Alisse Waterston: Making Theory Accessible with Intimate Ethnography

This is my sixth post in my Year of Women’s Voices blog series, and features my review of Alisse Waterston’s ethnography My Father’s Wars: Migration, Memory and the Violence of a Century  (2014).  In this intimate ethnography of her father, Dr. Waterston has written a frank portrayal of her father as a man, a survivor, a soldier, an entrepreneur, husband, and father.  Her writing honors her father without maudlin sentiment.  She frames her father’s lived experiences with migration and violence, and uses his experiences to illustrate social theory in a way that makes it accessible for non-academics.  

Her writing is crisp, clear, and rich with detail. She chooses a concise series of her father’s life events that create a reading experience that is informative, and moving. The reading experience is enhanced by the companion website that contains photographs, documents, audio files, and videos of her interviews with her father as she worked on this ethnography. The book becomes a much more intimate experience through watching the interactions between Dr. Waterston and her father, observing their body language, and listening to their voices.

 As a writer I appreciate Dr. Waterston’s explanation of her struggles in her dual roles as daughter and ethnographer, and her process of conducting research. I truly appreciated her discussion of the discipline it took to not be distracted by the numerous ideas for other projects that called to her during this project, especially when the experience of the project became difficult.  

If you are interested in ethnographic studies, social theory, history, Judaic studies, anthropology, or if you are looking for an extremely readable book that might help you understand how the experience of violence shapes lives, this is the book I would hand you.

 What I have learned as a writer:

1.    It is okay to include yourself in the story.
2.    Stick with the project even when it is hard, or other projects beckon seductively from your research.
3.   It is possible to portray unflattering behaviors in a way that is not overly sympathetic, nor  vindictive.
4.  Multimedia can make a non-fiction project a richer experience, and allows the writer to include    research material that would be otherwise not be available.
5.   Write the story that is hard to write, be fearless.
6.    Don’t be trapped by conventions of disciplines or genre.

 I am grateful that Dr. Waterston has created a work that is compelling, and readable on a subject that is difficult to read about. When confronted with violence, most of us want to turn away, to shield our eyes and our minds from horrific events. Dr. Waterston reminds us that even if we want to look away, we must not, we need to understand.

For a biography and more information about Alisse Waterston and her other books, this is the link to My Father's Wars website and this is the link to Dr. Waterston's home page

The Lush World of N. K. Jemisin: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

I love N. K. Jemisin's  The Inheritance Trilology (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, The Kingdom of Gods).  If you like speculative fiction I can not recommend this series enough. Even if you think you don't like speculative fiction you should read this for the shear joy of reading a story that is so well written. I first came across N. K. Jemisin's  writing through a short story collection Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories (2011).  Her short story "The Effulent Engine" featured strong, intelligent women, and I was hooked.

As a reader I love stories that pull me deep into the character's world. Ms. Jemisin creates a world that is rich with conflict, full of complex characters coping with cultural beliefs, manipulation, grief, oppression, murder, betrayal, and love.

The environment that the characters live, love, and die in is essential to good story telling. So many speculative writers loose focus when it comes to the world their characters live in, taking short cuts,  they end up creating a cardboard world. That is not the case here. Ms. Jemisin creates a world that is original, enchanting, and essential to the the story. Her writing is tight, focused, and a pleasure to read, the writing never distracts from the story.

As a writer this is what I have learned from reading N. K. Jemisin:

1. Main characters come in all genders, shapes and sizes.
2. Create your own world, make it real, make it sing to your readers souls.
3. Speculative fiction is custom made to explore complex issues.
4. Write tight, make every word count.
5. Weave environment and culture into your story.

Powerful and Evocative: Octavia Butler

     

Give me the thorns...

It was 1981 when I discovered Octavia Butler's fiction.  I fell hard, reading everything that I could find that she had written.  As an long time fan of Science Fiction/Fantasy, I craved stories that featured women as more than objectified window dressing. Octavia Butler's writing is populated with women who are intelligent, strong, survivors, and creators.   Her writing is evocative and powerful. Crisp and clear, her pacing forces you to read on, long after you should have turned off the light.

Octavia Butler was not afraid to write about pain, death, rape, slavery, the future, sexual violence, power dynamics, and racism. The difficult topics that so many writers look away from, or gloss over in their work, she featured front and center in her stories.  Her writing pulls you close, and forces you to keep reading, even when part of you wants to look away. Her language is intoxicating. Her voice draws you into her world, and everything else falls away. Be warned: Ms. Butler will make you think about things you might not want to think about.

My favorite books/stories are:

1. Blood Child- (Blood Child and other Stories, 1995)  Insects, male pregnancy, power dynamics and love.  This story won both the HUGO and the Nebula award. It was the first of her works I read, and the one I go back to when I need a fix.

2. Fledgling (2005) Vampires, Race, and Society.  A welcome twist on the vampire motif. No sparkly vampires here!

3. Kindred (1979) Nightmare fantasy, time travel, and slavery. Read it at least twice to get the full effect. Her ability to weave past and present events is exceptional.

4. Lilith's Brood ( Xenogenisis Trilogy- published as omnibus editions since 2000) - Genetics, third gender extraterrestrials, sex and power dynamics.  Lover or master? Rescued or captured? Or all of the above? This collection of stories is seductive and terrifying.

5. Parable of the Sower (1993) Dystopian future, Race,  the power of learning, a new religion, and hope.  This novel reminds me that there is always a way forward for those that strive to make their own way.

What I have learned as a writer reading Octavia Butler:

1. Don't be afraid of exploring and writing the hard stuff: Race, gender dynamics, sexual violence, power dynamics, hate, and love. 

2. Wrapping difficult topics in a captivating story makes them provocative and powerful.

3. Story construction and pacing is as important as word choice.

Octavia Butler left us in 2006. I still grieve for the stories she had inside that we didn't get to read.