listening and

theimpactofgenreinstructiononlearners’listeningskills.Tothatend,theresearch

questionsunderinvestigationare:

(1) HowdoL2learnersatuniversitylevellistenafterhavingreceivedinstruction

fromtexts?

(2) Whatistheimpactoftheinstructiononlearners’listeningskills?

27AdeliaCarstens,‘TheEffectivenessofGenre-BasedApproachesinTeachingAcademicWritingSubject-SpecificVersusCross-DisciplinaryEmphases’(unpublishedPhDthesis,UniversityofPretoria,2009),p.6.28BahadorSadeghi,MohammedTaghiHassani,andHessamNoory,‘TheEffectofTeachingDifferentGenresonListeningComprehensionPerformanceofIranianEFLStudents’,JournalofLanguageTeachingandResearch,5:3(2014),517-523(p.517);Thepresentauthor(GracielaArizmendi)isacurrentPhDstudentinModernLanguagesattheUniversityofSouthampton.Emailgag2g13@soton.ac.uk.

40

Methodsanddesign

In listening, most studies have investigated learners’ cognitive processes and

strategies using questionnaires and tests. Although these techniques are useful to

haveestimationsof listeners’progress, totesthypothesisandtogeneralizeresults

topopulations,theydonotshowustheindividuallearner’saccountsoftheinternal

procedures used while listening. To date, little qualitative research exists on

understanding learners’ listening skills. Hence, the significance of this study lies in

providingabroaderpictureof the listeningabilityby integrating learners’ listening

performanceandlisteningskillsaftertheimplementationofgenrebasedpedagogy.

ThestudyisanuntreatedControlGroupdesigncontainingdependentpre-andpost-

testdata.Thistypeofdesignisalsoknownasthenon-equivalentcomparisongroup

design.29Thistypeofdesigninvolvestwogroups.

Groups,materialsandgenre-basedinstruction

An Experimental (EG) and a Control Group (CG) ofMexican students participated.

TheywereregisteredinthefourthsemesterlearningEnglishatintermediatelevelas

partoftheirlanguagebachelordegree.TheCGreceivedexposuretoitsregularclass

hours. The EG received genre-based instruction during six thirty-minute sessions.

The texts were narrated film plots created in audio form as model texts for the

intervention.Theyincludedfourparts:

(1) orientation(introduction):definedasthecontextwheretheactionshappened

andthecharactersaredescribed.

(2) problem:thecomplicationsandstruggleswithinthetext.

(3) resolution:thesolutionstotheproblems.

(4) evaluation:theimportanceofthestoryforthenarrator,(anopinion).

TheSFLpedagogicalcyclewasadaptedforlisteningpurposesasfollows:

(1) settingthecontextthroughaseriesofquestions

29WilliamR.Shadish,ThomasD.Cook,andDonaldT.Campbell,ExperimentalandQuasiExperimentalDesignsforGeneralizedCausalInference(HoughtonMifflinCompany,2002),p.136.

41

(2) analysisoftheorallanguagelistened,structure,andsociocontextualfeatures

(3) analysisoforaltextvariations

(4) theindividual(re)constructionoforaltextsintheclassroom.

As we cannot take for granted learners’ genre knowledge from language to

language, a listening task using a narrative genre was designed, applied and

completedintwolanguageversionsasfollows:

(1) Englishand(2)SpanishintheEG

(1) Spanishand(2)EnglishintheCG.

Datacollectionandanalysis

The taskswere used as a stimulus to ask learnerswhat theywere thinkingwhen

listeningtothetextsothatIcouldhaveaccesstotheirthoughtsviathequalitative

technique called stimulated recall (SR). SR is adequate to discover and explore

mentalprocessesandstrategiesinaccessiblethroughobservation.30Learnershadat

their disposal the text, the task and the recorderwhich they couldmanipulate as

theyneededandwhentheyrememberedwhatoccurredintheirmindsorwhatthey

didwhilelistening.

The qualitative data was recorded, transcribed, uploaded to NVivo 11, a

ComputerAidedQualitativeDataAnalysis Software (CAQDAS),31 toorganize it and

conduct the analysis. NVivo was useful to code data in categories and then in

themes.Theanalysiswasiterativeinanabductiveway;i.e.inductivecodesemerged

from recurrent topics and deductive ones based on existing listening processes,

strategies and genre features. The qualitative data gathered from the EG learners

wascomparedtotheCG’sdatabeforeandaftertheexperiment.Duetowordlimit

inthisarticle,IwillpresentfindingsinrelationtosomeparticipantsfromtheEG.

Findings

HowdoesaL2learnerlistenafterthegenre-basedinstruction?

30Yeldham,‘Techniques’,p.18.31CristinaSilverandAnnLewins,UsingSoftwareinQualitativeResearch:AStep-by-StepGuide(London:SagePublicationsLtd,2014),p.1.

42

First, before the experiment, it is a reality that for some learners’ genre

knowledge, regarding the structure of the text, was unknown although they did

understanditscontentinSpanish.

Samuel: […] When I heard the other one [Spanish version], I understood it

obviously hundred per cent and although I did not know how to

organizeitIdidknowwhathewassaying.

After the intervention, ‘Raymond’, ‘Jose’, and ‘Samuel’ used strategies

relatedtotexts’featurestoconstructthetextinasequentialway.Theylistenedto

the language used and identified whether it was an introduction, a problem, a

solution, or an explanation to the problem. Moreover, Raymond helped himself

usingatabletoorganizetheseparts.He identifiedthesettingandtheexplanation

about the context and then the other parts or the consequences or what would

comenext.(seeextractsbelow).

Raymond: at that point, I heard ‘eventually themother said’, hewas trying to

giveanexplanationas towhy themotherwashidingherself, then I

tookitasifitwasthesolutionortheexplanationtoaproblem,andI

putitinsidethesetwosquaresfiveandsix[…]

Jose: atthebeginning,whatIheardwas,whentheproblemsbeganitwas

the ‘oneday’, I think […] I don’t remembermore, but yes,with the

‘oneday’itwastheonethatguidedmyanswersmost.

Samuel: […]There,itwasonlytheintroductionandthen,Ionlyheard[…]‘The

moviethatIwanttotalkabout’[…]Thenatthatpoint,[…]Iknewthat

itwastheintroduction.

This indicates that genre-based approach contributed to learners’ listening

strategyperformancebycausing themto focusonspecificnarrative texts features

(e.g.language,structureandfunction)whichforthemwasuseful.

43

Samuel: thethingistopaymoreattentiontothespecificdetailstoknowhow

toorganizewhatyouareasked.

Samuel: ifyouknowwhatthestructureis,itiseasier.

Whatistheimpactofthegenre-basedinstructiononlearners’listeningskills?

Before the intervention, the narrator’s particular natural speech features

usedandtheorganizationofthetextcontentimpactedonthelisteningskillsofmost

learnerswho found itdifficult tounderstand the featuresof the listening textand

task.Aftergenreinstruction,Raymond’slisteningperformanceimprovedmorethan

Samuel’s and Jose’s who both still seemed to have some problems regarding

everyday English. However, they all were concentrating on text structure by

identifyingsignalwordsandthefunction.

Genre-basedapproachusingeverydayEnglishtextshadapositiveimpacton

learners’ listening engagement and learners’ critical skills. For example, Raymond

appreciated the native language standards and so when he listened to everyday

Englishinthelanguageclassroom,heundervaluedit.Raymondconsideredthatitis

notjustifiabletohavethattypeofnaturaloreverydayspeechinbothwrittenandin

designed listening texts. Consequently, he tried to identify the situation and was

engagedinitsimultaneously.

Raymond: […]It’snotnormalthatsomeonedidthatkindofmistakelike‘ahhshe

is themother, themother of themain character, not thedaughter,

but themain character ahh Imean thedaughterof themother’ for

meisnotnormaltosaythatinabook[…]

Raymond: […]ItwasarevelationformebecauseIwasthinkingfirstthatitwasa

storyfragmentfromabook,andthenwhenshesaidthat,Iknewoh

ohmyGod!itwasanarration,sheistalkingaboutastorynotreading

itsoahmm,itwasinteresting!

Findings revealed other learners’ reflections. For instance, they perceive

British English as good English for listening, but it is difficult to understand or

44

decipher,asbeyondtheclassroomtheyareusuallyexposedtotheAmericanaccent

through themedia. In contrast, in the classroom, theyusually listen to systematic

oraltexts.

Samuel: […] Itwasverydifficult formebecause itwasaBritishaccent,and I

amveryusedtoseeingfilmsonTV,allthatIseeregularly[…]Isthat

American accent, […] Sometimes I say why British people use the

‘Havegot’whichconfusesme,buttheyarevariationsandattheend

ofthedayyouhavetolearnthemifyouwanttounderstand[…]

Raymond: […]Thegenreactivityisanauthenticonebecausetheaudiosarenot

so systematic like the ones we have in the textbook which do not

havepausesandeverythingisjustright.

Overall, before the instruction,evidence showed learners’weakknowledge

ofhowtoorganizethenarrativetextinSpanishandinEnglish.Afterwards,learners

were concentrating on texts’ structure, purpose conveyed and gave comments

about language variations according to context. Learners’ reflections indicate that

listeningtoeverydayEnglishisnotcommoninthetextstheyusuallylistentointhe

classroom.Thesefindingsmeanthatgenre-basedinstructionimpactedonlearners’

listening skills and that teaching through narrative texts with everyday English is

necessaryandvaluable.

Limitations

Theinterventionwasshort.Thetaskwasdesignedforthespecificpurposesofthis

study.Thetextsweremodeltextscreatedandrecordedinaninformalcontextwith

everyday English. Thus,more studies shouldbe conducted inother contexts using

differenttypesofformalandinformaltextsandtheirfeatures.

Conclusions

Teachinglisteningfrommodeltextswasusefulsolearnersreflectedonothertexts’

structural and natural speech features as in the case of spontaneous face-to-face

conversations. The speaker’s speech is not totally planned and structural patterns

45

changeorevolve inadynamicwaybyrepeating,clarifyingandmakingpausesand

hesitationsthat learnerscannotalwaysanticipateandthattheyarenot frequently

exposedtointheclassroom.

GBinstructionisusefultoteachlearnersandmakethemawareofthemany

texts’ variations and natural speech features speakers have in everyday English

conversationsandacademicdiscourse.Knowledgeof these two typesofdiscourse

features can prepare them to listen and understand effectively and contextualize.

Otherwise, they will be experiencing decontextualization in English listening

contexts.

Teaching listening from texts enabled learners to use structure, listen

purposefully and develop reflective skills. The processes and strategies involved

showed that learners’ listening is not only a cognitive process, but it is indeed an

interactiveprocessbetweenthedifferentinternallearners’processes,strategiesand

otherexternalfactorssuchasthedifferenttexts’features,allworkingasawhole.

It ismyhopethat learnerstransferthatknowledgegainedtoanalyseother

oral texts that help them become effective listeners not only in academic

environments,butinotherreallifesituationsandcontexts.

46

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49

(Mis)representationandLiberation:SitesofMemoryandLossin

RadwaAshour’sGranada

IslamEl-Naggar

UniversityofSouthampton

Thispaperisinspiredbytwoliteraryfigureswhoseworksrepresentlife-longappeals

totheresponsibilityoftheindividualsubjectsinthemakingoftheirhistory:theorist

Edward Said (1935-2003) and novelist Radwa Ashour (1946-2014). The paper

examines the potency of individualist endeavours in opposition to a collective

judgement. More specifically, it questions and puts limits on the possibilities of a

humanist interpretative agency of political subjects when faced with seminal

historicalevents.ThenovelconstructsaversionofGranada’sculturallossacrosstwo

culturalsystems—thatoftheoldcertaintiesoftheIslamictraditionsandthecultural

legacyknownas‘turath’,andanewsocialorderimposedbyCatholicism.Ontheone

hand, thenovel’s focalizedcharacters tendtoevaluate therealityof their lossata

micro-level of local constructivism representedby thedisplacement ofworshipping

spaces.Ontheotherhand,stayinginthesamecityofbirthstandsasamacro-levelof

culturalconstructivism.ThepaperarguesthatsomeofAshour’scharactersembark

on a ‘secular’ tracing of their cultural roots, in order to create a unique form of

knowledgeandnational-religiousdiscourse.Rather than living throughanabsolute

cultural loss, this fiction attests to the possibility of living ‘between worlds’. This

secular interpretationof theongoingactofpolitical dispossessionpractisedby the

Castilian forcesagainst thepeopleofGranadagivesanoppositionalvoice to those

old certaintieswhich suggest that Islamas a religion does have a fixed essence in

relationtounderstandingtimeandspace.

Introduction

RadwaAshour’sassessmentofthemeaningoftheCatholicreconquestofGranadain

1492 in her eponymous historical novel offers an interesting example of what

EdwardSaidhascalleda‘lostcause’,acauseinwhichonecontinuestobelieveeven

50

in the faceofamilitarydefeat,occupation,or setback.1Thenovel centresonAbu

Jaafar’s extended family and exemplifies the dawning realisation of the fall of

Granada as a loss of a ‘cultural cause’.2 The idea of cultural loss in particular

becomes a slow and a painful process,which unravels in time and space. As Abu

Jaafar tells his grandsonHasan, ‘Granadahas fallen,Hasan, butwhoknows, some

dayitmayreturntoyou,evenbywayofyourownsword,orperhapsyouwillwrite

itsstoryandrecorditsgloriesforalltime’.3Thefamily’sunderstandingofthesecular

time, which also stands for the colonial time in the novel, has its impact on the

historical consciousness building upon the varied political visions of Abu Jaafar’s

familymembers.Afterthedeathofthegrandfather,somememberscometoterms

withthecolonialtimeanditsimpactonthespatialdislocationsthatoccurinpublic

and private spheres. Other members continue to believe in the myth of the

continuityofAl-Andalus,which in itselfembodiesnostalgicappeals toan idealised

mythofagloriousIslamicpast,andafuturethatispre-ordainedbythewillofGod.

UnderstandingtheSecularTimeandthepossibilityofliving‘betweenworlds’

In the genealogical structure of Granada, the voice of Abu Jaafar provides the

subsequent generations of his family with the ‘collective memory of their race,

religion, community, and family a past that is entirely their own, secure from the

ravagesofhistoryandaturbulenttime’.4AfterthedeathofAbuJaafar,hisprogeny

arenotabletoidentifywiththeongoingculturalloss,inpartbecauseoftheirability

toreconfiguretheIslamicculturallegacyinthecontextofthenewCatholicimperial

order.SomeofthefamilymemberssuchasHasanandhiswifethinkofthefamily’s

conversionintoChristianityasiftheywerecarryingadifferent‘label’thatdoesnot

influencetheessenceoftheirIslamicreligion.5Incontrasttothisidealisticvision,the

newCatholicpoliticalorderexacerbatesthedivisionsbetweenanidealisedviewof

1EdwardSaid,‘OnLostCauses’,inReflectionsonExileandOtherLiteraryandCulturalEssays(London:GrantaBooks,2001),pp.527-553.2Ibid.3RadwaAshour,Granada:ANovel, trans.byWilliamGranara(NewYork:SyracuseUniversityPress,2003),pp.34-45.4EdwardSaid,‘Invention,Memory,andPlace’,CriticalInquiry,26:2(2000),p.177.SaidcriticizestheArabs’ reactive response to ‘the rapid social transformations in history’ by reducing it to a meresearchfortheir‘roots’whentheywere‘securefromtheravagesofhistoryandaturbulenttime.’5Throughouthiscriticalcorpus,Saidconsistentlyreferstonationalismandreligionas‘labels’.

51

Granada’sMuslimpastandtheexperiencesofdispossessionandtheveryrealthreat

of persecution in the present. Ashour’s narrator cites the legal language of the

Catholicdecreesthatrestrictedfreedomofexpression,religiousworship,andsocio-

religioushabitsamongtheMuslimsofGranada:

It wasn’t the simple matter of a name on a piece of paper replacing

anothername […]butawholenew lifeofaccusationsandmortal sins:

the circumcision of young boys, contracting marriages according to

Islamiclaw,celebratingtheweddingfeastwithdrumsandsongs,waiting

for the newmoonbefore and after Ramadan, chanting the prayers on

theholynightofLaylatal-Qadr,thefivedailyprayers,Ramadanfasting,

keeping Friday a holy day, using henna to dye young girls’ palms and

olderwomen’shair[….]ItallseemedlikethewheelofSatanrollingalong

andthesoulunabletokeeppacewithitsterrifyingspeed.6

BycitingthelanguageoftheCatholicdecrees,AshourmakesclearhowtheCatholic

monarchy launched a systematic campaign to eradicate all the socio-religious

practices of the Arab Muslims in Granada: they burn their books, close the

bathhouseswheretheywashtheirbodiesandcelebratetheirweddingceremonies,

prohibitArabic songs and thewearingof traditionalArabic clothing.What’smore,

the ruling Christianmonarchy forces theMuslims of Granada to assume Christian

namestoguaranteefurthercontrolandsupremacyoverthem.

Thepossibilityofliving‘betweenworlds’:thepublicspherevstheprivatesphere

TheprocessofculturaldebatebetweenIslamandCatholicismisstagedinthespaces

ofAshour’sGranada.ThepersistentstruggleofAbuJaafar’sfamilytomaintainthe

socialandculturalpracticesofMuslimGranadabeforethereconquestisconstantly

expressedinspatialterms.Boththedailynarrativesorthecriticaldebateandthe

socio-politicalconstructionofspacewithinAbuJaafar’shousemightsuggestashift

inperspectivefromtheirfather’sreligiousviewsonlossandvictory.Andyet,despite

thenewmodeofsecularism,whichtheMuslimsofGranadaareforcedtoendurein

ordertosurviveunderthenewregimeofCatholichegemony,thecontinuedpractice

6RadwaAshour,Granada,p.114.

52

ofMuslimsocialandreligiouspracticesintheprivatespherehintsatthehistorical

possibilityofrestoringtheirpast.

AftertherevocationoftheGranadatreaty,manyofthefamilymembers

unreservedlyagreewithMaryama’ssuggestiontoremaininGranada.7Yettheir

emotionalreactionssuggestdifferentpoliticalpositions.Hasanapprovesof

Maryama’sproposalthattheytrytomaintaintheirpastlivesandculturalpractices,

butinaclandestinemanner.Similarly,UmmJaafar,thegrandmother,decidesnotto

leave,butoutofadifferentmotive:owingtoherageratherthananysenseof

politicalconviction.Thenarratorclarifiesthatthereisnohiddenpoliticalmotive

behindherdecision:‘sinceshedidnothavemuchlongertolive.Shetoldthem“I’ll

neverleavemyhousenorwillIleaveAbuJaafaralonetowaitformeinvain.Iwant

tostayandlaygreenleafybranchesbyhisgraveuntilGodpermitsmetojoinhim.”’8

ForGranada’sMuslimpopulation,thenewrestrictionsimposedbythe

Catholicauthoritiesseverelycurtailthepossibilitiesofculturalresistanceand

struggle.Againstthishistoricalconsciousnessoftheseculartime,thedailylifewithin

thisfamilyisstillguidedthroughreligiousterms.AlthoughAbuJaafar’sfamily

membersviewtimeas‘linearandsecular’,their‘senseoftime’alsoseemscyclical.9

Thenovelsuggestssomethingratherdifferentinitsevocationofthedestructive

effectsofthenewimperialdecreesonthelivesandculturaltraditionsofAbu

Jaafar’sfamily.Indeed,theday-to-daynarrativesinthisGranadanfamilydonot

addresstheshiftingrelationsofpower.Instead,theyreflectanabsoluterelianceon

thetranscendentalpowerofGod’sprovidence.

HasanandhiswifeMaryamainparticularshowrepresentanidealisticview

thatitwillstillbepossibletoliveasMuslimsinGranadaunderthenewCatholic

imperialorder.Incontrastwiththisoptimisticvision,Hasan’ssister,Saleemaandher

husbandSaad,proveadifferentpositionsincetheybelievethattheirpasthas

7 Also known as theCapitulation of Granada, the treaty provided a short truce, followed by therelinquishmentinJanuary1492ofthesovereigntyoftheMoorishEmirateofGranada(foundedfivecenturies earlier) to the Catholic monarchs of Spain.The treaty guaranteed a set of rights totheMoors(Muslims),includingreligioustoleranceandfairtreatmentinreturnfortheirsurrenderandcapitulation.8RadwaAshour,Granada,p.113.9 See the ‘Introduction’ in Denis Walder, Postcolonial Nostalgias: Writing, Representation andMemory(NewYork:Routledge,2011),pp.1-21.

53

alreadygonethroughafatalruptureandanimminentculturaldecline.Bothviews

drawuponasecularunderstandingofthecolonialtime,yetHasan,hiswifeandhis

motherprovearemarkablerelianceonareligiousconvictionwhencomparedwith

hissisterandhisbrother-in-law.

TheMythofCulturalContinuity:AreligiousvsacriticalCulturalDebate

Hasan’sethosoffamilyprotectionisdeeplygroundedinanostalgicdesiretore-live

theIslamictraditionsofhisancestors intherelativesafetyofthedomesticsphere,

butSaadseeksanotherpathbyusing force to terminate thecurrentconditionsof

politicaloppression.Hasan reproachesSaad in the followingway: ‘I can’t stopyou

fromtakingtheroadyouchoseforyourself,butI’mresponsibleforthesafetyofmy

family and I’ll do anything to protect them.’10 Both Hasan and his wifeMaryama

regard their desire to protect their family and to preserve a sense of cultural

continuity as synonymous. Such a commitment has the force of ‘a religious

conviction’ which emulated ‘the ideas of an old established social class that feels

rootedinthecontinuityofalongtraditionandseesthiscontinuitythreatenedonly

bysupernaturalintervention,notbyupheavalsimmanentinhistory.’11Tolegitimate

his position, Hasan draws authority from a fatwa issued by an eminentMaghrebi

jurist who permits Moriscos, or converted Muslims, to use concealment and

dissimulation to protect themselves and their children. He also justifies his

clandestine religious rituals and pedagogical practices of teaching the Arabic

language by providing a Qur’anic reference: ‘But Godwishes ease for us and not

hardship,astheQurantellus.’12Despitetheseclaims,SaadviewsHasan’sarguments

asself-defeating,andquestionsHasan’sclaimstoofferprotectionbycontinuingto

practiceone’sreligionandcultureinsecret:‘It’snotprotectionyou’regiving,Hasan

[….]Ifeveryoneofusshutthedoorofhishouseandonlycaredforthesafetyofhis

10RadwaAshour,Granada,p.132(emphasisismine).11PatriciaTobin,TimeandtheNovel:TheGenealogicalImperative(Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress,1987),P.14.ThemedievalcatholicChristianwasmoreinclinedtosubmithimselftoGod’swill:Godhadpreservedallcreationinanabidingcommunityofthingsinharmony,andHewasguidingthemalltowardacompletedperfectionthatwouldconformtoHisunknowndesign;therefore,medievalmanwaspreparednottoresist;TheodorSchieder,‘TheRoleofHistoricalConsciousnessinPoliticalAction’,HistoryandTheory,17:4(1978),1-18(pp.9-10).12ThereferenceistoQuran2(TheCow)“asGodwisheseaseandnothardshipforyou.”

54

family,wewouldallperish,onceandforall.’13Saad’sdisputewithHasanturnson

thedifferentmeaningsof‘protection’.WhileHasanisprimarilyinterestedintaking

careofhisownfamily,Saadunderstandsprotectionasacollectivepoliticalprocess,

whichincludesbutisnotrestrictedtotheinterestsofanyoneindividualorfamily.

TheFamily’snewSpatialPoeticsundertheSpanishConquest

In Ashour’s Granada, the spatial history of the reconquest is registered mainly

through the spacesof the familyhouseand thepublicmosques. The spaceof the

house demarcates the boundaries between the residual cultural formations of Al-

Andalus and the dominant Catholic order after the reconquest. Before the

reconquestofGranada,ritualssuchaspraying,celebratingreligiousfeasts,wedding

ceremonies,andburialritualstookplaceinthepublicsphereespeciallyinthepublic

mosques;afterthereconquestandtheproscriptionoftheserituals,thesepractices

were performed secretly in the domestic sphere, beyond the gaze of the Catholic

authorities. The family did not only turn to theprivate space to performall these

ritualsclandestinely,however;theywerealsoforcedtopracticetheritualsoftheir

new Catholic creed in the public sphere. In this respect, they can be seen to live

throughadoubledisplacement.14Forinstance,inonespatialmove,thewholefamily

wenttoprayinthechurchonSundays,amovewhichalsorequiredthattheyhadto

cancel theirweeklyexcursionstothemosqueonFridays. Instead, theseritualsare

performed secretly at home. Hasan managed to force all the members of his

family—exceptforSaleema—togotochurchonSundaystoescapethesurveillance

oftheInquisitionOffices.Similarly,theytendedtospeaktheArabiclanguageinside

homeandtheCastilianlanguageinthepublicsphere.

Hasanworks topreserve theArabic language from inside thehome. In this

sense,Hasancanbeunderstoodasacustodian,who tries topreserve thecultural

heritage of Al-Andalus against the threat of extinction by the Catholic authorities.

13RadwaAshour,Granada,p.132.14 Richard Fletcher, ‘Nasrid Granada’ in Moorish Spain (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University ofCalifornia Press, 1992), p. 167. Fletcher in his explanation of the practice of taqqiya indicated that‘These“NewChristians”ofsixteenth-centurySpainoutwardlyconformedtotherequirementsofthechurchwhich they had been compelled to joinwhile secretlymaintaining allegiance to the Islamicfaithoftheirancestors.’

55

For Hasan, the Arabic language is a central medium for the preservation of the

embattledculture,butthislanguagecanonlybespokenwithinthehome.Thethird-

person narrator of the novel clearly conveys the spatial constraints placed on the

family’s daily routine in the following quoted extract: ‘At home they spokeArabic

andtheylivedtheirdailylivesastheirancestorshadlived.Butonthestreetandin

schooltheyspokeSpanish,andtheyconductedthemselvesinthemannerprescribed

by the authorities and the Office of Inquisition.’15 Whereas Hasan attempts to

preserveMuslimsocietyandcultureagainstthethreatofpersecutionbyperforming

religious rites in the domestic sphere, Saad tries to gather people together in the

publicsphereinanattempttochangethepublicconsciousness.Insodoing,healso

expands the spatial field of resistance to the public sphere and even to the

mountains.

Inthisway,thedailynarrativesamongthelatergenerationsthatwitnessed

the Spanish Reconquest of Granada reflect amore nuanced understanding of the

newpoeticsofthecolonialculturalspace;however,theyalsospeaktothenostalgic-

yet-utopiandimensionsofsuchnarratives.Suchnarrativesworktogethertoidentify

thelocationofIslaminthisnewtextualworld.

AndalusiaasAnimatedSpace:themythofculturalcontinuity

InhisaccountofAndalusia’sMuslimpast,Saidimplieswithoutexplicitlystatingthat

the streets andbuildingsofAndalusia function as crucial sites ofmemory. Yet, he

gives a tantalising account of Andalusian historical sites as progressive, ‘animated

spaces’.16Said’sessayonAndalusiadoesservetochallengethepredominantmyth

of Al-Andalus as a ‘stable terrain’ or a static space in time in predominant Arab-

MuslimnarrativesofmedievalSpain.17

ThewayAbuJaafar’sfamilymembersinterpretthenewbordersoftheircity

and theirhouseasdiscussedabovecontributes toanunderstandingof the spatial

politics of dispossession that parallels Said’s reading of La Mezquita, Alhambra

palace,themosque-cum-cathedralofCordovaorLaMezquita,Seville'sAlcázar,and15RadwaAshour,Granada,p.145.16EdwardSaid,‘Andalusia’sJourney’,Travel+Leisure(Dec.2009)<http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/andalusias-journey>.17Ibid.

56

Madinatal-Zahra (amongothers). The family’saffectiveattachment toaparticular

understanding of Granada’s spatial borders draws on an imaginary ideal of the

Islamic community. Such an imaginary ideal is hinted at in Said’s response to the

spatial history of the Andalusian site especially, LaMezquita. This paper takes La

Mezquita as an example of the impossibility of cultural continuity of a specific

cultural edifice while embarking on its meaning as single and fixed. Rather than

being‘thegreatestandmostimpressivereligiousstructureonearth’,Saiddescribed

LaMezquita as a ‘cultural statement’ by its founder, Abd ar Rahman II, in a new

world.18 By reading La Mezquita as a ‘cultural statement’, Said suggests that the

buildingsimultaneouslydeclaresandenactsatraditionofIslamicarchitecture.Yetif

LaMezquitaisa‘culturalstatement’,itisalsoapoliticalstatementaboutthespace

itoccupiesandtheboundariesitdemarcates.

Said’sreflectionsonthehistoryofAndalusianarchitecturearecrucialtomy

analysis of the shifting borders and centres evoked in Ashour’sGranada. In Said’s

account, La Mezquita evokes this sense of ‘almost imperceptible changes in

perspective from one space to the next’—the samemode of recognition that the

spatial dislocations and transfigurations in Granada incarnates. Yet, Said also

describes La Mezquita as a symbol of ‘inclusive sanctity and magnanimity of

purpose’ and a ‘unity inmultiplicity’.19 This reading of LaMezquita as a rich and

layeredhistoricalsiteisalsoprofoundlyambivalent:itcouldstandeitherasasymbol

ofafallenempireorasasignoffuturepoliticalpossibilitiesofculturalcontinuity.

If the Andalusian space such as Alhambra palace and la Mezquita or the

mosque-cum-cathedralofCordovaarechronotopicinthesensethatthesemedieval

spacestellanotherstoryaboutthepast, thesymbolicmeaningofsuchbuildings is

ambivalent.Ontheonehand,theycouldbetakentorepresenttheresilienceofan

oppressedpeople;yet,ontheotherhandthesebuildingsalsobespeakaprofound

sense of loss. The structures and spaces that once heralded the rise of Muslim

Andalusia in the eighth century are the very same spaces that announce its

decadence,decline,anddefeatafewcenturieslater.

18Ibid,‘[…]themosquethatAbdarRahmanIIbeganin785.ErectedonthesiteofaChristianchurch,itwasanattempttoasserthis identityasanUmayyadprince fleeingDamascus, tomakeaculturalstatementasaMuslimexiledtoaplaceliterallyacrosstheworldfromwherehehadcome.’19Ibid

57

As a historical novel, much of Ashour’s Granada is preoccupied with the

historicalexperienceof theproscriptionof IslamicritualsandtherazingofMuslim

AndalusiafromthestandpointofGranada’sMuslimpopulation.Forthisreason,itis

perhaps ratherdifficult toseehowthenovelcould imagine theways inwhich the

motifsof Islamicculture“linger”forcenturiesaftertheCatholicReconquest.20Yet,

thenovel’sreflectionsonthearchitecturalruinsofMuslimSpainfromthehistorical

perspectiveoftheearlytwenty-firstcenturysuggestthatsomethingofthishistorical

experienceremains.

Conclusion

Iftheculturalcriticaldebate,aprocessthatAshourdeploysinGranada,explainsand

anticipates how a Muslim family interprets and understands the impact of the

Reconquistaontheirdailylivesindifferentwaysaspartofasharedhistoryofloss,

thespaceisalsoofhighimportanceinthesameinterpretiveprocess,butinarather

relativevein.ByattendingtoEdwardSaid’sreflectionsonsomeofthemost iconic

architectural sites inMuslim Spain or Andalusia and their place in Arab collective

memoriesofAl-Andalus,onecanbegintotracethesignificanceofthetextualruins

ofAl-AndalusinAshour’sGranada.

20Ibid

58

Bibliography

Anderson, Benedict, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and

SpreadofNationalism(London:Verso,2006)

Ashour, Radwa, Granada: A Novel, trans. by, William Granara (New York:

SyracuseUniversityPress,2003)

Bakhtin, M. M, The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays, ed. by Michael

Holquist,trans.byCarylEmersonandMichaelHolquist(Austin:UniversityOfTexas

Press,1981)

Fletcher,RichardA.,MoorishSpain (BerkeleyandLosAngeles:Universityof

CaliforniaPress,1992)

Guzmán, María Constanza. ‘Granada: A Novel by Radwa Ashour, William

Granara, María RosaMenocal’, review in The Arab Studies Journal, 13-14 (2006),

129-132

Harlow, Barbara, ‘Narratives of Resistance’, in Resistance Literature (New

YorkandLondon:Methuen,1987),pp.75-116

Said, Edward W., ‘Andalusia’s Journey’, Travel + Leisure (Dec. 2009) <

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/andalusias-journey>

Said,EdwardW.,‘Invention,Memory,andPlace’,CriticalInquiry,26:2(2000),

175-192

Said,EdwardW., ‘OnLostCauses’, inReflectionsonExileandOtherLiterary

andCulturalEssays(London:GrantaBooks,2001),pp.527-553

Said, Edward.W., ‘Secular Criticism’, in TheWorld, the Text and the Critic

(London:FaberandFaber,1984),pp.1-30

Schieder,Theodor, ‘TheRoleofHistoricalConsciousness inPoliticalAction’,

HistoryandTheory,17:4,(1978),1-18

Tobin, Patricia. D, Time and the Novel: The Genealogical Imperative

(Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress,1987)

Walder, Dennis, Postcolonial Nostalgias: Writing, Representation and

Memory(London:Routledge,2012)

59

FairyTale,FableandtheRealityofEvil:RepresentingtheHolocaustin

JohnBoyne’sTheBoyintheStripedPyjamas

SophieMelissaSmith

UniversityofSouthampton

The paper will focus on the representation of fantasy and reality in Children’sLiterature, analysing the presentation of theHolocaust in JohnBoyne’sTheBoy inthe Striped Pyjamas, in relation to its subtitle ‘a fable’. Though traditionallymoralistic, the paperwill arguehowpresentationas a fable, aswell as theuse offairytalelanguageandtropesinthetext,complicatesthereceptionandclarityoftheintended moral, by complicating and softening the representation of the evils ofreality. Indoingso,thepaperwilldiscusstheappropriatenessandsuccessofthefairytale form as a vehicle for representing evil and trauma in Children’s Literature; itquestionshowfarthismodemakestheHolocaustaccessible,contrastedagainstthenegative impact of creating myths and modern fairy tales about the extent ofsuffering,persecutionandawarenessof thegenocidewhich re-write theHolocaustandgivesfueltodeniers. Themainaimthen, isto illustratehowfarthetextnegatively impactsuponHolocaust education when experienced by readers with limited or no priorknowledge,buildinguponthecasestudybyMichaelGrey,whosuggeststhatevil isconspicuous only in awareness of the significance of gaps and absences in thenarrative.Inineptlyhandlingthestyle,Boyne’suseoffairytaleandfablesubvertshisown moralistic purpose, which instead renders the Holocaust itself a fairy tale,remoteandpotentiallyunbelievable.

Introduction

Overseventyyearson,thehorrorandfascinationwithwhichwemeettheHolocaust

isaspotentasever.Frompagetoscreen,imagesoftheHolocaustcreatedbyfilms

like Schindler’s List have become culturally ingrained in the public imagination. In

their depictions of suffering, such representations are important tools which

highlighttheatrocitytoaglobalaudienceandkeepitsmemoryverymuchalive:for

descendantsofsurvivorsandscholarsalike,it isvitalthatweneverforget.Butjust

howmuchofwhatwethinkweknowabouttheHolocaustisactuallytrue?

Whilst eyewitness accounts suchas theDiaryofAnnFrank or ElieWiesel’s

Night offer first-hand accounts of personal experience, many popular Holocaust

narrativeslikeJohnBoyne’sTheBoyintheStripedPyjamasareentirelyfictional,and

60

are consequently problematic in their representations as they take ‘a step away

fromreality.’1IfoneofthecoreaimsinrepresentingtheHolocaustistoeducate,as

criticssuchasAdrienneKertzerandMichaelGrayargue,theneedtoadhereclosely

to fact becomes paramount in order to counteract the influence of the text’s

fictionality.However,inthecaseofBoyne,hisdecisiontoplacestylisticchoicesand

artistic licenseabovetheneedforrealismthreatensanysucheducationalaims.As

weshall see,Boyne’sdecision topresent the storyasa fablecreatesanumberof

damagingfalseimpressionsabouttheHolocaust.FromthefreedomgiventoShmuel

to Bruno’s ignorance of Nazi ideology, Boyne’s attempts to create a morally

instructive fable undercuts his educational agenda, complicating the narrative so

thatitsemphasisonfictionalityrendersitnotonlymorallyambiguous,butthreatens

tore-writethehorrifyingreality.

HorrifyingRealityandtheChildReader

Onfirstconsideration,Boyne’sdecisiontostylisethestoryasafableisalogicalone.

AsBoynehimselfhasnoted,giventhebrutalityandhorrorofthesubjectmatterand

theageoftheaudience,itisessentialtobe‘sensitive’inordernotto‘frighten’the

reader,andthisissomethingthedistancingfromrealityofthefableformprovides.2

As Kenneth Kidd has argued, the fantasy elements of child-centred literary forms

provide the appropriate means of exploring darker themes by creating a

psychologicallydistantand safe space. 3 Forhundredsof years, the fableand fairy

tale have been used to teach children about the darker realities of life. The fable

itself has been particularly employed, as we have seen with Aesop’s Fables, in

providingnotonlycautionarytales,butmoralinstruction.

UnlikeotherHolocaustnovelsforchildren,suchasIanSerraillier’sTheSilver

Sword, which is predominantly a bucolic adventure story of life without parental

restraints,Boyne’suseofthefable’stropeofshowingsufferingbecauseofpersonal

choices allows him to demonstrate the harsher reality of the Holocaust. In the1Agnew,Trevor,‘JohnBoyneInterview’,AgnewReading<http://agnewreading.blogspot.co.uk/2008/05/john-boyne-interview.html>(2008)[accessed16May2016].2Ibid.3KennethKidd,‘“A”IsforAuschwitz:Psychoanalysis,TraumaTheory,andthe“Children’sLiteratureofAtrocity”’,Children’sLiterature,33(2005),120–49(p.120).

61

closingchaptersofthenovel,theCommandant’ssonBrunois inadvertentlygassed

alongside Shmuel and theother Jewish inmatesof the campafter sneakingunder

thefence.Followingtheboysrightintotheheartofthegaschamber,Boynecreates

a significant engagement with the realities of death during war time, and at the

sametimeactivelysubvertswhatKertzer identifiesasthe‘fantasywherenearlyall

plots end in survival’.4 The downfall of the protagonist, whichwe see inmany of

Aesop’s tales like ‘TheTortoiseand theHare’, is aidedby the fable form,butalso

reinforcesoneof the text’sultimate lessons. InkillingBrunoand failing toprovide

the expected stereotypical ‘happily ever after’, Boyne shatters the illusion that

children are protectedby their innocence and confronts the child readerwith the

realityoftheHolocaustasamasstragedy.

But, though presenting a horrifying event, the text is not so graphic it

alienatesthechildreader.Inhisuseoffairytaleandfablelanguage,Boynelessens

the severity of the emotional impact whilst still maintaining it. For instance, in

suggesting that Bruno has simply ‘vanished off the face of the earth’ after being

accidentally trapped in the gas chamber, Boyne demonstrates how such language

maybe implementedtocreatesilencesandinformationalgapswhichcanbemore

affectiveonanemotional level thanabookwhichattemptstoprovideall relevant

background.5Intheshockofhissuddendisappearance,readersarenotonlyforced

toconcludehisdeath,buttoalsoquestionthenaivetyoftheworldviewconstructed

by Bruno throughout the text based on the assumptions of safety and familiarity

created by his proximity to ‘good soldiers’ like his father.6 These gaps are also

significant when considering the final lines: ‘nothing like that could ever happen

again. Not in this day and age.’7 Though this seems to be deterministic on the

surface,andcreatesanambiguoussenseofreassuranceintheimmediateaftermath

of Bruno and Shmuel’s deaths to assuage the potential trauma of the ending, by

mimickingthechild-likeconvictionofBruno,thephrasebecomescolouredbyfresh

doubt in the legitimacy of Bruno’s world view, so that the tone questions the4AdrienneKertzer,MyMother’sVoice:Children,Literature,AndTheHolocaust(Peterborough:BroadviewPress,1999),p.324.5JohnBoyne,TheBoyInTheStripedPyjamas:AFable(GreatBritain:RHCPDigital,2014),p.213;LydiaKokkola,RepresentingtheHolocaustinChildren’sLiterature(NewYork:Taylor&Francis,2002),p.25.6Boyne,Pyjamas,p.140.7Ibid.p.216.

62

legitimacyofthestatement inthepregnant finalpause,andrenderstheendingof

thenovelambiguous.Inthisway,theconstructionofthetexthighlightsitsfunction

aswhatJillP.Maytermsa‘modernfable’.8Suggestingthatthefablecanfunctionas

anallegory,May’snotionillustrateshowfablesmaybeutilisedinorderforachildto

explore their own social and political context, using the examples of history to

determinetheirownplaceintheworld.9Thisthensuggeststhatthemodeoffable

used here is more effective as, though moralising, it removes accusations of

preaching, andallows foranautonomousmeansof learning thatbuildsupon self-

expansionofHolocaustknowledge.

So,ifwetakeBoyne’sworkassuch,theambiguouslyironicendingstatement

attempts to encourage a self-sufficientmeans of education, inwhich children are

able to find ‘their own lessons’ and ‘educate themselves on the subject and learn

aboutit’ratherthantakethingsatfacevalue.10However,giventheambiguitywithin

the final paragraph, Boyne contradicts Bruno Bettelheim’s notion that the fable

alwaysexplicitlystatesamoraltruth,where‘thereisnohiddenmeaning,nothingis

left to our imagination’.11 Boyne’s use of ambiguity here in questioning whether

theirdeathsarean isolatedevent risks the receptionof themoralmessageas the

ironymayonlybeclear tocertain readers. Inusingcontradictionsandgapswithin

the final lines to provoke inquiry, the effectiveness of Boyne’s stylisation is

dependent upon the reader approaching the text with a certain degree of

knowledge,bothabouttheHolocaustandotheratrocitiesandpoliticalconflicts.As

such,thismorenuancedapproachtothemorallessonmayriskitsfullunderstanding

by younger readers, suggesting that his narrative techniques are perhaps more

appropriate toolder,youngadult readers,orevenadults themselves.Without the

clarityof themoral as in traditional fables like ‘TheTortoiseand theHare’,Boyne

risks alienating hismessage from younger readers,which he reinforces in blurring

8JillP.May,Children’sLiteratureandCriticalTheory:ReadingandWritingforUnderstanding(NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,1995),p.199.9Ibid.,p.199.10[AlexisBurlingandJohnBoyne],‘AuthorInterview[withJohnBoyne]’,TeenReads<https://www.teenreads.com/authors/john-boyne/news/interview-090906>(September2006)[accessed16Mat2016].11BrunoBettelheim,TheUsesofEnchantment:TheMeaningandImportanceofFairyTales(NewYork:VintageBooks,2010),pp.42-43

63

thelinebetweenfableandfairytaleinhischoiceoflanguage.Byemphasisingthat

this‘story’all‘happenedalongtimeago’,Boyne’suseoflanguagefurtherreinforces

thefictionalityofthework,whichquestionsnotonlythefactualelementswithinthe

story,buttherealityoftheHolocaustitself.12

ArtisticLicensevsFactualRepresentation

Intriguingly,Boynehasstatedthathedeliberatelychosetomoveawayfrom‘reality’

toallowhimselfgreaterartisticlicencewithwhichtoconstructhisintendedeffect.13

Initsfableform,Boynearguesthatthefunctionofthetextistoimpartaclearmoral

message,ratherthan‘absolute,definitivefacts.’14Yet,inbeingmoreconcernedwith

themessageoverfacts,Boyneisatriskofundercuttingandcompromisinghisaims

in‘puttingthelessonsofhistorybeforetheknowledgeofthehistoryitself.’15Unlike

the fablesofAesop, factsandrealityarestill significant to themoralityofBoyne’s

fable, as his artistic license creates and perpetuates a number of damaging

misconceptionsabouttherealityoftheHolocaust.Weseethismostglaringlyinhow

Boyne significantly reduces the level of suffering he depicts. Though Boyne does

includereferencestothephysicaleffectsofthecamponShmuel,stressinghowhe

grew ‘smaller and smaller each week’ the implicit message of starvation is

overridden somewhat by Boyne’s presentation of a reduced level of physical

persecution and surveillance within the camp.16 To facilitate the narrative, Boyne

presents Shmuel’s ability to continuously meet Bruno ‘every afternoon’ at an

unguarded and non-electrified fence, as well as his ability to access additional

clothing,which is not only difficult to believe, but creates an illusion of inactivity,

autonomy and surplus resources. When coupled with the images of ‘crowds of

peoplesittingtogetheringroups’Boyne’stextexcludesandbeliestheharshreality

oftheslavelabourinmatessuffered.17

12Boyne,Pyjamas,p.21513[BurlingandBoyne],‘AuthorInterview’.14Agnew,‘JohnBoyneInterview’.15MoniqueEckmann,‘ExploringtheRelevanceofHolocaustEducationforHumanRightsEducation’,PROSPECTS,40(2010),7–16(p.10).16Boyne,Pyjamas,p.142.17Ibid.,p.177.,p.206.SeeTopographyofTerror:ADocumentation,trans.byPamelaSelwyn,(EberlPrint:Immenstadt,2008).

64

Indoing so,Boyne creates an imaginary versionof concentration camp life

whichminimises the suffering,especially in lessening the levelsof control and the

abusemetedoutbythesoldiers.Thoughhedoesnotremoveimagesofpersecution

completely,inpresentingthem‘laughingandlookingdownthebarrelsoftheirguns’

and‘shoutingat’menon‘theirknees…withtheirhandsontheirheads’heobscures

theworst sign of their inhumanity in the very fact of Shmuel’s existence.18 Aswe

knowfromeyewitnessaccountssuchasWiesel’sNight,whichgraphicallydescribes

themurderofchildrenandbabies,childrenwerefarmorelikelytobeexecutedthan

adults.19 So, in presenting Shmuel’s continued survival alongwith crowdsof other

‘smallboys’and‘bigboys’,Boynecreatesanillusionofrelativesafetywherechildren

at leastarenotpersecuted,omittingthetrueleveloftheatrocityandgrantingthe

guardsagreatersenseofhumanity.Indeed,Boyne’snarrativeevenimpliesthatthe

murder of Shmuel and Bruno is entirely accidental. By suggesting that they were

‘swept along’ and ‘held together in the centre’ of a group of adults, Boyne’s

narrative again deflects the true extent of culpability in implying that the soldiers

were not deliberately targeting children, so that their deaths appear as a tragic

misfortune, as opposed to a systematic extermination of those least useful to

abuse.20 Whilst someeditingof thehistorical factsmightbeexpected inorder to

protectachildreaderfromthefullextentofthehorror,Boyne’sattemptstoremove

the worst aspects of the brutalisation create not only a false impression of

conditions,butalsoconfusehisownintendedmoralmessage.Bydenyingthedirect

persecution of children, the tragic loss of innocence loses any pretentions to

martyrdomandHolocaustpiety,sothattheforceofNazicorruption,andthecentral

moral of universal equality, becomes contaminated by images of accident and

mischancewhichstripmuchoftheemotionalresonance.

HeroesorVillains?

Boyne’suseofartisticlicensealsocomplicatesthemoralmessageofthefableinits

presentationsofchoiceandculpability.Giventhatthefableplacesagreatemphasis

18Boyne,Pyjamas,p.207.19ElieWiesel,Night(London:Penguin,2008),pp.x-xiv,15-18.20Boyne,Pyjamas,pp.209-210.

65

on personal decisions and actions, such as the boy’s repetitive false cry of wolf,

morality is inextricably linked toan individual’s choices.However, choicebecomes

ambiguouswithinThe Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: as Bruno’smother consistently

states,personalandmoralresponsibilitybecomeseasilydeflectedasthesupremacy

of the father and the Fury (Bruno’smisinterpretation of Fuhrer)means that they

‘don’thavetheluxuryofthinking’as‘somepeoplemakeallthedecisionsforus.’21

Bystatingthat‘therearethingsweneedtodoinlifethatwedon’thaveachoicein’

the text implies a level of coercion and inevitably that distorts images of active

choiceandnegates individual culpability inperforming theatrocities.22Reinforcing

theideaofforcedaction,thefather’scallousnessandevidentcareerisminpursuing

thepromotionbecomestransmuted,anactionoffeartoavoid‘beingtakenaway’,

anotherfacetoftheculturalnecessityofkeepingone’s ‘mouthshut’andfollowing

‘orders.’ 23 By suggesting his actions result not from personal desire, but from a

senseofdangerandobligation,BoynestripstheCommandantofagencyandrenders

himmoresympathetic,givinghisbehaviourasenseofmoraljustificationtoachild

reader.

Interestingly,thetextappearstoreinforcethenecessityoffollowingorders

increatingaparallelbetween the father’s situationand theconstantdemands for

obedience from Bruno. Much like traditional fables such as ‘The Boy who Cried

Wolf’,misfortune,inthiscaseBruno’sdeath,comesfromrefusingtoobeyauthority.

HadBrunorespectedthewisdomofhisparents,andconformedtotherulesthathe

was ‘notallowedanywherenear the fenceor the camp’because ‘explorationwas

banned’,hewouldhavesurvived.24Theverystructureofthefable,then,significantly

subvertsBoyne’smoralmessageabouttheneedtoquestiondivisions,and instead

tiesblindobediencetoauthorityasameansofsurvival.AsDavidCesaraninotes,this

achieves an entirely differentmoralmessage, in suggesting not tolerance, but the

necessityofcarefullyinstillingdisciplineandobedienceintochildren.25

21Ibid.,pp.13-14.22Ibid.,p.48.23Ibid.,pp.49,124.24Ibid.,p.103.25DavidCesarani,‘StripedPyjamas’,LiteraryReview<https://literaryreview.co.uk/striped-pyjamas>(October2008)[accessed17May2016].

66

ThoughBoyne attempts to be educationally beneficial here, in evoking the

relativityofmorality inhisdepictionofa ‘goodman’ forced todobad things, it is

only partially successful.26 Despite highlighting the psychological and emotional

complexities that lead ordinary people to become monstrous in monstrous

circumstances, Boyne’s use of Bruno’s perspective is highly detrimental in its

evocation of sympathy. In order to make Bruno an intended sacrificial lamb to

promote his moral, Boyne disassociates Bruno entirely from Nazi ideology. As

Michael Gray notes, based on historical considerations, the story is entirely

preposterous.27InpresentingBrunoasentirelyignorantofwhoHitleris,andhaving

no idea of the meaning of the word ‘Jew’, despite being the son of a Nazi

commandant,Boynecreatesadamagingimageofmoralinnocencewhichbecomea

parable for the excuse ofwider German cultural ignorance.Most significantly, his

depiction counteracts the central role of the indoctrination process he seeks to

expose,byremovingBrunofromhisundoubtedpositionasamemberoftheHitler

Youth.Again,Boyneindicatesthatthisisadeliberateartisticchoice,ashebelieves

it to be both ‘appropriate to the times’ and able to stress the level of intentional

ignorance the society employed through the metaphor of Bruno’s naivety.28

However,thoughheattemptstosymbolicallymoralisehere,byintentionallydenying

the historical fact of enforced educational anti-Semitism, Boyne substantially

reduces the extent of its scope. Bigotry within the text becomes reserved for a

fractional part of the population, on a purely need to know basis, rather than a

prevalent attitude acrossmuch of Europe at the time. In offering only amarginal

promotionofanti-racism,BoynecategoricallyfailstoachievetheaimsofHolocaust

educationindemonstratinghowactionsareculturallydeterminedandhighlightthe

perilsofturningablindeyetoevil.29

Instead, the fictionality of his work threatens to re-write the Holocaust,

blurringandobscuringfactwithartisticlicense,whichisstartlinglyclearinthetext’s

26Boyne,Pyjamas,p.59.27MichaelGray,‘TheBoyInTheStripedPyjamas:ABlessingOrCurseForHolocaustEducation?’,HolocaustStudies,20(2014),109-136(p.122).28[BurlingandBoyne],‘AuthorInterview’.29Gray,‘BoyintheStripedPyjamas’p.123.

67

fairytalelikeabilitytotransformthemurderersintovictims.30Inpresentingthetext

asa‘storyaboutBrunoandhisfamily’itreinforcesthesupremacyoftheGermans,

giving their voice and experience precedence over the experience of Jewish

suffering.31Thoughmotivatedbyanattemptatculturalsensitivity,infeelingunable

to legitimately evoke Jewish experience, Boyne’s narrative choice foregrounds the

German Bruno as a hero to such an extent that it marginalises the voice of the

Jewish Shmuel. In doing so, Shmuel’s place in the narrative becomes so much

reducedthat,whenbothboysaregassed,feelingisreservedalmostentirelyforthe

lossofBrunoandthegriefofhisfamily.Assuch,Bruno’sroleashero,tothealmost

exclusionofShmuel,reinforcesthesignificanceofperpetratornarratives,asanother

instanceof‘victimabuse.’32

Therefore,Boyne’sstylisticchoicessignificantlycompromisehis intentionto

‘address innocenceandevil’ inawaythat letsreadersfind ‘theirownlessons’and

‘educatethemselves’byobscuringthedepthofevilpresent.33Indesiringtocreatea

sheltering distance, Boyne’s narrative style is undone by his own deliberate

ambiguity and the ambiguity of Bruno’s naïve perspective. Though he does raise

challengestoNaziideologyandculpability,thenuancesofhisapproachnecessitate

the presence of an adult or a particularly well-informed, young adult reader, to

successfullypickupontheinsinuationswhichdeliverhisdesiredmoral.

ModernMythsandEducationalImplications

Giventhecomplicationscreatedbythenuancesof thetextand its fable form,the

needforanolderormoreinformedreadertoengagewiththeambiguityisessential

forthetexttobeeffective.Withoutadeeperunderstanding,Boyne’suseofartistic

licenceandthefictionalityofhis tonecauseshisnarrativechoicesto inadvertently

createandperpetuatemythswhichmisinterpretfactorcausechildrentobelievethe

Holocaust itself to be fictitious. Whilst total adherence is obviously unwise

consideringtheparticularaudience,the‘sheerimplausibilityofthestoryinthefirst

30Ibid.,p.125.31Boyne,Pyjamas,p.214.32LydiaKokkola,RepresentingTheHolocaustInChildren’sLiterature(NewYork:Taylor&Francis,2002),p.18.33[BurlingandBoyne],‘AuthorInterview’.

68

place’,presentsthepotentialforadetrimentalimpactonHolocausteducation.34As

the2009studybytheLondonJewishCulturalCentresuggests,TheBoyintheStriped

Pyjamasisbeingutilised,albeitwrongly,asamajortoolforcontemporaryHolocaust

education, over more legitimate examples of witness testimony like the Diary of

Anne Frank.35 With over 75% of the sample having been exposed to it, many

respondentswhowere awareof theoriginal eventbelieved theyhad learnt ‘a lot

about concentration camps’ as adirect resultof this exposure, and that thenovel

was ‘based on a true story.’36Worryingly,many students believed that itwas the

tragic death of Brunowhich brought about the end of concentration camps.37 So,

where the text is perceived as a legitimate and factual source, it consequently

demonstratesthedangersofmisrepresentingfactswhichlatermayprovedifficultto

unlearn.AssomuchofHolocausteducationnowcomesthroughthemediumoffilm

and literature, it is all the more important to maintain a base level of historical

accuracy, in order to avoid trivialisation, or worse, providing false information

regardingthelevelofabuseandculpability.Failuretodosothreatenstore-writethe

Holocaustandgivecredencetodeniersandapologists.Assuch,Boyne’sstylisation

undermines the very thing it seeks to teach; his use of the fable fictionalises the

eventsoftheHolocausttosuchapointthattheyloseanyeducationalmeaning,so

that his text becomes not a fable, but a fairy tale vision of the Holocaust, which

questionsitsveryreality.

34Gray,‘BoyintheStripedPyjamas’,p.121.35Ibid.,p.115.36Ibid.,p.115.37Ibid.,p.115.

69

Bibliography

Agnew,Trevor.‘JohnBoyneInterview’,AgnewReading<

http://agnewreading.blogspot.co.uk/2008/05/john-boyne-interview.html>(2008)

[accessed16May2016]

Bettelheim,Bruno,TheUsesOfEnchantment:TheMeaningAndImportance

OfFairyTales(NewYork:VintageBooks,2010)

Boyne,John,TheBoyInTheStripedPajamas:AFable(GreatBritain:RHCP

Digital,2014)

[Burling,Alexis,andJohnBoyne],‘AuthorInterview[withJohnBoyne]’,

TeenReads<https://www.teenreads.com/authors/john-boyne/news/interview-

090906>(September2006)[accessed16May2016]

Cesarani,David,‘StripedPyjamas’,LiteraryReview

<https://literaryreview.co.uk/striped-pyjamas>(October2008)[accessed17May

2016]

Eckmann,Monique,"ExploringTheRelevanceOfHolocaustEducationFor

HumanRightsEducation",PROSPECTS,40(2010),7-16

Gray,Michael,‘TheBoyInTheStripedPyjamas:ABlessingOrCurseFor

HolocaustEducation?’,HolocaustStudies,20(2014),109-136

Kertzer,Adrienne,MyMother'sVoice:Children,Literature,AndThe

Holocaust(Peterborough:BroadviewPress,1999)

Kidd,KennethB.,‘"A"IsForAuschwitz:Psychoanalysis,TraumaTheory,And

The"Children'sLiteratureOfAtrocity"’,Children'sLiterature,33(2005),120-149

Kokkola,Lydia,RepresentingTheHolocaustInChildren'sLiterature(NewYork:Taylor

&Francis,2002)

May,JillP.,Children'sLiteratureAndCriticalTheory:ReadingAndWritingFor

Understanding(NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress,1995)

TopographyofTerror:ADocumentation,trans.byPamelaSelwyn,(Eberl

Print:Immenstadt,2008)

Wiesel,Elie,Night(London:Penguin,2008)

70

TheCunningComedian:themythictricksterandmodernsatirical

comedy

OonaghPennington-Wilson

UniversityofBirmingham1

Sincethelatenineteenthcentury,somemythicorfictionalcharactershavecometo

be known as tricksters. These ambiguous figures function at the boundaries of

society,oftenbreakingand/or reassertinganexistingsocialorder in thecourseof

their exploits. This paper suggests connections between these traditional tricksters

and representatives of 'cunning' inmodern global culture, in particular to political

satiricalcomedy.

This paper begins with Prometheus, an iconic trickster figure in classical

antiquity,andplaceshiminthecontextofscholarlydefinitionsofthetrickster.Itthen

focusesonamoderncasestudy,thecomedianJohnOliverandhisshowLastWeek

Tonightwith JohnOliver.2 It will consider three themes: the paradoxical nature of

humour;thecomedian’smanipulationofanaudience;andthepotentialriskincurred

bytheperformer(suchasrisktoreputation).ThispaperarguesthatOliver,acomic

who operates on the boundaries of cultural acceptability, can be seen as a global

descendantofthemythictrickster.

In Hesiod’s Theogony, the ritual practice of sacrifice is explained by the story of

PrometheusandhisattemptstodeceiveZeus.3Inthistext,bothdeitiesdecidehow

ritual sacrifice should be shared between humans and the gods. Prometheus

separatesanoxintotwoparts,themeatandthebones.Zeusinturnallocatesone

part tohumanityand theother to thegods. In anattempt togainhumanity, the

better deal, Prometheus disguises the animal meat in the unpleasant casing of a

stomach.Hethencoverstheanimalbonesinacasingoffat,hopingthisitwilltempt

1ThanksmustbegiventoDr.NiallLivingstone,Dr.ElenaTheodorakopoulos,VictoriaSchuppertandLaurenWainwrightfortheirassistanceintheeditingofthispaper.2LastWeekTonightwithJohnOliver,HBO,2014-on-going.3Hesiod,Theogony,inTheogony.WorksandDays.Testimonia,trans.byGlennW.Most(CambridgeMA:HarvardUniversityPress,2007),pp.535-68.

71

Zeus.EventhoughZeusknowshe isbeingtricked,heallowshumanitytohavethe

meat; however, he punishes themby taking away fire. Prometheus steals the fire

back, resulting in the creation of the first woman Pandora (meaning ‘all gift’), an

instrument of punishment who unleashes evils on to humanity (she is given this

nameinHesiod’sWorksandDays).4WhilePrometheusisalsopunished,chainedtoa

rockforeternitywithaneagleeatinghislivereveryday.5

Prometheus’cunningtypifiestricksterbehaviour.Thispaper’smodelforthe

termtricksterissomeonewhoestablishesormanipulatesboundaries,meaningthey

have the potential to create, alter or reinforce social constructs of order. For

example,Prometheus isthecatalystthatestablishestheAncientGreekboundaries

ofsacrifice.WhilePrometheusisnottheonetomakethefinaldecisionsinthismyth

(thisrightisreservedforZeus),itishisbehaviourthatsetsthewheelsofsocietyin

motion.Themyth’sfireislaterperceivedastechnologicalwisdomandthecreation

ofPandorabringsvariousevilsintothelivesofhumanity−butalsotheprospectof

hope/anticipation.6WhilethemotivationsofPrometheusareambiguous(whetherit

was to help humanity or simply to challenge the Olympian Zeus in cunning

intelligence),Prometheusappearssuccessfulinthemomentbygettinghumanitythe

animalmeatandreturningfire.7Thesearethenestablishedinsociety.Thisdoesnot

remainapositiveoutcomehowever,ashumanitymustrelyonfoodforsubsistence

and the fire is not the divine fire as before, but an unruly one that must be

managed.8Prometheus’ownpunishmentisalsotypicaloftricksterbehaviour,asthe

trickster is often the victim of his/her own trick.9 Tricksters such as Prometheus

transcend cultural boundaries, creating a new social order (such as technological

fire)orreinforcingtheoldsocialhierarchy(suchasZeus’authorityoverhumansand

gods). This paper will later observe how the mythic trickster (like Prometheus)

4Ibid.,pp.568-613;Hesiod,WorksandDays,inTheogony.WorksandDays.Testimonia,trans.byGlennW.Most(CambridgeMA:HarvardUniversityPress,2007),pp.80-1.5Hesiod,Theogony,pp.521-525,613-7.6EstelleStrazdins,‘TransformingFire:TheEffectofTechnologyonHumanityinHesiod’sPrometheusMythandtheWatcherMythofEnoch’,ComparativeCriticalStudies,2(2005),285-296(p.288);Hesiod,WorksandDays,pp.90-106.7Strazdins,‘TransformingFire’,p.289.8Ibid.,pp.289-90,292.9MacLinscottRicketts,‘TheNorthAmericanIndianTrickster’,HistoryofReligions,5:2(1966),327-350(p.327).

72

parallels with the twenty-first century comedian John Oliver. Both attempt to

influence society, and yet it is thosewithpower (Zeus/Politicians)who implement

socialoutcomes.

The studyof the tricksteroriginates indiscussionsof FirstNationAmerican

stories.10Ithassincebeenappliedtoothercultures,includingAncientGreece.These

First Nation American tricksters include the Tsimshian Raven who steals sunlight

fromheaventoendthedarknessof theworld,or theMaiduCoyotewhotells the

firstlie,andtheWinnebago‘Trickster’,whoseekstoremoveobstaclesontheearth

for humanity.11 These individuals have a complex nature,which is fundamental to

trickster behaviour; they may be culture heroes who directly affect the world in

whichhumanityfunctions,buttheyareoftenperceivedasgluttonous,promiscuous

and at times foolish.12 Ricketts suggests that trickster figures prove a problem

becausetheycombinemultipleroleswithinoneindividual.Usingtheterm‘trickster-

fixer’ (or the longer term ‘trickster- transformer- culturehero’), Ricketts illustrates

thatthetrickstercantransformculture,whilehavingmultipleroles.13

FirstNationAmericanmythiccharacterssuchasthoseabovepavedtheway

forresearchintothenotionofthetrickster,forexample,FranzBoasarguedthatthe

trickster is a degenerate figure, and an early form of the ‘culture hero’.14 Later

scholars, such asRadin, catalogueexamples of tricksters fromvarious FirstNation

Americancultures,andprovidescontexttotheWinnebago‘Trickster’andhowheis

perceived in that culture.Radinpointsout that the trickster canbe foundbeyond

FirstNationAmerica,inculturesacrosstheglobe.15CarlJungidentifiesthetrickster

as one of his archetypal figures, which are definite forms within the collective

10 Thefirstscholartousetheterminthissenseisdisputed:seeforexample7ninL.Hyde,TricksterMakesthisWorld:HowDisruptiveImaginationCreatesCulture(Edinburgh:CanongateBooks,2008),p.355. 11Ibid.,pp.46-7;D.Leeming,TheOxfordCompaniontoWorldMythology(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2005),p.83;P.Radin,TheTrickster:AStudyinAmericanIndianMythology(NewYork:SchockenBooks,1973),p.52.ItneedstobenotedthatdiscussionsofthetricksterinNorthAmericarepresentanearlierstageofethnologyandanthropologyinwhichsomescholarshipexaminesFirstNationAmericanculturethroughthelensofcolonialism.12MichaelCarroll,‘TheTricksterasSelfish-BuffoonandCultureHero’,Ethos,12:2(1984),105-131(p.106).13Ricketts,‘NorthAmericanIndianTrickster’,pp.327-30.14AnneDoueihi,‘TRICKSTER:OnInhabitingtheSpacebetweenDiscourseandStory’,Soundings:AnInterdisciplinaryJournal,67(1984),283-311(p.285).15Radin,TheTrickster,p.xxiii.

73

unconscious that manifest everywhere.16 By making the Trickster a psychological

concept, it can represent particular features of the human condition, for example

thepracticalintelligence,whichisimportanttosurvivalandprogression.Therewill

always be those who have more physical power; cunning intelligence opens up

opportunitiesotherwiselost.17Forexample,Zeusismorepowerful,butPrometheus

usescunningtostealfire.

Prometheus highlights how trickster behaviour also manifests in Ancient

Greeceandhowmythictricksterscancreateorderoutofdisorder.Theychangethe

worldforhumanity,whetherit istheirintention,oranindirectresultofsomething

they do for self-gratification. This ambiguity in the character’s motivations may

createunease.Thecunningusedintricksterbehaviourrequiresalackofhonestyto

be successful, and as a result tricksters cease to be trustworthy. This conflicting

relationship between humanity and the trickster reflects a complex anxiety about

therelationshipbetweenpractical intelligenceandwhatit istobehuman.Ricketts

arguesthatthe‘trickster-fixer’embodiesmythicanxietiesofhumanity’splaceinthe

cosmos.18 With this inmind, thispaperwillnowconsiderhowtricksterbehaviour

(found inmythical characters like Prometheus) canmanifest outside ofmyth and

withincontemporarysociety,inparticularthemodernpoliticalsatiricalperformance

ofJohnOliver.

Thetrickstersexaminedsofararenotrealpeople,butimaginaryfigureswho

representthehumandispositiontoseekopportunityandcontrol.Thisisnottosay

however, thatwecannotseetricksterbehaviouroutsidemyth.Tricksterbehaviour

manifests itself in various ways in the twenty-first century, however, due to the

limitedscopeofthispaper,onlyoneexamplecanbeexaminedhere,thisbeingthe

comicperformancesof JohnOliver. The reason for choosing JohnOliver lies inhis

recent rise in popularity in the U.S, as well as being a fitting example within the

currentpoliticalclimate.Oliver’sperformanceisalsochosenforthestrikingwaysin

16CarlJung,CollectedWorksofCarlJung:TheArchetypesandtheCollectiveUnconscious,trans.byR.F.C.Hull,vol.9.1(London:RoutledgeandKeganPaul,1959),p.42.17MarcelDetienneandJean-PierreVernant,CunningIntelligenceinGreekCultureandSociety,trans.byJanetLloyd(Sussex:HarvesterPress,1978),p.12.18Ricketts,‘NorthAmericanTrickster’,p.336.

74

which hemixes comedywith journalism in order tomake his audience laugh and

thinksimultaneously.

JohnOliverisaBritishpoliticalsatirist,currentlyworkingintheUnitedStates

ofAmericaontheHBOtopicalshowLastWeekTonightwithJohnOliver.19Atwenty-

twominutesegmentfromthisshow(performedon28thFebruary2016)willbethe

case study of this paper. In this performance, Oliver tackles the suitability of the

then-RepublicancandidateDonaldTrump.20Thispaperwillfocusonexampleswithin

thisperformance,whereOliverusesmechanismssuchasparadoxicalcomedy,self-

deprecationandseriousjournalismtoinfluencehisaudiencetohisdesiredeffect.

The segment beginswith JohnOliver sitting behind a desk,wearing a suit,

withavisualautocuepositionedabovehim.Thisgivesanimpressionofanewsroom,

which is the first example here of comic deception.21 Oliver’s opening statement,

‘ourmain story tonight and I cannotbelieve I am saying this, isDonaldTrump’, is

designed to set Donald Trump up as a ridiculous individual,whose sudden rise in

political influence is a surprise to everyone including Oliver himself.22 Oliver’s

performancequicklyshiftstoaserioustonewhenhesaysthathisshowhasmostly

ignoredDonaldTrumpuntilnow,butTrumphassincewonthreestates,isendorsed

byChrisChristieandisleadinginpollstowinmost‘SuperTuesday’states.23Oliver

saysthatthisisa‘bigdeal’andremindshisaudiencethatsince1988everycandidate

whowonthemost‘SuperTuesday’stateswentontowintheirparty’snomination.24

This sobering piece of information, designed to alarm his audience, is then

neutralisedbyOliver‘scomparisonofTrump’sgrowinginfluencetoabackmolethat

cannolongerbeignored.LikePrometheus,Oliverusesdisguiseasatoolforhistrick.

Prometheus disguises sacrificial meat in a stomach, while Oliver conveys serious

politicaljournalismbehindaveilofcomedy.

19LastWeekTonightwithJohnOliver,HBO,2014-on-going.20‘EpisodeThree:SeasonThree’,LastWeekTonightwithJohnOliver,HBO,28thFebruary2016.21Oliverhasinheritedthisdevicefromalonglineofsatiricaltelevisionshows.Suchas:TheDailyShow,ComedyCentral,1996-ongoing.AlsomuchearlierinfluenceslikeThatWastheWeekThatWas,BBC,1962-3.22‘EpisodeThree:SeasonThree’,LastWeekTonightwithJohnOliver,HBO,28thFebruary2016.23Ibid.24Ibid.

75

ThisgraphillustrateshowOliver’sperformancezigzagsbetweencomedyand

serious journalism.25He takeshisaudienceoutof thedryworldofpolitics intoan

alternative‘space’(controlledbyOliver)whereTrumpbecomesabuffoonworthyof

laughter. Oliver then returns his audience to the reality of Trump’s growing

influence,making themquestion the validity of their social order (one thatwould

allow Trump political power). By comparing Trump to a backmole, Oliver quickly

takestheaudiencebacktohisalternativerealmofcomedy.Thiscomparisonalsohas

a reverse effect, through paradoxical humour. A paradox recognises an inherent

truthbehindaveilofabsurdity.HereOliver likens theanxiety felt indiscoveringa

growth (a backmole), to concerns about Trump’s growing political influence. This

analogyfurtherimpliesthatthenecessaryactionistotakenoticeofTrump,asone

should takenoticeofapotentialdangerousmedicalcondition (becausesomething

apparently trivialmay turnout tobe serious). Theaudienceare leftwitha lasting

impression and are forced to move continually between these two realms of

journalismandcomedy.Oliveralsousesamixtureofverbalandvisualmaterial to

catchhisaudienceoffguardandreturnthemtohiscomicalrealm.Forexample,the

visual imageofapersonwitha largebackmoleandanexpressionofexaggerated

concern creates a powerful comic effect. In the Greek myth above, Prometheus

attempts to control what Zeus perceives. Similarly, Oliver guides his audience

25Ibid.

76

throughthesecontrolled‘spaces’.FurtheranalysisbetweenOliverandPrometheus

willbemadelaterinthispaper.

OlivergoesontochallengeTrump’shonestybyrevealingthatTrumpclaimed

tohavebeen invitedtoappearasaguestonOliver’sshow.Oliversays that this is

not the case, in a comically self-deprecating way. The audience is shown news

footageofTrumpbeing interviewedonthis topic,statingthathehadbeen invited

‘fourorfivetimes’totheshow,thathebarelyknowswhoOliverisandthathedoes

notknowwhathelookslike.26Theaudience’simmediatereactionistolaughatthis

newfocusonJohnOliver.Olivercounteractsthisbystating‘Ilooklikeanearsighted

parrotwhoworksatabank’.27ThisisdoneinanattempttodenyTrump(orTrump’s

supporters) the chance to undermine him by getting in there first. This self-

deprecationpre-emptspotentialrisk(suchasrisktohisprofessionalreputation)and

maintainsOliver’scontrolofthedialogue.EvenifTrumpwastoretaliatetoOliver’s

performance, the audience knows that Oliver has already anticipated this and

reactedaccordingly.

Thisself-deprecationcontinueswhenOliversaysthathehadtocheckthatno

onehad ‘accidently invitedhim’, following thiswith ‘of course theyhadn’t’.28 This

comedicexchangeonceagainbrings theaudienceback to reality, reminding them

thatTrumphaspotentiallyliedwithlittlethoughtoftheconsequences.Thissection

of theperformance isalsoquitepersonal to theperformer.Oliverestablishes that

there is a relationship between himself and Trump, which in turn places Oliver

betweentheaudienceandTrumpasapolitician.Oliver’scontinuedmanipulationof

his audience also has its own risks of backfiring. Like Prometheus (who’s trick

resultedinhispunishment)thecomedianisnotuntouchable.BychallengingTrump,

Oliver inevitably risks exposure to scrutiny andpotentiallyharm tohis career. He

attemptstocounteractthisriskthroughself-deprecation.

John Oliver then tackles a number of other elements of Trump’s public

image, such as funding his own campaign, being strong-willed, and being a good

businessman.Focusingoneachone,Oliverbreaksthemdownandattemptstoshow

26Ibid.27Ibid.28Ibid.

77

howTrumplacksthesequalities.Followingthis,Oliversuddenlydragshisaudience

to a crashing reality. This is achieved through a number of powerful statements.

Oliver first shows a clip where Trump appears to avoid condemning the former-

leaderoftheKuKluxKlan.OliverstatesthatTrumpiseitherracistorpretendingto

beandeventuallythere isnodifference.This isamessagecalculatedtoproducea

powerful and lasting impressiononhisaudience. Soonafter this statement,Oliver

doesthisagainbyshowingaclipofTrumpcallingforterrorists’familiestobekilled.

It isatthispointweseeoneofOliver’smostpowerfulresponses:‘thatisthefront

runner for theRepublicannominationadvocating awar crime’.29 So far inOliver’s

performancetheaudiencehaveonlypaddledintherealmofreality:itisatthispoint

that that they are plunged into it. They are forced to confront Trump’s possibly

troubling amorality, and just as Prometheus protects the interests of humanity,

Oliverbecomesthevoiceofreason(topotentialchangesthatTrumpmaymaketo

current social norms). Here Oliver’s performance embodies trickster behaviour

through his attempts to maintain social boundaries when he considers them in

jeopardy.ThefactthatOliverisaBritishcomedianalsoplaceshimatadistancefrom

his American audience, and thus perhapsmakes it easier for him, rather like the

Titan Prometheus helping humanity, to make these uncomfortable observations.

Nevertheless,Oliverdoeseventuallyreturnhisaudiencetohiscomedicrealm,when

hejokesthatonthedayofTrump’sinauguration,timetravellerswillattempttostop

thewholethingfromhappening.30ThistakestheedgeoffOliver’spoliticalmessage

bybringinghisaudiencebacktocomedyandallowingthemthereleaseoflaughter.

Oliver’s performance echoes the trickster behaviour seen in the mythic

examplesdiscussedearlier,whenOliverestablishesandmanipulatesideasofsocial

boundaries.Hecreatesanewcomedicrealm,whichhisaudienceexperienceunder

his control. This control is strengthened through the mechanism of paradoxical

comedy.Oliver introduces his audience to an alternative reality. Like Prometheus,

Oliver achieves this by splitting his trick into two. Prometheus does this by

separatingthesacrificialox,whileOlivertargetsTrumpbysimultaneouslyzigzagshis

audience, between serious and comedic realms. We see an additional similarity

29Ibid.30Ibid.

78

betweenJohnOliverandPrometheusinthatneithercanchangesocietythemselves

(thatisaroleforthoseinpower,e.g.Zeus,ormodernpoliticians);insteadtheyplace

anideainthemindsoftheiraudience,whichtheycaneitherignoreoractupon.In

thecaseofOliver,thismightbepersuadinghisaudiencetovotedifferently,orgiving

themammunition touse in apolitical campaign.Moreover, bothPrometheus and

Oliver are characterisedby the ambiguity of the change they effect (does it really

make a positive difference?) and the unknowability of their underlying motives.

Oliver is after all a professional comedian and he must find ways to make his

audiencelaugh.

Inbothcases,thelastingimpactdoesnotnecessarilycorrespondtotheinitial

moment of cunning. Donald Trump was, of course, adopted as candidate for the

Republican Party and elected president in November 2016, and to this extent

Oliver’sperformance couldbe seenasunsuccessful.On theotherhand, ifOliver’s

goal was to reveal Trump’s instability as a politician, he did perhaps succeed. His

performancewaswellreceivedinthepress(forexampletheTimemagazinearticle

‘JohnOliverTakesonDonaldTrump’),andaudiencesstilltuneintohisweeklyshow

toseehisregularmockeryofthenowPresidentDonaldTrump.31Finally,thispaper

observes that Oliver draws attention to the risk to himself by performing this

material.Heispotentiallyrevealinghisownpoliticalconvictions,andhispersuasive

tacticscouldbackfire.TruetothemeaningofthenamePrometheus–‘forethought’

−Oliveranticipatespotential riskandattempts toneutralise it throughcomic self-

deprecation. John Oliver is not, of course, a mythic trickster like Prometheus.

Instead, Oliver embodies trickster behaviour, revealing faults that he sees within

Americansociety.UnlikePrometheus,theresultsofhisinterventionarenotyetfully

known:theycontinuetounravelovertime, throughthevaryingandunpredictable

reactionsofhisaudience.

This paper set out to demonstrate how trickster behaviourmanifests itself

beyondmyth, incontemporarysocietyandincomedyinparticular. InGreekmyth,

the Titan Prometheus is a trickster figure that creates, alters and strengthens

31MelissaLocker,‘JohnOliverTakesonDonaldTrumponLastWeekTonight’,TIME(29thFebruary2016)<http://time.com/4240734/john-oliver-donald-trump-last-week-tonight/>[accessed24thMay2017].

79

boundaries throughhis attempt to trickOlympianZeus.He is thusa cross-cultural

comparison of the tricksters identified by scholars in First Nation America stories.

Tricksters can be both culture heroes and selfish beings; they represent human

anxietiesaboutsurvivalandambitionsforprosperityandsuccess.

As has been seen, this ‘trickster’ pattern is not confined to myth but

manifestsitselfalsoincontemporarypopularculture.ThecasestudyofJohnOliver’s

segmentonDonaldTrumpshowshimadoptingbehaviourslikethosefoundinFirst

Nation America and theGreece Prometheus. Oliver does this through paradoxical

comedy, self-deprecation, and zigzagging between comedy and reality. Oliver

creates his own temporary universe, one that manipulates his audience and has

potential to alter or reinforce concepts of social order. Like the trickster, Oliver

resistsbeingpinneddowntoaparticularmotivationoragenda,butchallengeshis

audiencebyofferingthemtantalisingglimpsesofalternaterealities.

80

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Primary:

‘EpisodeThree:SeasonThree’,LastWeekTonightwithJohnOliver,HBO,28th

February2016

Hesiod,Theogony,inTheogony.WorksandDays.Testimonia,trans.byGlenn

W.Most(CambridgeMA:HarvardUniversityPress,2007)

Hesiod,WorksandDays,inTheogony.WorksandDays.Testimonia,trans.by

GlennW.Most(CambridgeMA:HarvardUniversityPress,2007)

LastWeekTonightwithJohnOliver,HBO,27thApril2014-on-going

ThatWastheWeekThatWas,BBC,1stJanuary1962-28thDecember1963

TheDailyShow,ComedyCentral,22ndJuly1996-on-going

Secondary:

Boas,Franz, ‘Introduction’, inJamesTeit, ‘TraditionsoftheThompsonRiver

IndiansofBritishColumbia’(London:Houghton,MifflinandCompany,1898)

Carroll,Michael, ‘The Trickster as Selfish-Buffoon and CultureHero’,Ethos,

12:2(1984),105-131

Detienne, Marcel and Jean-Pierre Vernant, Cunning Intelligence in Greek

CultureandSociety,trans.byJanetLloyd(Sussex:HarvesterPress,1978)

Doueihi,Anne, ‘TRICKSTER:On InhabitingtheSpacebetweenDiscourseand

Story’,Soundings:AnInterdisciplinaryJournal,67(1984),283-311

Hyde, L., Trickster Makes This World: How Disruptive Imagination Creates

Culture(NewYork:Farrar,StrausandGiroux,1998)

Jung, Carl,CollectedWorks of Carl Jung.The Archetypes and the Collective

unconscious, trans. by R. F. C. Hull, vol. 9.1 (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul,

1959)

Kerényi,Karl,‘TheTricksterinRelationtoGreekMythology’inPaulRadinThe

Trickster: A Study inAmerican IndianMythology, trans. by R. F. CHull (NewYork:

SchockenBooks,1973)

Klaus-Peter,Koepping,‘AbsurdityandHiddenTruth:CunningIntelligenceand

GrotesqueBody Images asManifestationsof theTrickster’,HistoryofReligions 24

(1985),191-214

81

Leeming, D., The Oxford Companion to World Mythology (Oxford: Oxford

UniversityPress,2005)

Locker,Melissa,‘JohnOliverTakesonDonaldTrumponLastWeekTonight’,

online news article, TIME, 29th February 2016 <http://time.com/4240734/john-

oliver-donald-trump-last-week-tonight/>[accessed24thMay2017]

Radin, P., The Trickster: A Study in American IndianMythology (New York:

SchockenBooks,1973)

Ricketts, Mac Linscott, ‘The North American Indian Trickster’, History of

Religions,5:2(1966),327-350

Strazdins,Estelle, ‘TransformingFire:TheEffectofTechnologyonHumanity

inHesiod’sPrometheusMythandtheWatcherMythofEnoch’,ComparativeCritical

Studies,2(2005),285-296

Tannen,R.S.,TheFemaleTrickster:TheMaskThatReveals,Post-Jungianand

Postmodern Psychological Perspectives on Women in Contemporary Culture (East

Sussex:Routledge,2007)

82

PerformingTruthandMythinStoriesWeTell

AdamVaughan

UniversityofSouthampton

Ifouraimasresearchersistoexplorethetruthorrealityofthings,thendocumentary

film could be considered a principle visualmeans to this ‘myth-busting’. However,

since this film form first emerged,documentary’sdefinitionasanobjectiveway to

capturethe‘realworld’hasbeendisputed,withcriticsarguingthatcameraangles,

editingandsubjectchoicesdemonstrate thesubjective intervention (and invention)

ofthefilmmakers.

This paperwill explore someof these issuesbyarguing that, in accordance

withStellaBruzzi’sargument,manycontemporarydocumentariesare‘performative’

in theway their subjectmatter is only givenmeaningas theyare filmedand then

viewed.This is followedbyaclosetextualanalysisofStoriesWeTell (SarahPolley,

2012),whichwilluncoverhowperformativestrategiesareusedtocreateacomplex

dialogue between filmmaker and film spectator that blurs truth and fiction in the

constructionofidentity.

PerformativeDocumentary

One of the first popular uses of the term ‘performative’ came from English

philosopherJ.L.AustinasdetailedinhisPhilosophicalPapers.1Writingonlinguistics,

Austin explains the ‘performative utterance’ as a phrase which both describes an

action and performs that action. This is the opposite of what he terms the

‘constative’which justdescribesanaction.Thedistinctionhere is that rather than

lending itself to being evaluated as either a true or false utterance – if it is

‘performed’ in thatway - the ‘performative’makes active thatwhich it describes.

Examplesincludethebrideandgroomsaying‘Ido’atawedding,or‘Inamethisship

1J.L.Austin,PhilosophicalPapers,ed.byJ.O.UrmsonandG.J.Warnock,SecondEdition(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1970).

83

theQueenElizabeth’asabottleofchampagne issmashedagainst itssidebecause

‘insayingwhatIdo,Iactuallyperformthataction’.2

StellaBruzzihasappliedthisdefinitionofthe‘performative’todocumentary

film. For Bruzzi, all documentaries are ‘performative acts, inherently fluid and

unstable and informed by issues of performance and performativity.’3 They are

performative because their specific ‘truths’ are only expressed at ‘themoment of

filming’.4So,referringbacktoAustin’sexamples,thedocumentary imagebecomes

the ‘I do’ of a marriage ceremony. Additionally, she argues that performative

documentarytechniquescontributetothecomplexinteractionbetweenfilmmaker,

textandspectatorandthatthelatterisconfrontedbythedifficultiesatrepresenting

theworld inadocumentarybecauseoftheseperformativetechniques.5Theeffect

createdbyusingthesetechniques,Bruzziargues,istodemonstratetheimpossibility

ofacompletelytruthfulrepresentationoftheworldanddistancethespectatorfrom

straightforward identificationwith the film text.6 Indoingso, thesedocumentaries

demonstrate an awareness of the truth/fiction dialectic that has dominated the

historyofdocumentarycriticism.

However,Icontendthatperformativedocumentariesgenerally(andPolley’s

filmspecifically)highlightasocialtruthofcontemporaryculture;thatouridentities

are performatively constructed. Stories We Tell is a distinctive example of how

identity is formed as Polley introduces playful use of reconstruction and layers of

performancetocreate,whatIcall,apluralityofselvesinthefilm.

APluralityofSelvesinStoriesWeTell

In autobiographical documentary, the representation of the filmmaker’s ‘self’ is

central to the process and necessitates a meditation on the director’s own

interpretationoftheirpersonalidentityaswellaspositioningthespectatortocreate

a social identity for thisperson.Aswe shall see inStoriesWeTell, thismight also

involvethespectatorconsideringtheirownidentityaspartoftheviewingprocess.

2Austin,p.235.3StellaBruzzi,NewDocumentary:SecondEdition(Routledge,2006),p.1.4Ibid.,p.10.5Ibid.,p.7.6Ibid.,pp.185-6.

84

StoriesWeTellisengagedinansweringoneofthefundamentalquestionsof

autobiography, that of origins – ‘Where do I come from?’ Polley does this by

gathering familymembersandclose friendsofhermotherDiane.Dianedied from

cancerwhenSarahwaselevenyearsoldandshewas subsequentlybroughtupby

her fatherMichael in a family environmentwhich included her elder brother and

sisterandhalf-siblingsfromDiane’spreviousmarriage.

Itwas during this time that Sarah became the punch line to a family joke;

namely,thatshedidnotlookanythinglikeMichael.ThisclearlystayedwithSarahas

she grew up, in the meantime becoming a respected actress and filmmaker. She

beginstoinvestigatehermother’slifebeforeshewasbornandlearnsthatwhileout

of townacting inaplay,DianebegananaffairwithCanadian filmproducer,Harry

Gulkin, who is revealed to be her biological father. What ensues is a treatise on

memory based around Polley’s fascination with ‘storytelling and the way we

construct stories’ such that people will hold a particular version of an event that

might differ from what ‘actually’ happened and from another person’s

recollections.7Therefore,multiplicityisbuiltintothenarrativeframeworkofPolley’s

documentary.However,isitevidentinthefilm’sstructureandaesthetics?

Thepre-credits sequenceofStoriesWeTellestablishes theplurality that is

thefilm’scontentandstylisticapproach.ThefilmopenswithMichaelPolleyreading

an excerpt fromMargaret Atwood’sAliasGrace: ‘When you’re in themiddle of a

storyitisn’tastoryatallbutonlyaconfusion,adarkroaring,ablindness…it’sonly

afterwards that it becomes anything like a story at all, when you’re telling it to

yourself or to someone else.’ This is played over images from super eight home

movies, some ofwhich are authentic and the others staged,whichwill be shown

again at various points in the film’s story. Leah Anderst attributes this mixing of

audioandvisualsfromavarietyofdifferentsourcestothefilm’s‘dialogic’character

whichisfurtherheightenedbyPolley’s‘choral’approachinorganisinganassortment

of interviewees giving ‘equalweight to each piece of information and opinion, to

eachversionof the story,and toeachkindof telling’butwhich remains ‘herown

7RichardPorton,‘FamilyViewing:AnInterviewwithSarahPolley’,Cinetaste,38:3(2013),36-40.

85

verypersonalandveryintimatehistory.’8ThewaySarah‘orchestrates’her‘chorus’

ofvoicesisevidentatvariouspointsinStoriesWeTell.

For example, Polley places conflicting testimonies next to each other to

createapluralisedinterpretationofaperson.AtonepointMichaelsayshethought

hewasagoodhusbandwhich is followedbyhisdaughter, Joanna,sayingthather

Mumdidallthecookingandcleaning.LateronSarahcutsbetweenherinterviewees

whenshe is investigatingwhofirstmentionedthatSarahdidnot look likeMichael

with various testimonies pointing the proverbial ‘finger’ at a different person.

Following Diane’s death, Harry says that he hugged Michael at her funeral but

MichaelhasforgottenthatHarrywaseventhere.Ofcourse,thisnarrative‘sleuthing’

is necessitated by the fact thatDiane,who presumablywould have had themost

accurateversionofthestory,isnotalivetotellit.CriticSarahWardexplainstherole

ofDianeinStoriesWeTellasacatalystfromwhichthemultipleversionsofSarah’s

storyemerge,notingthatthisisan‘idealisedversion’which‘refusestogrounditself

inonlyoneinterpretationofherexistence.’9

Polleyreflectsonhowtheself,andthememoriesapersoncollects,isalways

infactpluralwhendescribingtheprocessofinterviewinghersiblings.Shelikensthe

actofrememberingto‘agameofbrokentelephone’wherewhatyourememberof

an event is not the actual memory itself but rather ‘your last memory of it’.10

Memoryaccording toPolley, therefore, is understoodasunreliable and subject to

changedependingonwhenandwhere the individual is remembering.As a result,

Polley’s film democratises the autobiographical process and enlists a number of

othervoicesinthismemoryprocess.

Stories We Tell is a documentary which positions the interpretations of

people other than the filmmaker in the telling of the director’s life story. The

constructionofSarahPolley’sidentityisperformedinconjunctionwith‘talkinghead’

interviewswith familymembers, archive homemovies, staged homemovieswith

actors playing roles, and re-enactments involving the participants ‘playing

8LeahAnderst,‘Memory'sChorus:StoriesWeTellandSarahPolley'sTheoryofAutobiography’,SensesofCinema,69(2013)<http://sensesofcinema.com/2013/feature-articles/memorys-chorus-stories-we-tell-and-sarah-polleys-theory-of-autobiography/> [Accessedon:15/11/2017].9SarahWard,‘TellingMorethanStories’,Metro,178(Spring2013),pp.52-55.10Porton,‘InterviewwithSarahPolley’.

86

themselves’. Furthermore, Sarah’s identity outside of the filmmaking process has

changedirrevocably.Shenowknowsher‘true’fatherandmust‘restructureherlife-

narrative’accordingly.11

TheperformancesinStoriesWeTellarenumerous:Sarahisseenperforming

instagedsceneswithHarryandMichael;performingtheactofmakingthefilmitself

whensheisheardquestioning intervieweesoff-cameraandpicturedfilmingwitha

camerabyanother camera; thevarious interviewees; the ‘real’ familymembers in

thehomemovieshots;andtheactorsportraying the ‘real’people instagedhome

movies.

It is perhaps unsurprising that Stories We Tell displays so many layers of

performanceconsideringthatthePolleysareafamilyofactors.MichaelandDiane

metwhen theywerebothperforming in a play. In fact,Michael states during the

filmthathebelievesDianefell in lovewiththegregariousandmasculinecharacter

he was playing and could have been encouraged to begin her affair with Gulkin

because he did not live up to that performance. Sarah started acting in film and

televisionatayoungageandhasgoneontoreceiveplauditsandawardsfor films

such as The Sweet Hereafter (Atom Egoyan, 1997) and The Secret Life of Words

(IsabelCoixet,2005).

Figure1:StillfromStoriesWeTell

11LaurenceRaw,‘StoriesWeTell(Review)’,Film&History:AnInterdisciplinaryJournalofFilmandTelevisionStudies,44:1(2014),15-17(pp.16-17).

87

Theyarealsoa familyof filmmakers.SarahwasnominatedforanAcademyAward

forheradaptedscreenplayofdebutfilmAwayfromHer(2006),whichshefollowed

upwithTakeThisWaltz(2011).HarryisarespectedCanadianfilmproducerwhose

first film, Lies My Father Told Me (Ján Kadár, 1975), was Oscar-nominated for

‘OriginalScreenplay’andwontheGoldenGlobefor‘BestForeignFilm’.AndMichael

isseenduringStoriesWeTellvociferouslyrecordinghisandDiane’sfamilyholidays,

displayingacuriouscinematic‘tic’wherehetiltsthecameraupwheneveragroupof

people appear in the frame. Sarah pays a subtle tribute to him at the end of the

documentary while she films Michael alone in his flat. Sarah’s half-brother John

Buchan, who is interviewed in StoriesWe Tell, is a casting director who cast the

actorstoplayhisandSarah’sfamilyinthestagedscenes.Therefore,wecanseethat

aswell as being a family of actors, performers and filmmakers, this is a family of

storytellers,whichinfluencestheformalpropertiesofthefilmaswellasthewaya

spectator will watch the film. The film’s style is ‘performative’ because of the

reflexiveuseofstagedsceneswhichplacestheviewerinaninvestigativerole-along

withSarah-attemptingtoidentifywhatis‘real’andwhatis‘performed’/staged.

An example where Polley’s pluralised process comes to the fore is in the

sequences where she recruits the ‘real’ participants to re-enact a scene that has

alreadyhappened.Twoarecentralregardingthewaytheyarefilmedandhowthey

contributetothethemeofmultipleidentities.Thefirstinstanceisare-enactmentof

thefirsttimeSarahandHarrymeetinalocalcafé.SarahhastravelledtoMontrealto

interviewHarryinanattempttofindoutwhatheknewofDiane’saffair.Duringtheir

conversation,whichlastsforhours,thepairdiscoverthattheylikesimilarthingsand

have similar political allegiances. This confirms Harry’s suspicions that he is her

biologicalfather.Later,inakeyscenefromSarah’slifestory,SarahandMichaelre-

enact themomentwhen she tells him thathe is nother father. The scenebegins

with Michael acting out theatrical traditions of drunkenness before noticing that

Sarah’smind is elsewhere. After she reveals her true parentage,Michael explains

that,forhimatleast,nothinghaschangedandtheyarestillfatheranddaughterin

hismind.

Both scenes feature performance in reflexiveways. The film stock imitates

super eight home movies, which therefore blends with the other ‘home movie’

88

footageweseethroughoutthefilm.Theyaresilent,wedonotheardiegeticspeech

from the scene itself, but both are narrated by their participants taken from the

interviewsSarahisconductingwiththem.Asaresult,Michael,HarryandSarahare

each‘playingthemselves’inthesesequences.Atsomepoints,thespeechbyMichael

andSarah ismade to syncwith their re-enacting ‘selves’mimingof the same line.

These scenes become ‘partial “simulacrum,”’ and once again ‘attest to Polley’s

theoryofachoral,pluralautobiographywhereshe involvesherparticipants in the

creationofher visual stories,but,because she is still the film’sdirector, theyalso

makeevidentherowncontrol.’12

StoriesWeTell…toaSpectator

I have demonstrated that Polley’s film represents multiple ‘selves’ to the film

spectatorandthattheverystructureandformalstrategiesfoundwithinStoriesWe

Tellaredeterminedbythispluralityofidentity.Butwhatdoesthismeanforthefilm

spectator? Robert Ezra Park explains how the origins of the words ‘person’,

‘persona’, ‘personality’,etc.arederivedfrom‘mask’andthereforeconnecttohow

individualsconductthemselvesineverydaysocialinteractions.Furthermore:

In a sense, and in so far as this mask represents the conception we have

formedofourselves–therolewearestrivingto liveupto–thismaskisour

truerself,theselfwewouldliketobe.Intheend,ourconceptionofourrole

becomessecondnatureandanintegralpartofourpersonality.Wecomeinto

theworldasindividuals,achievecharacter,andbecomepersons.13

As such, for a spectatorwatching a film like StoriesWe Tell, the range of ‘selves’

offeredby the filmmaker shouldnotonlybeunderstoodas logical becauseof the

factthatallofusare‘performing’inonewayoranother,butalsonecessarybecause

‘itisintheserolesthatweknowourselves’.Forthedeterminedautobiographer,this

isoftenthemodusoperandiofthefilmedundertaking.However, theoppositecan

alsobetrue,wherethefilmmaker/autobiographerseekstointentionallycomplicate

ormuddytherepresentationalwatersbyusingthesevariousroles.ErvingGoffman

demonstratesthisbycontrastinghisdefinitionof‘biography’withthepresentation

12Anderst,‘Memory’sChorus’,p.29.13RobertEzraPark,RaceandCulture(Glencoe,Ill:TheFreePress,1950),pp.249-50.

89

of the individual in society.Hebeginsby identifying thatweassumeaperson can

onlyhaveonebiographywhichcontains‘everythinganindividualhasdoneandcan

actuallydo’.14This,forGoffman,isaprioritrueregardlessofhowfalse, incoherent

ormanipulativethe individual’s life is.However,Goffmannotesthatthisdefinition

of biography ‘is in sharp contrast to the multiplicity of selves one finds in the

individual in looking at him from the perspective of social role,where, if role and

audiencesegregationarewell-managed,hecanquitehandilysustaindifferentselves

andcantoadegreeclaimtobenolongersomethinghewas.’15StoriesWeTellisone

such text whose performative representational strategies invite the spectator to

considerthestorieswerecountaboutourownfamilies.

IftheautobiographicalconfessionalacthasexistedsinceAugustine’swriting

inthefourthcenturythen,‘[a]tleastsincetheGreeks,arthasbeenjudgedcapable

of yielding “cathartic” effects for artist and audience alike through the public

disclosureofconcealedimpulsesandsecretwishes,secondarilyrevised’.16ForSarah

Polley, this ‘cleansing’ throughartwasaprocesswhichrevealedahiddenheritage

maskedbymultiplenarrativesandinternalisedmemoriesandthoughts.Anditwas

anexercisewhichshehopedwouldpromptthefilm’saudiencetoconsiderwhatwas

‘real’ornotinherdocumentaryandtheirownfamilylives.17Centraltothisprocess

is the act of storytelling which is a process that includes internal/external and

private/publicspaces.

Ashasbeenpreviouslydemonstrated,StoriesWeTellisinextricablylinkedto

storytelling (interviewees, Sarah filming, acting heritage, etc.). This is the internal

made external, filtered through either the physical body (mouth) or an exterior

surrogateapparatus(pen,camera).However,thedocumentary‘works’,accordingto

thisdialectic,inotherwaysatthenarrativeandaestheticlevel.

Firstly,thestorycontentofStoriesWeTell,thefactthatSarahlearnsofher

paternalorigins,isasourceoftensioncentredonthedesiretobetrueaboutoneself

andthepaintherevelationofthisstorycouldcausetothoseinvolved.Polleydidnot14ErvingGoffman,Stigma:NotesoftheManagementofSpoiledIdentity(Harmondsworth:Pelican,1968),p.81.15Ibid.,p.81.16MichaelRenov,TheSubjectofDocumentary(Minneapolis:UniversityofMinnesotaPress,2004),p.195.17Porton,‘InterviewwithSarahPolley’.

90

tellMichaelofherdiscoveryuntilnearlyayearafterfindingoutand,asisdetailedin

thefilm,shesoughttoretainownershipofthestoryforafurtherfiveyearsbytrying

toconvince journalistsnot to reveal it in thepress.18Sarah’swish tomanagewho

knows about her family secret becomes the source of a certain degree of strain

between her and Harry, who believes that it is he who holds the most reliable

information.

Harry plans towrite amemoir and subsequently publish it. In the film,we

heara sequenceof fraughtemailexchangesbetweenGulkinandSarahwhere she

explainsthatthestoryneedstobetoldasacombinationofallthoseinvolved.Harry

saysthatthiswoulddistort the ‘truth’,andthatthe inclusionof themain ‘players’

(Harry,Diane)andthentheirrelatives,closefriendsandacquaintanceswouldbelike

a web opening out and becoming larger until the ‘truth’ becomes distorted and

elusive. It is implied inthefilmthatHarry’splantopublishhisversionofthestory

promptsSarahtobeginherdocumentaryprojectwhich includes thisverycomplex

‘web’whentheaboveexchangecutstoshotsofSarahpreparingtofilm.

Theaestheticchoicetoincludestagedhomemoviesappearsconsistentwith

the rest of the film’s style and is significant considering the internal/external

dichotomy. To begin with, some of these ‘mock-home movies’ are conspicuous

regardingeithertheirdifficultytohavebeenfilmed(Diane’sfuneralforinstance),or

implausibilitythatacamerawouldbepresenttorecord(suchasthesequencesata

bar inMontrealwhenHarryandDianemeetforthefirsttime).Therefore,through

someintervieweetestimonybutpredominantlyherownimagination,Sarahcreates

thesescenes.Indeed,Sarahwouldnothavebeenaliveforsomeofthem.Memoryof

herchildhoodhomelivingwithMichaelandDianecouldhaveinfluencedherdécor

design and she cast actors who bear a striking resemblance to their real-life

counterparts.Theimpressionthatthesemoviesareauthenticandindistinguishable

from the other archive home-movie footage Polley intersperses into the film is

enhancedbythefauxsupereightfilmstocktreatmentoftheimages.Furthermore,

the soundtrack contributes to thismise-en-abyme structure which plays excerpts

fromPlayMeaMovie,a1971recordingfortheSmithsonianbyAbrahamLassbased

18BrianD.Johnson,‘ThisDocumentaryNeedsaSpoilerAlert(Review)’,Maclean's,125:40(2012).

91

on his experience as a neighbourhood movie pianist in the 1920s.19 The tinkling

pianomelodies that accompany the silent home-movie footage in StoriesWe Tell

aurallytransportthespectatorbacktoearlyfilmandcreatetheimpressionthatwe

arewatchinga‘phantomparadigmaticfilmfromourmemories’.20

I recently screened Stories We Tell for a second year documentary film

moduleattheUniversityofSouthampton.Inanumberofcases,itwasonlywhenwe

came to discuss the film in seminars that some students discovered some of this

footage had been ‘faked’. Polley herself has been surprised by just how many

spectators of the film have been taken in by these scenes.21 The subsequent

revelation that large sections of Stories We Tell have been created from the

director’simaginationhasadirectimpactonhowthespectatorwatchestherestof

the film, considerswhat theyhaveviewedbefore the realisation,orhowtheywill

analyse the filmupon a second viewing. Consequently, the fact that viewers have

been ‘duped’ by the recreations makes sense in a film which addresses the

multifacetednatureofeverydayperformance.

Conclusion

According to art historian Ellen Handler Spitz, ‘[If] artistic creativity consists in

structuring the bewildering chaos of external stimuli, then wemust acknowledge

that it drawson and likewise reveals the ordering of inner turbulence, of fantasy,

and dream.’22 Psychoanalytic theorist Fred Busch, commenting on Polley’s films,

elaboratesonHandlerSpitz’scommentswhenhewrites that ‘what isofparticular

interest to us as psychoanalysts is how successful the creative process is in

representingpersonalexperiencesothattherepresentationsareofinterest[to]or

affectawideraudience.’23Therefore,Polley’splayfulnegotiationof‘real’andstaged

archivefootagecanbereadasanattempttoengagewithheraudienceasmuchas

19SophieMayer,‘StoriesWeTell(Review)’,Sight&Sound,23:7(July2013),p.87.20Ibid.,p.87.21Porton,‘InterviewwithSarahPolley’.22EllenHandlerSpitz(1988)quotedinFredBusch,‘WorkingthroughSarahPolley'sStoriesWeTell(andtheissueofcreativeexpression)’,TheInternationalJournalofPsychoanalysis,96:2(2015),477-49123Ibid.

92

herownmemoriesandidentityconstructionsothattheymightconsidertheirown

familyhistoryandthatsometimestruthcanbestrangerthanfiction.

93

Bibliography

Anderst,Leah, ‘Memory'sChorus:StoriesWeTellandSarahPolley'sTheory

ofAutobiography’,SensesofCinema,69<http://sensesofcinema.com/2013/feature-

articles/memorys-chorus-stories-we-tell-and-sarah-polleys-theory-of-

autobiography/>[Accessedon:15/11/2017]

Austin, J.L., Philosophical Papers, ed. by J.O. Urmson and G.J. Warnock,

SecondEdition(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1970)

Bruzzi,Stella,NewDocumentary:SecondEdition(Routledge,2006)

Busch,Fred,‘WorkingthroughSarahPolley'sStoriesWeTell(andtheissueof

creativeexpression)’,TheInternationalJournalofPsychoanalysis,96:2(2015),477-

491

Goffman, Erving, Stigma: Notes of the Management of Spoiled Identity

(Harmondsworth:Pelican,1968)

Johnson, Brian D., ‘This Documentary Needs a Spoiler Alert (Review)’,

Maclean's,125:40(2012)

Mayer,Sophie,‘StoriesWeTell(Review)’,Sight&Sound,23:7(2013),87

Park,RobertEzra,RaceandCulture(Glencoe,Ill:TheFreePress,1950)

Porton,Richard, ‘FamilyViewing:An Interviewwith SarahPolley’,Cineaste,

38:3(2013),36-40

Raw,Laurence,‘StoriesWeTell(Review)’,Film&History:AnInterdisciplinary

JournalofFilmandTelevisionStudies,44:1(2014),15-17

Renov, Michael, The Subject of Documentary (Minneapolis: University of

MinnesotaPress,2004)

Ward,Sarah,‘TellingMorethanStories’,Metro,178(2013),52-55

Filmography

LiesMyFatherToldMe.JánKadár.CanadianFilmDevelopmentCorporation.

Canada.1975

The Sweet Hereafter. Atom Egoyan. Alliance Communications Corporation.

Canada.1997

TheSecretLifeofWords.IsabelCoixet.ElDeseo.Spain/Ireland.2005

AwayfromHer.SarahPolley.FoundryFilms.Canada/UK/USA.2006

94

TakeThisWaltz.SarahPolley.Joe’sDaughter.Canada/Spain/Japan.2011

StoriesWeTell.SarahPolley.NationalFilmBoardofCanada.Canada.2012

95

‘ZolotyiVeresen(GoldenSeptember).ChroniclesofGalicia1939-1941’

andtheformationofUkrainiannationalidentity

SolomiiaKratsylo

UniversityofSouthampton

The first Ukrainian documentary about the Soviet occupation of western Ukraine

(1939-1941),GoldenSeptember,wasreleasedin2010.Thedocumentaryhasenjoyed

greatpopularity inUkraine,especially in itswesternpart,yethasseenlittle, ifany,

critique. This paper will begin to rectify this shortfall. It will examine how the

documentary film apposes individual memories in narrating/creating collective

memoryandtheextenttowhichGoldenSeptemberisadeliberateattempttoshape

modern Ukrainian collective identity through a selective representation of the

Galician occupation. This documentary fits into the nationalisation of historical

memoryandexternalisationofthecommunistpast,whichinpost-Sovietandformer

Sovietsatellitestatesservesthepurposeofsymbolicdistancingfromthecommunist

past and reinvention of these countries as European.1 In order to critically assess

Golden September, it will be necessary to consider the extent to which this

documentary is a self-conscious attempt to provide a Ukrainian counterweight to

more commonplace Jewish and Polish perspectives of WWII events.2 Firstly, I will

introduce a historical context, then will consider the issue of collective memory

construction and credulity of oral history onwhich the documentary heavily relies.

Next,Iwillmoveontotheroleofdocumentariesincontributingtotheconstruction

of collective identity and will discuss whether Golden September sets out to fight

existingmythsandcreatenewones.

1TatianaZhurzhenko,‘TheGeopoliticsofMemory’,Eurozine(May2007)<www.eurozine.com/thegeopolitics-of-memory/>[Accessed:04/05/2017].2ForaJewishnarrativeseeDieterPohl,‘Anti-JewishPogromsinWesternUkraine-AResearchAgenda’,inSharedHistory-DividedMemory:JewsandOthersinSoviet-OccupiedPoland,1939–1941,ed.byEleazarBarkan,ElizabethA.Cole,andKaiStruve(Leipzig:LeipzigerUniversitätsverlag,2007),pp.305-313;foraPolishnarrativesee,JanT.Gross,RevolutionfromAbroad(Princeton:PrincetonUniversityPress,1988);forbothJewishandPolishnarrativessee,BenCionPinchuk,‘FacingHitlerandStalin:OntheSubjectofJewish“Collaboration”inSoviet-OccupiedEasternPoland,1939–1941’,inContestedMemories:PolesandJewsDuringtheHolocaustandItsAftermath,ed.byJoshuaD.Zimmerman(NewBrunswick,N.J.,2003),pp.61-68.

96

Tostart,itisworthcontextualisingtheeventsofthedocumentary.Halychyna,oras

itisnowknowninforeignsources,Galicia,isaterritory,theeasternpartofwhichis

locatedwithinmodernUkraine.ItsnamecomesfromthecityofHalych,thecapital

oftheHalych-VolynKingdom,whichreacheditsheightinthe13thcentury.3Fromthe

14thcenturyHalychynabecamepartofthePolishKingdom.Itwasaroundthattime

that the Latinised version ofHalychyna appeared, which isGalicia. Following the

divisionofPolandin1772,HalychynawasabsorbedbytheAustrianEmpire,thenin

1918UkraineproclaimedindependenceandHalychyna(Galicia)wasunitedwiththe

landsofGreaterUkrainewithitscapitalinKyiv.In1920,followingthedefeatinthe

Polish-Ukrainianwar,HalychynaagaincameunderPolishruleuntilthebeginningof

theSecondWorldWarinSeptember1939.4

Galiciain1939wasaverycomplexpartofEurope.AsincentralLviv,in1939

youweremore likely to hear Polish or Yiddish thanUkrainian, however since the

reconfigurationofEuropeof1945LvivhasbeenpartofmodernUkraineandtoday

overwhelmingly self-identifies as Ukrainian.5 Importantly, most Western

historiographyof theaftermathof theMolotov-RibbentropagreementseesGalicia

aslittledifferentfromanyotherpartofPoland.6GoldenSeptember,however,whilst

acknowledgingelementsofPolishandJewishculture,framestheeventsof1939to

1941firmlywithinUkrainian identityandwhileGalician identitywasveryfluid,the

filmcrystallisesitintoamainlyUkrainianidentity.

AmongthemodernpopulationofUkrainethereisnocommonlysharedview

on the Soviet attack of Poland of 1939. While western regions of contemporary

3NataliaYakovenko,Znaidavnishykhchasivdokintsia18stolittia[FromtheEarliestTimesuntiltheEndofthe18thCentury]<http://history.franko.lviv.ua/yak_content.htm>[Accessed:11/01/2017][inUkrainian].4YaroslavHrytsak,NarysIstoriyiUkrainy[EssaysinUkrainianHistory:MakingofModernUkrainianNation](Kyiv:Heneza,1996)<http://history.franko.lviv.ua/gryc_content.htm>[Accessed:12/01/2017][inUkrainian].5PiotrEberhardtandJanOwsinski,Ethnicgroupsandpopulationchangesintwentieth-centurycentral-easternEurope:History,data,andanalysis(NewBrunswick,NJ,UnitedStates:M.E.Sharpe,2002),p.123;TimothySnyder,Thereconstructionofnations:Poland,Ukraine,Lithuania,Belarus:1569-1999(NewHaven,CT:YaleUniversityPress,2004).6See,MarekWierzbicki,PolacyiZydziwzaborzesowieckimIIRzeczypospolitej(1939-1941)[PolesandJewsintheSoviet-AnnexedZone.Polish-JewishrelationsintheNorth-easternlandsoftheSecondRepublicunderSovietOccupation1939-1941](Warsaw,2001)[inPolish];DovLevin,TheLesserofTwoEvils:EasternEuropeanJewryUnderSovietRule,1939–1941(Philadelphia,1995).

97

Ukrainesee1939astheSovietinvasionandthebeginningofWorldWarII,forother

partsofthecountryitwasnotuntil1941thatthewarstartedwithNaziGermanyas

they had been absorbed by the Soviet Union back in 1922.7 According to

international law, it was an outspoken aggression that violated a number of

international agreements.8 The Soviet propaganda tried to create a collective

memoryofthiseventstartingwiththeschooltextbooks;thiswasrathersuccessful

asitwasatechniquetheSovietUnionexcelledat.Theprevailingpropagandathesis

arguedthat‘ConsangueniousUkrainiansandBelorussians,wholiveontheterritory

of Polandhavebeenabandonedand left defenceless’.9According to themyth, the

RedArmywaswelcomedinwesternUkraine,thereforethisSeptemberattackinthe

SovietliteraturegotametaphoricnameZolotyiVeresen(GoldenSeptember).Later,

therhetoricchangedandthecommonlyconstructednarrativeheldthatregardless

of the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact, this event should be positively

perceivedbyUkrainiansastheywerefinallyunitedinonestate,whichsurvivedthe

Communist times and became independent.10 The current narrative is that the

tremendouslossthatUkrainewentthroughcannotbejustified.

WhilethelastdecadesofthetwentiethcenturyinWesternEuropeandNorth

Americahavebeendescribedasa‘memoryboom’,inUkraineattentiontomemory

onlybegantoemergeinthetwenty-firstcentury.11EventhoughUkrainebecamean

independentstate in1991after thecollapseof theSovietUnion, thediscourseon

unifiednationdidnotemergeasthecountrysetoffasapolarisedsocietywith‘pro-

Western’westernUkraineand ‘pro-Russian’easternUkraine.12 Itwasnotuntil the

Orange Revolution of 2004 that an open nationwide discussion of the contested

Sovietpastbegan,markingananti-communistnationalnarrativeshiftafterdecades

7AlexandrOsipian,‘HistoricalMyths,EnemyImages,andRegionalIdentityintheDonbasInsurgency’,JournalofSovietandPost-SovietPoliticsandSociety,1:1(2015),109-140.8IncludingTheGerman–PolishNon-AggressionPactofJanuary26,1934.9TetianaHumenyuk,‘Problema“vozzyednanniaZakhidnoyiUkrainyzUkrainskoyuRSRusuchasniyistoriohrafiyi’[Modernhistoriographyandtheproblemof“reunification”ofWestUkrainewiththeUkrainianSovietSocialistRepublic],IstoriyaUkrainy,Malovidomiimena,podiyi,fakty[HistoryofUkraine.Little-knownnames,eventsandfacts],26(2004),41–53(p.44)[inUkrainian].10M.Lytvyn,O.Lutskyi,K.Naumenko,1939:ZakhidnizemliUkrainy[WesternRegionsofUkrainein1939](Lviv:Insytutukrainoznavstva,1999),p.122[inUkrainian].11DirkUffelmann,‘TheoryasMemoryPractice’,inMemoryandTheoryinEasternEuropeed.byUilleamBlacker,AlexandrEtkindandJulieFedor(NewYork:PalgraveMacmillan),pp.103–124(p.1).12OxanaShevel‘ThePoliticsofMemoryinaDividedSociety:AComparisonofPost-FrancoSpainandPost-SovietUkraine’,SlavicReview,70:1(2011),137-164.

98

ofsuppressionofhistoricalfacts.LightandYoungarguethatsuchshiftleadstothe

processof‘othering’oftheideologyofCommunism.13

StudyinghistoricalmemoryinEurope,historianCharlesS.Maiercontrasted

thememoriesoffascistandcommunistcrimesandnotedthatthereisadifference

betweentheintensitywithwhichbothareremembered.Hence,heintroducedthe

term‘hot’memorytodescribetheunfadingpersistenceofNazicrimesincollective

memoryand‘cold’memoryfordiminishedremembranceofStalinistcrimes,where

‘horrorabatesandmemorybecomesdispassionate’.14Alignedwiththeofficialstate

memorypolicy,GoldenSeptemberattemptstobringtotheseStalinistcrimestothe

fore.

TheearliestsociologicalstudyofmemoryisattributedtoMauriceHalbwachs

(1877-1945), a French sociologist who collaborated with Durkheim.15 Eli Zaretsky

venturestodifferentiatebetweentwodifferentconceptsofmemorythathavetheir

roots in different disciplines: the first in neuroscience and academic psychology,

which are concerned with remembering an event; the second originated within

psychoanalysis and is preoccupied with situating an event in a narrative.16

Furthermore,memoryfalls intothedistinctyetrelatedcategoriesof individualand

collective. To remember is ‘tobe tied to collective frameworksof social reference

points that allow memories to be coordinated in time and space. Not only are

memories acquired through society, they are recalled, recognized, and located

socially. Memory also orders the experience and ensures the continuity of

collectivities’.17Golden September can be seen as an attempt to ‘help’ individuals

eithertorecollectorconstructthepastofwhichtheyeitherhavefadingmemories

ornomemoriesatall.

13CraigYoungandDuncanLight,‘Place,NationalIdentityandPost-SocialistTransformations:AnIntroduction’,PoliticalGeography,20:8(2001),941-955(p.946).14CharlesS.Maier,‘HeißesundkaltesGedächtnis.ÜberdiepolitischeHalbwertszeitvonNazismusundKommunismus’[HotMemoryColdMemory:OnthePoliticalHalf-LifeofFascistandCommunistMemory],Transit:EuropeischeRevue,22(2002),153-165[inGerman],availableonlineinEnglishat<www.iwm.at/transit/transit-online/hot-memory-cold-memory-on-the-political-half-life-of-fascist-and-communist-memory/>[Accessed:05/06/2017].15SuzanneVromen,‘Review:MauriceHalbwachsonCollectiveMemory.byLewisA.Coser’,AmericanJournalofSociology,99:2(1993),pp.510–512(p.510).16EliZaretsky,‘Collectivememoryandnarrative:AresponsetoEtkind’,Constellations,16:1(2009),201–204,p.201.17MauriceHalbwachs,‘Thereconstructionofthepast’,inOnCollectiveMemory,trans.byanded.byM.HalbwachsandL.A.Coser(Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,1992),pp.46-51(p.47).

99

The way that societies remember the past is related to the present. The

presentinfluencesthewayweperceivethepastandnewdiscoveriesanddoctrines

change the common perception. Indeed, as Halbwachs observed, nations looking

back at the past tend to be in a crisis becausewhen it becomes difficult to think

about the future,we think about the past.18 In theUkrainian context Zhurzhenko

notesthatmemorypoliticsinUkraineisnotasmuchaboutthepastasitisaboutthe

future and it constructs ‘thegeopolitics of memory’ as well as advantageous

positioningofthecountryontheEuropeanarena.19Communismbeinglonggone,its

memoriesre-emergeoftenfragmented,manipulatedanddisputable.20

Both Maurice Halbwachs and Pierre Nora suggest that the ‘collective

memory’ofanygroupisactuallyamanipulatedconstructionbythosewhomaintain

thepowerandstatustodefinethosememories.21Sincethereareasmanycollective

memoriesastherearegroups,theexplorationofthesememoriescanbeanaccess

pointtodiscoveringthenatureofthesegroups.Thenarrativeofsociety,shapedby

collectivememory,buildsan‘imaginedcommunity’ identity.Modernnation-states,

beinganinventionofmodernity,arenot‘firmlyrootedinthenatureofthings’.22To

ensure their existence, one of the main functions of nation-states as “imagined

communities”hasbeentocreateacollectivememory,drawinguponcommonideas

andbeliefsofpeoplewithinnationalboundariesand,incaseoftheabsenceofsuch

ideas, to invent myths and strongly impose them on citizens while eliminating

‘potentially undermining’ ones.23 Celebrations of victories, commemorations and

eventscreateandreinforcecollectiveidentity.

The Soviet authorities employed the same strategies to create a

supranational state. For this reason, severalmythswere createdandpromoted to

‘glue’mentally,culturallyandlinguisticallydiversepeoples.Amongsuchstrongand

18Halbwachs,‘reconstructionofthepast’.19Zhurzhenko,‘Geopoliticsofmemory’20MichaelGentile,‘Geopoliticalfault-linecities’,inMigrationandtheUkraineCrisis:ATwo-CountryPerspective,ed.byA.Pikulicka-WilczewskaandG.Uehling(Bristol:E-InternationalRelations,2017),pp.6-24(p.14).21DarylBritton,Elegiesofdarkness:CommemorationsofthebombingofPanAm103(SyracuseUniversity,2008),p.9.22AmandaMachin,NationsandDemocracy:NewTheoreticalPerspectives(London:Routledge,2014),p.30.23BenedictAnderson,citedinRossPoole,Nationandidentity(ideas)(London:Taylor&Francis,1999),p.10.

100

mostpowerfulmythsaimedoncreatingahomogenousspacewasthemythofthe

‘GreatVictory’ in the ‘GreatPatrioticWar’which thePutin regimehas refurbished

andcontinuestousetolegitimiseitself.24

Within thecurrentpolitical framework,Russian-backedguerrillas inEastern

UkraineactivelyrelyontheSovietcultural legacy(especiallythememoryofWorld

WarTwo)forlegitimisationoftheiractions.Forexample,theseparatisttankshave

markings that read, ‘Onward to Kyiv!’ echoing the RedArmy’s slogan, ‘Onward to

Berlin!’Likewise,the‘parade’ofUkrainianprisonersofwarinDonetsk,heldbythe

separatists, imitated the ‘parade’ of German POWs in Moscow in 1944.25 The

distance of the events of the Second World War further creates the feeling of

nostalgiaforthe‘greatmarch’totheWest.Ithasbeenproventhatnostalgiaisnot

limitedtosocialhistoryasithasbeenobservedthatthelongerpoliticiansareoutof

office,themorehighlypeopleratethem.Thisphenomenonhasbeencharacterized

asthe‘lawofrisingrecollections’.26

Documentary, ‘usually a reconstruction a re-enactment of another time or

placeforadifferentaudience’,isa‘graphingofhistory,inandthroughthecinematic

imageandtapedsound,ontothepresent’.27Documentaryfilmaimstoeducateand

edify;inthewordsofBillNichols,itisoneofthe‘discoursesofsobriety’thatinclude

science,economics,politics,andhistory-discoursesthatclaimtodescribethe‘real’,

totellthetruth.28

Documentarycinemaisintimatelytiedtohistoricalmemory.Notonlydoesit

seek to reconstruct historical narrative, but it often functions as an historical

document itself.Moreover, the connection between the rhetoric of documentary

filmandhistorical truth lends thedocumentary toovertpoliticalalignmentswhich

24Zhurzhenko(‘Geopoliticsofmemory’)hasalsonotedthatitwasnottherevolutionofAugust1991thathasbecomethefoundingmythofthenewRussia,butthevictoryinWorldWarII,whichhasalsolegitimisedtheEU.25GeorgiyKasianov,‘HowHistoryGoesWrong:HistoricalPoliticsanditsOutcomes’,CulturalAnthropology(October2014)<www.culanth.org/fieldsights/611-how-history-goes-wronghistorical-politics-and-its-outcomes>[Accessed:07/02/2017].26RonaldSteel,‘HarryofSunnybrookFarm’,TheNewRepublic,207(August1992),pp.34-48.27PaulaRabinowitz,‘WreckageuponWreckage:History,DocumentaryandtheRuinsofMemory’,HistoryandTheory,32:2(1993),119-137(pp.119-120).28Ann-LouiseShapiroandJillGodmilow,‘HowRealistheRealityinDocumentaryFilm?’,HistoryandTheory,36:4(1997),80-101(p.80).

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influence its audience.29 The notion of history, according to Bill Nichols, is often

exploited in documentary rhetoric, it resembles a flickering and evasive sunbeam,

‘Alwaysreferredtobutnevercaptured…history,asexcess,rebukesthoselawsset

tocontainit;itcontests,qualifies,resists,andrefusesthem’.30

Thedocumentaryfilmdifferentiatesitselffromnarrativecinemabyclaiming

its status as a truth-telling mode, it poses truth as a moral imperative, which by

definitionshouldendowitwithcredulityandobjectivity.31Thedocumentarythenis

meant to instruct, throughevidence. Yetdocumentary film, inmoreobviousways

than does history, draws on and blurs the categories of fact and fiction, art and

document,entertainmentandknowledge,whichbothexpandspossibilitiesandputs

constrains upon documentary films in terms of representing history.32 Applying

various cinematic devices such as voice-over, montage, intertitles and long takes,

documentaryhasthepotentialtostimulateaudiencestonewunderstandings‘about

social, economic, political, and cultural differences and struggles’.33 Even though

documentary in fact started as pure shooting of real people or events, Robert

Flaherty,knownasthefatherofdocumentary,reliedonre-enactmentandrestaging

toachievefullcoherence.34

Many scholarshowever take issuewithdocumentaries,because they seem

not to fit the generally accepted scholarly framework, i.e., they lack footnotes or

bibliographies. Also, the producers of documentaries rarely explain their

methodologies fordetermining their selectionofwhatwas includedandwhatwas

not in the final production, therefore offering ‘little means of verification or

corroborationtowrittensources’.35

Tomeetthiscriticism,documentarymakersturntotheInternetandestablish

interactive websites. For instance, the website for Golden September comes in

29Rabinowitz,‘WreckageuponWreckage’,p.119.30BillNichols,RepresentingReality:IssuesandConceptsinDocumentary,5thedn(Bloomington:IndianaUniversityPress,1992),p.142.31Rabinowitz,‘WreckageuponWreckage’,p.119-120.32ShapiroandGodmilow,‘HowReal’,p.8033Rabinowitz,‘WreckageuponWreckage’,p.119.34JohnGrierson,‘UnsignedreviewofMoana’,NewYorkSun(February1926).ReprintedinLewisJacobs,TheDocumentaryTradition,2ndedn(NewYork,1979),p.25.35DonaldA.Ritchie,DoingOralHistory(NewYork,NY:MaxwellMacmillanInternational,1994),p.149-150.

102

Ukrainian and English versions,whichmakes it available for awider audience and

has a preview, full-length documentary, several backstage photos and additional

information on eight interviewees with their old family photos and biographies.

However, it would be helpful to have transcripts of interviews and additional

interviewsegments,aswellasadditional linksandbackgroundtext. JarmoValkola

hasemphasisedthatvisualinterpretationdealswithboththeeyesandthebrainand

both films andmemory can trigger and evoke images. In other words, ‘What we

know or have experienced in the past and how we have made sense of these

experiencesandtrackedtheminourmemorymoderatewhatisunderstood’.Based

on this view, memory can produce images of the past, and films can produce

flashbacks. Perception can unite what is apparently disparate.36 This puts

documentaries into a very powerful position as potential tools for constructing or

deconstructing‘desired’collectivememory.

As Isuggestedabove,theway individualsandsocietiesremember isclosely

related to the present context. Similarly, a documentary filmmaker makes a film

‘within the historical present, even as it evokes the historical past.37 As well as

educating, documentaries are set against the policy of forgetting. They often fix

transient people and happenings in time before these are gone and for future

reference,lestweforget.

Nowadaysinterviews,especiallyvideointerviews,whichfallintotherealmof

oralhistory,areperceivedasgivingextracredencetodocumentaries.Iholdthatoral

history, which has at its core a dialogue between the interviewer and the

interviewee,reconstructsthecontext,fittingthehistoriceventsintoa‘livinghistory’

canvass. Perhaps surprisingly, well into the late nineteenth century oral sources

were consulted aswell aswritten ones. However, theGerman school of scientific

history discredited oral sources as less ‘objective’ not considering that whatever

became‘reliable’writtenhistory,oncehadbeenwrittenbya‘subjective’mindwho

might have recorded the information narrated by yet another not so obviously

objectivemind.38

36JarmoValkola,ThoughtsonImages.APhilosophicalEvaluation(Bucharest:ZetaBooks,2012),p.28.37Rabinowitz,‘WreckageuponWreckage’,p.119.38Ritchie,Doingoralhistory,p.20.

103

It was not until themid-twentieth century that history became reconciled

with oral history and the latter embraced interviewing. Much media and public

attention,and,indeed,controversyaboutthetopicwascentredonJosephGould,a

bohemianeccentricinterestedinordinarypeople’sliveswhofalselyclaimedtohave

writtenthe longestoralhistorybookever.Significantshift to furtherembraceoral

testimonials as valid historical sources spawned after the publication of Joseph

Mitchell’s 1942 profile in TheNew Yorker, which proclaimed, ‘What people say is

history…Whatweusedtothinkwashistory–kingsandqueens,treaties,inventions,

bigbattles,beheadings,Caesar,Napoleon,PontiusPilate,Columbus…isonlyformal

history and largely false. I’ll put down the informal history of the shirt-sleeved

multitude–whattheyhadtosayabouttheir jobs…andsorrows–or I’llperish in

theattempt’.39

DeanAlbertson,apropagatoroforalhistory,madeanappreciativecomment

on the introduction of oral history interviews into the documentary: ‘a snappy

narrativeagainstabackgroundofcontemporaneouspopmusicwouldbeprovided,

and voila, a history film’ while oral histories have made documentaries ‘more

intimate,morecompellingandmorecomplex’.40Thevalueofinterviewsisthatthey

willbeavailableforfurtherresearchevenafterinterviewee’sdeath.

Nevertheless, there are challenges gathering and presenting oral data.

Passage of timemight negatively influence the ability to retrieve past accurately.

Also, recalling is subject to ‘reconstructive memory’ – conscious and unconscious

attemptsonpersonalinterpretationofevents,whereeachtimeduringtheprocess

of recalling, the events are not ‘retrieved’ frommemory, but constructed anew.41

Another issue to be reckoned with is that people tend to say what they think is

important,whichmightbeimpertinenttothetopicoftheinterview.Thismakesoral

historiansinterestednotjustinwhatpeopleremember,butalsoinwhattheyforget

or are unwilling to relate. That said, while oral testimonies have their flaws and

39JosephMitchell,‘Profile:ProfessorSeaGull’,TheNewYorker(December1942)<http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1942-12-12#folio=CV1>[Accessed:17/01/2017].40DeanAlbertson,citedinRitchie,Doingoralhistory,p.149;Ritchie,Doingoralhistory,p.149.41PaulGladston,‘InterviewsanddocumentarysourcesinChinesecontemporaryartresearch:Towardsthecriticaluseofpolylogues’,ArtLibrariesJournal,39:2(2014),20–26,p.23.

104

limitations, theydefinitelyhelpcreatea largerpicturewhencriticallyassessedand

properlyintegratedintoarespectivehistoricalcontext.42

Compared to the late nineteenth century when the importance of oral

history became almost nullified, now certain directors have reached another

extreme by minimising the role of the narrator and extending that of the

intervieweesonthesuppositionthatsolelythosewho‘werethere’havefullrightsto

speak for history.43 Since I hold that oral history is not any more or less reliable

sourceofinformationthananyotherone,thesetestimoniesshouldbeperceivedas

veritable aswritten or other sources. In terms of techniques andmeans used for

exploring the subject,Golden September remindsusof amini-lecture,withuseof

interviewswith survivors, stock footage, re-enactment, interviewswith historians,

intertitlesandmaps.

Toensurethatmultiplestoriesandmultiplevoicesareheard,thefilmcrew

interviewed Ukrainian, Polish and Jewish survivors, with Ukrainians the majority.

These testimonialspresentuswith in-depthaccounts showingmixedviewson the

arrival of the Soviet Armed Forces in September 1939. InterviewedUkrainian and

Jewish men at first had high hopes concerning the new authorities: Oleksandr

Hrynkorecollected, ‘Wewerecongratulatedonthe liberation, theytoldus to take

powerinourhands...’;BorisPlowmanrecalled,‘Theypromisedthattherewouldbe

aparadise,happylife,andallbelievedinthat...’.44Thesecondquotationcontainsa

clear overstatement as not all believed in and welcomed the new authority.

However,‘we’couldalsoimplyeitherhisfamilyorhiscommunity,whichweareleft

to guess. Following interviewees express concern about the Soviet Army arrival.

DariusPolyuhasaid, ‘Wewereanxiousoftheirarrival…becauseweknewwhothe

Bolshevikswere...thattheyneitherbelievedinGodnorrecognizedanyreligion...’;

andOlgaPopadynreiterated,‘Weknowthehistory,weknowhowtheytreatedand

murderedUkrainiansineastUkraine,sowewereexpectingitallhere...’.45Through

42OmerBartovprovidesvaluablereflectionsonthistopicregardinghisprojectonthehistoryofBuczacz,see,OmerBartov,‘FromtheHolocaustinGaliciatoContemporaryGenocide:CommonGround–HistoricalDifferences’,JosephandRebeccaMeyerhoffAnnualLecture,17Dec.2002,UnitedStatedMemorialHolocaustMuseum,Washington.43Ritchie,Doingoralhistory,p.149.44GoldenSeptember,dir.byTarasKhymych(InvertPictures,2010);Ibid.,myemphasis.45Ibid.

105

theabovequotes itbecomesclear that therewasanambivalenceat theoutsetof

theSovietrule,whichlaterchangedintofearanddesperationasillustratedlateron

in the film through various means including testimonials. For instance, Bohuslava

Brylarecalledthefollowing:‘Thecommunistscoinedaslogan:“Thecoloniseristhe

Ukraine’s fiercest enemy”, and then they began to deport Polish and Ukrainian

landownersandeventhosewhomovedfromvillagestoliveinhamlets’.46

Inhisquestforthetruthsurroundingtheevents,TarasKhymych,thedirector

of the documentary, invited renowned historians to comment on the historical

events that the film explores. Importantly, apart from Ukrainian historians, the

events are commented by Tarik Cyril Amar, Assistant Professor of History at

Columbia University, which I argue was meant to add more credibility to the

documentary and to bring Ukrainian discourse to the international agenda. The

documentarywouldhoweverhaveevenmorebalancedview if it also interviewed

NKVDperpetrators.

Musicandvisualimagesareusedtosupporttheprimarynarrative.Lyubomyr

Solomchenko, the composer,matched the propagandistic scenes of a parade and

torture sceneswith sinistermusic that evokeshorror andoutbursts of emotion in

depictions of terror. Also, aiming to re-create the mid-twentieth-century

atmosphere, period songs (in Ukrainian) performed by popular contemporary

Ukrainian singers and bandswere fitted into the film. The use ofmaps and stock

footageofearlywarvideosaswellasinterlinesareusedtogivelocation,dateand

informationonthesedistantevents.Thedocumentaryalsocontainsscripteddrama

–performancesbyprofessionalactors.Here,‘theother’,namelytheimbricationof

theSoviet,RussianandNKVDfiguresisneverthelessusedtoconstructthenotionof

the other suggesting a bipolarity where Galician survivors are presented in sharp

contrasttoRussianperpetrators.GretaUehlinghasnotedthatthatessentialisation

of the Other is prevalent where ‘the past has never been fully mourned or put

away’.47

46Ibid.47GretaUehling,‘AHybridDeportation:InternallyDisplacedfromCrimeainUkraine’,inMigrationandtheUkraineCrisis.ATwo-CountryPerspective,ed.byAgnieszkaPikulicka-WilczewskaandGretaUehling(Bristol:E-InternationalRelationsPublishing,2017),pp.62-77(p.72).

106

Ahistoricaldocumentarynotonlyinformsusaboutthepast,butpromptsus

toactinrelationtoit.TarasKhymychadmittedthathisshootingcrewhadapre-set

agenda for Golden September, which lay in creating an antithesis of Soviet

propaganda ‘Stirringethnic-basedanimositywasbynomeans theobjectiveofour

documentary… We wanted to show the Soviet Union not as a state, but as a

dictatorshipregime,devoidofanyparticularnationalfeatures…Weshouldrealise

its killing nature and prevent it from happening again … the film targets the

totalitarian system, not Russians. The Soviets came here not only represented by

onenation,therewerealsoKyrgyzandUkrainiansfromEasternUkraine’.48

Indeed, the film fills in a blank space on themap of contemporary readily

available information on this dark period of history, leaving the audience aware

aboutthepresentandbetterinformedtoactandmakechoices.Ibelieveweshould

not simply rememberand commemorate,but contextualiseand situate theSoviet

historyinameaningfulnarrative,while‘commemorationrunstheriskofbeingself-

congratulatorywhereasanarrative includeshistoricalself-understandingaboutthe

present’.49

If,asHalbwachssuggested,‘[the]mindreconstructsitsmemoriesunderthe

pressure of society’, then creating collective narratives, including documentaries,

could also shape individual narrative.50 I contend that this documentary is a self-

consciousattempttoprovideacounterweighttothemorecommonplaceJewishand

Polish perspectives and is a counter-narrative to the myth of ‘Fascist-Banderite’

threat continuously projected upon western Ukraine and show this area and

Ukrainians as victimsof Soviet atrocities.51 Indeed, it is possible to say that Polish

48PikkardiyskaTertsiyaozvuchylafilmZolotyiVeresen[PikkardiyskaTertsiyasignsforthepremiereofGoldenSeptember](ZiK,1July2010)<http://zik.ua/news/2010/07/01/pikardiyska_tertsiya_ozvuchyla_film_zolotyy_veresen_ta_yogo_premieru_235251>[Accessed:06/01/2017][inUkrainian].49Zaretsky,Collectivememoryandnarrative,p.203.50Halbwachs,Thereconstructionofthepast,p.51.51Thecommonnoun‘Banderivtsi’(‘Banderites’)emergedinthe1950sfromthenameoftheleaderoftheOrganisationofUkrainianNationalists,StepanBanderatodesignatenotonlyUkrainiannationalists,butalsowesternUkrainiansorevenanyonewhospokeUkrainian.Today,theterm‘Banderivtsi’isnotneutralinpublicdebateandisusedeitherpejorativelyorproudly,see:AndriyPortnov,‘BanderamythologiesandtheirtrapsforUkraine’,OpenDemocracy(June2016)<www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/andrii-portnov/bandera-mythologies-and-their-traps-for-ukraine>[Accessed:20/05/2017].InthestruggleforUkrainianindependence,BanderainitiallyalliedwithGermany’sThirdReichtobeshortlyimprisonedinSachsenhausenasanindependentUkrainian

107

andJewishnarrativesareunderrepresentedinthisdocumentary,butsometimesin

ordertotellonestory,wehavetoforgetabouttheotherone.

Documentarieslikethisserveasatransitionalstepintothe‘workingthrough

ofloss’from‘indulgenceinsweetsadness’.52TheRevolutionofDignityin2014-2015

hasbroughtthesolidificationofUkrainiannationalidentityandthesenseofpolitical

agency,whichisthenextstepaftermourningandvictimisation.53

statewasnotalignedwiththeNaziagenda,yetthisledtothelabellingofBandera,hisfollowersandevenUkrainiansand‘fascists’,see,AnthonyFaiola,‘NazicollaboratororUkrainianhero,ahistoricalfigureemergesasiconofcrisis’,WashingtonPost<www.washingtonpost.com/world/a-ghost-of-world-war-ii-history-haunts-ukraines-standoff-with-russia/2014/03/25/18d4b1e0-a503-4f73-aaa7-5dd5d6a1c665_story.html?utm_term=.920689e898ca>[Accessed:07/05/2017];MarcoSiddi,‘TheUkrainecrisisandEuropeanmemorypoliticsoftheSecondWorldWar’,EuropeanPoliticsandSociety(2016)<www.researchgate.net/publication/310795272_The_Ukraine_crisis_and_European_memory_politics_of_the_Second_World_War>[Accessed05/02/2017];AlexandrOsipian,‘HistoricalMyths,EnemyImages,andRegionalIdentityintheDonbasInsurgency(2014)’,JournalofSovietandPost-SovietPoliticsandSociety,1:1(2015),109-140.52Maier,‘HeißesundkaltesGedächtnis’.53ThecivilrevolutioninUkraine,alsoknownastheEuromaidanRevolution,formoredetailsseeYuriyShvedaandParkHoJoung,‘Ukraine’sRevolutionofDignity:TheDynamicsofEuromaidan’,JournalofEurasianStudies,7:1(2016),85–91.

108

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112

CollaborationandResistanceattheParisOpéra:Nationalismand

resistanceinthefirstOccupationballetpremiere,2July1941

AbaighMcKee

UniversityofSouthampton

The Occupation of France during the Second World War is a complicated and

controversialperiodofhistory.Whilemanysufferedthehardshipof lifeunderNazi

rule, one area flourished: theOccupation is one of themost productive periods in

Paris’artistichistory.ExistingliteratureexaminesculturallifeduringtheOccupation

but there is little that looksat theParisOpéraand thenewballets createdby the

company,despite their successduring theperiod. In fact, theParisOpéra ismostly

defined by the claims made by its artistic director, Serge Lifar, a Russian

choreographerwhospentthewarsocialisingwiththeGermanforces(andclaimedto

have met Hitler). His fabrications, combined with the lack of scholarship, make it

difficulttoseparatemythfromreality.TheOccupationwasafortuitoustimeforthe

ParisOpéra,butthissuccesscameatacost,asmembersofthecompanywerelater

tried for collaboration. This paper uses primary sourcematerial including personal

andbureaucratic correspondence,musical scores andperformanceprogrammes to

understandtheballetcompany’sfirstballetpremiereduringtheOccupationfroma

musicological,historical,politicalandculturalperspective.Examinationofrepertoire

performed by the ballet company and case studies of two Occupation ballets, La

Princesseaujardin(Grovlez)andLeChevalieretlaDamoiselle(Gaubert),both1941,

demonstrates that the company accommodated the Nazis whilst simultaneously

asserting French nationalism and interacting with the Resistance, offsetting

Goebbels’ cultural propaganda. Through thediscussionof these long-forgottenbut

culturally and politically significant ballets, this paper contributes to scholarship

concerning cultural life during the Occupation, and offers another way of

understandingtherealityofthisperiod.

Introduction

113

On 14 June 1940 the German Wehrmacht marched into Paris unchallenged and

withinweeksmore than half the countrywas underNazi Occupation. The French

composer Francis Poulenc, who had been called up by the French Army, was

demobilised inthesouthofFrancewherehebegansketchinghisnewballetbased

on the fables of La Fontaine. Les Animaux modèles, which contains a musical

quotationfromananti-Germanresistancesong,wasperformedforthefirsttimeat

thePalaisGarnier,homeoftheParisOpéraBallet,on8August1942toanaudience

of German Wehrmacht officers and Parisian socialites. ‘Each time the trumpet

hammered out the theme,’ said Poulenc ten years later, ‘I could not stopmyself

smiling.’1Hismessage,whichwasunderstoodbymembersoftheorchestraandthe

Frenchaudience—butnotby theGermans—wasoneofdefiance;anunwillingness

to be defeated. ‘You couldGermanize our land,’ proclaims the song, ‘but youwill

never have our hearts.’2 This article demonstrates the ways in which French

nationalism was promoted at the Paris Opéra in music and ballet a year before

Poulenc’spublicactofculturalresistance.Twolittle-knownOccupationballetswhich

werepremieredat thePalaisGarnieron2July1941,LaPrincesseau jardinandLe

ChevalieretlaDamoiselle,willbediscussed.Theseballetswereusedasvehiclesfor

political meaning early in the Occupation before larger, more violent displays of

resistance in wider society, demonstrating the Paris Opéra’s commitment to the

promotionofFrenchculture.

ThearrivaloftheGermanarmycausedthousandsofpeopletofleethecity,

amongstthemmanyoftheworld’sleadingartistsandintellectuals,thussymbolising

the end of Paris’ reign as the cultural capital of the world.3 The arrival of the

Wehrmacht, which was often described as a feeling of having been raped—un

sentimentdeviol—putanendtothecreativefreedomthathaddefinedParisforone

hundred years. Theatres, museums, schools, offices and factories closed as four

fifthsofthecapital’spopulationtemporarilyfledsouthtotheunoccupiedzone.And

yet,thoughtheNazishadtakentheland,theyhadnotconqueredthecreativeand1FrancisPoulenc,EntretiensavecClaudeRostand(Paris:Julliard,1954),p.58.2NigelSimeone,‘MakingMusicinOccupiedParis’,TheMusicalTimes,147(2006),25-30.SeealsoLeslieSprout,TheMusicalLegacyofWartimeFrance(USA:UniversityofCaliforniaPress,2013),p.1-4.3SeePatriceHigonnet,Paris,CapitaleduMonde:DesLumièresauSurréalisme(Paris:Tallandier,2005).

114

intellectual minds that continued to work and produce during four years of

Occupation.

TheParisOpéraremainedopenformostofthisperiod,entertainingboththe

Germans and the French with its resident opera and ballet companies. At times

draped inNazi flagswithWehrmacht officers occupying the best seats, the Palais

Garnier housed a network of machinists and engineers active in the Resistance

whilst the artistic director and choreographer, Serge Lifar, attended parties at the

German Institute and visited Hitler in Berlin (activities which would later lead to

accusations of collaboration). This complex situation in many ways embodies the

contradictions inFrenchsocietyduring theOccupation,withdifficultchoicesbeing

made in everyday life, occupier and occupied, collaborator and resister living

alongsideoneanother.Actsofresistanceweresubtle,andrésistantstriedtoappeal

to their French counterparts whilst going undetected by the Germans. Cultural

association was one way of striking this balance, hence Poulenc’s inclusion of a

resistancesonginhisballet.

MuchoftheinformationabouttheParisOpéraBalletduringtheOccupation

comes from Serge Lifar’s own writing, which is problematic as he is a renowned

embellisher and self-aggrandiser.4 The myths surrounding this period play down

Lifar’sfraternisationwiththeGermans,thoughweknowhewentaboveandbeyond

whatwasnecessaryinhisaccommodationoftheOccupiers.5

WhilstPoulenc’sLesAnimauxmodèlesisthemostwell-knownworktohave

beenpremieredattheParisOpéraduringtheOccupation,itwasnottheonlyballet

tobecreatedduringthistimenorwasittheonlyballettoconveyasubtlepolitical

message. Nevertheless, it is the only work that has been discussed at length in

academic scholarship, as Poulenc is the best-known of the Occupation ballet

composers. In fact, four further ballets were created and performed by the Paris

Opéra ballet company during the Occupation—all danced to music by French

composers. Joan de Zarissa, by the German composer Werner Egk, was re-

4SeeSergeLifar,MaVie:AnAutobiography(London:Hutchinson&Co.,1970);SergeLifar,LesMémoiresd’Icare(Paris:ÉditionsSauret,1993).5ForadiscussionofLifar’sactivitiesduringtheOccupation,seeMarkFranko,‘SergeLifaretlaquestiondelacollaborationaveclesautoritésallemandessousl’Occupation(1940–1949)’,VingtièmeSiècle:Revued’histoire,132(Oct.–Dec.2016),27-41.

115

choreographedbyLifarandpresentedin1942asasymbolofFrenchandGermanco-

operation.Themusical,historicalandpoliticalsignificanceoftheseworkshasyetto

beexplored,thoughtheballetsthemselves—andtheirreceptioninOccupiedParis—

tellusimportantinformationaboutculturallifeinOccupiedParis.

BalletrepertoireattheParisOpéra,1937-1947

Following the implementation of Nazi censorship laws in the Occupied zone,

theatres were required to submit their proposed repertoire to the Propaganda-

Abteilung for approval. There were restrictions on the performance of music by

Germancomposers(non-GermancompanieswerenotallowedtoperformWagner,

for example), and the performance of works by Jewish composers was strictly

forbidden,thoughtherearefrequentcontradictionsandexceptionstotheserules.6

Analysisofprogrammes from thePalaisGarnier reveals thatballetwasperformed

more frequently during the Occupation than ever before.7 Productions of new

balletsalsoflourishedduringtheOccupationwithballetsproducedeachyearboth

tooriginalmusicandtoexistingcompositions.

ThenumberofoverallperformanceeveningsatthePalaisGarnierincreased

steadily from 1937 to 1947, from 206 evenings in 1937 to 244 evenings in 1947,

thoughtherewassignificantirregularityinthenumberofperformancesduringthis

time:adirect resultof thepracticalitiesofwarandOccupation.ThePalaisGarnier

brieflyclosedaftertheoutbreakofwarandagainaftertheArmisticeinJune1940,

butbytheendoftheyearnormalperformanceprogrammeshadresumed—though

withamuchhigherpercentageofall-balleteveningsinthelastfourmonthsof1940

than before the war. The number of opera performances declined from 61% of

performanceeveningsbeforetheOccupationto51%attheendof1940,whileall-

ballet performances rose from 12% to 30% during the same time. Mixed

programmes (where a short ballet provided a divertissement to a longer opera)

declinedfrom28%beforetheOccupationto19%ofperformancesattheendofthe

6Sprout,MusicalLegacyofWartimeFrance,p.16.7AnalysiswascarriedoutthroughadatabaseofperformancesattheParisOpéracreatedbytheauthorusingprogrammesfromtheBibliothèqueMuséedel’OpéraattheBnF,France;theArchivesdelaVilledeLausanne(FondsLifar),Switzerland;andthewebsiteChronopéra,(2009)<www.chronopera.free.fr>(May-September2016).

116

1940. The higher percentage of ballet programming continued throughout the

Occupation: from 1940-1944 ballet programmes account for nearly a third of

performances (29%),while the number of operas declined from 61% to 54%, and

mixedprogrammesdecline from28% to13%.Themost influential factor in this is

likelythattheGermancensorshiplawsforbadeperformancesofcertainrepertoire,

which had a greater effect on opera than it did ballet, as many operas in the

company’s repertoire were written by German composers. The cheaper cost of

stagingballet,andSergeLifar’sincreaseincelebrityduringtheOccupationmayalso

have contributed to the decision to stage more ballet. These factors encouraged

ballet’s prominence during theOccupation, increasing its impact and influence on

culturallife.

During the Occupation thirteen new ballets by the Paris Opéra Ballet

premiered—all but one choreographed by Lifar. Five of these were created to

original music: the aforementioned La Princesse au jardin, Le Chevalier et la

DamoiselleandLesAnimauxmodèles;aswellasGuignoletPandore(1943)andLes

Mirages (1944). Many classical ballets remained in the repertoire and acts from

nineteenth-century ballets Coppélia and Giselle were among the most regularly

performed, alongwith Ballets Russes spectacles such as Le Spectre de la rose and

Préludeà l'après-midid'un faune. Incontrast,muchof theoperarepertoireduring

thesameperiodconsistedofnineteenth-centuryfavouritessuchasFaust,Rigoletto

andFidelio. TherewerenonewoperasduringtheOccupation,thoughtherewere

fivenewly-stagedproductionsofolderworks.

Aside fromthe frequencyofperformance, theballetprogrammes fromthe

PalaisGarnierduringtheOccupationdemonstrateimportantlinksbetweenLifar,the

OpéraballetandtheGermanEmbassyandInstitute.Therearetwoprogrammesfor

performancesthattookplaceattheGermanEmbassyinParis,oneofwhichwason

4September1940,onlyweeksaftertheFallofFrance.Lifarandthecorpsdeballet

alsoappearedinaneveningofmusicandballetattheGermanEmbassyon20March

1941 with popular singer Charles Trenet (who would later be tried for

collaboration).8 Yet, as the musical quote from Poulenc’s Les Animaux modèles

8‘DeutscheBotschaftParis,20.März1941’,FondsLifar,ArchivesdelaVilledeLausanne(AVL).

117

demonstrates, the Paris Opérawas also interactingwith the Resistance (of which

Poulenc was a member, along with conductor Roger Désormière and other Paris

Opéra staffmembers), appealing to a different side of French society.9 At a time

when performance repertoire was restricted by the German authorities, and

Goebbels’ cultural propaganda strove to enforceGerman culture on theOccupied

territories, the repertoire choices at the Paris Opéra allowed for a small French

triumph:Frenchmusiccouldbecelebratedandenjoyed.

FirstOccupationballetpremiere,1941:LaPrincesseaujardinandLeChevalieretla

Damoiselle

The Occupation precipitated the production of two new ballets, La Princesse au

jardin and Le Chevalier et la Damoiselle, both premiered in a Gala evening at the

Paris Opéra on 2 July 1941.10 This was the first performance of newworks there

since the Fall of France, and the choice of music demonstrated the Opéra’s

commitmenttoFrenchmusicandculture.Theeveningwasdescribedinareviewby

ArthurHoneggeras ‘oneofthemoststriking’eveningsthathadtakenplaceatthe

ParisOpéra,thoughLeChevalierwastheoutstandingsuccess.11Thelibretti(story)of

bothballets canbe readaspolitical allegories, and theballets’ settings andmusic

wereadeliberateassertionofFrenchnationalismcreatedinresponsetotheFallof

FranceandtheOccupation.

La Princesse au jardin is a one-act ballet by the composer Gabriel Grovlez

with choreography by Serge Lifar and sets and costumes by Paul Bony. The

choreography has not survived, the score has never been recorded and the ballet

has not received any scholarly attention despite its significance as the first

Occupation ballet premiere and its politically evocative scenario. It had originally

beenconceivedasaballetin1914,butwasnotperformeduntilitspremierein1941,

whenitwaschosenbyOpéraandOpéra-Comiquemanager,JacquesRouché,asthe

first Occupation ballet premiere. Le Chevalier et la Damoiselle, Philippe Gaubert’s

final and most successful composition, premiered on the same evening. As the9SeeHervy,G.andothers,Quandl'OpéraentreenRésistance:lespersonnelsdelaRéuniondesThéâtresLyriquesNationauxsousVichyetl'Occupation(Paris:L’Œild’Or,2007).10Programme,2/7/1941.Carton2238,BnFBibliothèque-Muséedel’Opéra(BMO).11ArthurHonegger,‘GrandePremièreàl’Opéra’Comœdia5/7/1941.BnF.

118

GermanshadapproachedParisinthesummerof1940Gaubert,whowasconductor

andmusicaldirectorattheParisOpéra,hadfledtoCahorsandbegantoworkonhis

newballet. Thechoreographywasby Lifar, andartistCassandredesigned the sets

and costumes. Just six days after the premiere of Le Chevalier Gaubert died of a

stroke.HewaspatrioticandwasdeeplydisturbedbytheGermaninvasionofFrance;

his family have argued that the distress of seeing his beloved Paris under Nazi

Occupation both motivated the ballet’s creation and eventually brought on his

premature death.12 The ballet was unanimously well-received by critics and was

performed more than 40 times during the Occupation, remaining in the Opéra’s

repertoireuntil1957.

ThelibrettoofLaPrincesseaujardinwasadaptedfromapoembyFerdinand

Freiligrath,aGermanpoetandfriendofKarlMarxwhoexpressedhisradicalpolitics

through his poetry. Although there are no references to the exact poem that

inspiredtheballet,‘DerBlumenRache’(TheFlowers’Revenge),closelymatchesthe

librettoofLaPrincesseaujardin.ThoughtheuseofaGermanpoemcouldhavebeen

viewed as demonstrative of collaborationbetween French andGerman culture, in

his lifetime Freiligrath had fled Germany for England to avoid persecution for his

liberalpolitics,returningtoGermanyaftertheGermanRevolutionin1848.

In both ‘Der BlumenRache’ and La Princesse au jardin, a bunchof flowers

cometolife.Theirleader,theIris,guidesthemintobattle,takingrevengeagainsta

beautifulprincessaspunishmentforpickingthemfromthegarden.Thelibrettocan

be read as an allegory for the Occupation of France: the flowers rise against the

princess,foolingherwiththeirbeautyandtheirdancingbeforejoiningtogetherand

defeating her. This interpretation is hinted at in the scenario printed in the ballet

score:theflowersaredescribedas‘résistantes,’thewordchoicedeliberatelyallying

the flowersas resistersagainst theprincesswho invadesandoccupies thegarden,

helpingherselftoitsmostvaluableproduce.13Attheendoftheballettheprincess’

corpseremainsonstage,showingthattheenemyhasbeenavenged.

ThepoliticalallegoryisfurthersupportedbythesymbolicuseoftheIris,who

isportrayedasaknight,gathering the flowersandorganising theirattack.The Iris

12YvettePoiré-Gaubert,PhilippeGaubert(France:S.I,2001),p.98.13ÉmileVuillermoz,scenarioforLaPrincesseaujardin(Paris:ÉditionsMaxEschig,1942)BnFBMO.

119

hasbeenassociatedwithFrancesincethetwelfthcenturywhenitwasadoptedby

KingLouisVII.TheknightasanIris—thesymbolofFrance—unitingtheflowersand

resisting the princess’ occupation and destruction of the garden, could have been

observedbymembersoftheaudienceasapoliticalmessage,andmayexplainwhyit

waschosenasthefirstOccupationballetpremiere.

Le Chevalier et la Damoiselle similarly communicates French nationalism

throughitssetting.SetintheMiddleAgesinFrenchBurgundy,thelibrettoisbased

on a twelfth-century lai (Medieval lyric poem) by Marie de France. It is a classic

courtlylovestoryinvolvingprincesses,knightsandjoustingtournaments.Thesetting

isreflectedinthescore.ItisgenerallyLateRomanticinstylebutfrequentlynodsto

perceived‘Medieval’stylemusicthroughpolyphony,modalwritingandRenaissance

harmony suchasparallel fifths (thoughamodernaudiencewould recognise these

techniquestobeRenaissanceratherthanMedieval).Thoughthescoredoesnotgo

so faras toemployperiod instruments,Gaubertmakesuseof theoboe, fluteand

trumpet to evoke theMiddleAges.At other points themusic is Romantic in style

withlong,lyricalmelodies;changingtimesignaturesandtempos;andrich,colourful

orchestration.

The use of Medieval and Renaissance musical techniques asserts French

nationalism in the same way as the setting of the ballet in French Burgundy.

BurgundywasthemusicalcentreofEuropeduringtheearlyRenaissanceanditwas

theBurgundiancomposerswhodevelopedmanycharacteristicstylesofmusicofthis

erasuchastheuseofpolyphonyandtheinventionofthechanson.Gaubert’smusic

for the ballet references a time when France was the centre of culture and

celebratestheeminenceofFrenchmusicduringthattime.

Though the musical score of La Princesse au jardin similarly exemplifies

Frenchmusic,Grovlez’s ImpressionistballetcontrastswithGaubert’sRomanticism.

Muchoftheballet istoldbythedancersthroughmime,andthoughtheballethas

distinct sections it is written as one continuous piece of music. The princess is

representedharmonicallybyclashingseconds,ninthsandelevenths,andmelodically

by long, soloistic chromatic lines,anddottedor complex rhythms (e.g.quintuplets

and sextuplets). In contrast, the flowers’ melodies are stricter, employing regular

120

rhythmicpatternsandsimplerharmony.Thedescendingperfectfourthandtritone

isanominousmotifthroughouttheballet,signifyingthewrathoftheprincess.

Grovlez also uses harmonic techniques and clashing chords to reflect the

characters onstage: the princess’ speechmimicry is harmonised in seconds, while

theflowers’dancesareharmonisedmoreconsonantly.Inballetitisunusualtohave

aprincess as an antagonist butGrovlez’s dissonantharmonisationof theprincess’

themes help the audience to see her as a villain: by representing the princess

throughharmonyratherthanmelody,Grovlezisnotaligningherwithmorepopular

balletheroinessuchasGiselle,Coppélia,AuroraorOdette.Similarly,theIris’sdance

isnotatallromanticinstyle.ThismusicreassurestheaudiencethattheIrisistrying

to seduce the princess under false pretences, not through real love. The princess

doesnotturnintoaflowerattheendoftheballetasshedoesinFreiligrath’spoem,

which is significant for the ballet’s allegorical resistance subtext. The princess is

avengedandthereisvictoryfortheIris(thenationalsymbolofFrance);thereisno

compromise.

Conclusion

In presenting the premieres of La Princesse au jardin and Le Chevalier et la

Damoiselleonthesameeveninginaspecialprogramme,theOpérareceivedmuch

pressattention.Unfortunately,itdidbringaboutinevitablecomparisonbetweenthe

two ballets which resulted in La Princesse being somewhat forgotten about,

disappearingfromtherepertoireafterJuly1943.Thepresscoveragedemonstrates

that the premiere evening of these ballets was an important event in Parisian

cultural life, and the appearanceof theseparticular ballets in the first yearof the

Occupationwasnocoincidence.RouchéselectedLaPrincesseau jardin inOctober

1941, having never previously been performed. Grovlez’s French Impressionist

music,aswellasthethemescontainedintheballet’slibrettoandthesymbolismof

the Iris, could be interpreted by audience members as a symbol for French

independence.On theother hand, the setting of Freiligrath’s poem, ‘The Flowers’

Revenge,’wasemblematicofpolitical liberalism,andthepromotionofapoetwho

defied theGermangovernment. Incontrast,Gaubert’smusic forLeChevalieret la

Damoiselle, composed after he fled Paris following the German invasion, uses

121

Medieval and Renaissance musical techniques to evoke pastoral Medieval French

Burgundy.HisuseofFrenchcourtlydancesinhissettingofatextbyMariedeFrance

subtlyassertsFrenchnationalism.TheseballetsdemonstratedFrenchculturetothe

Germans, and enabled French audiences to celebrate their culture despite the

restrictionsplacedbytheNazisonculturallife.

Afterthewar,JeanCocteauwrotethatFrancehadthe‘duty[…]todefythe

oppressor,andtosay,“Youaretakingeverythingaway,butIstillhaveitall.”’14The

restrictions placed on music and performance in Occupied Paris increased the

performanceof ballet productions at theParisOpéra, andnewballetsweremore

successful than new operas. The case studies of the first Occupation premiere

eveningattheParisOpérashowthewaysinwhichnewballetsdemonstratedsubtle

actsofResistancethroughmusicandsetting,andwereusedasvehiclesforpolitical

meaning. During the Occupation, individuals negotiated a highly-charged political

environment and art and culture was a part of this; a method of subtly

demonstrating what would otherwise have been censored. Three further ballet

premieresattheParisOpérasimilarlyusedFrenchmusictopromoteFrenchculture,

and thediscussion andanalysis of theOccupationballets allowsus todrawwider

conclusions about the function of ballet andmusic during theOccupation and, by

extension,thepurposeandimportanceofculturalactivityduringwartime.

14JeanCocteau,Journal,1942-1945(Paris:Gallimard,1989),p.557.

122

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