When Autobiography Meets Ethnology and Girl Meets Girl: The “Dyke Docs” of Sadie Benning and Su Friedrich By Chris Holmund
Holmund presents her query at the beginning of her essay, “How are “unique,” “typical,” “particular,” and “general” to be linked to “self” – the basis of autobiography? Or to “subculture” and “culture” – the primary foci of ethnography?” For what reasons might Holmund cautiously approach a position that links the autobiographical “dyke docs” to ethnology? Holmund confesses to her reader toward the end of her essay that the basis for her argument, how the films are discussed, critiqued and categorized, is of personal concern in the classroom. She states, “As a critic and a teacher, I try not to assume that what is said or written afterward equals all that is seen.” Her remarks reflect some discussions that we have had recently in class concerning the effects of categorizing an artist or artwork.
What is the significance and what are the implications, positive and negative, of “aesthetic definition” being “tightly connected to class distinction” in these lesbian documentary films, in art or in culture?
Holmund argues that Benning is making an “ethnographic film” that is also an autobiography. Her evidence of this assertion is that Benning’s films include “intertextual references” or by appropriating pop music, magazine images, TV clips along with her own writings as a part of her autobiography. The juxtaposition of the personal and the “popular culture,” Holmund argues, are Benning’s “ethnographic reflections on a world where racism and homophobia are ubiquitous, and “private” and “public” have become interpermeable categories.” Do the theories of autobiography, ethnography and lesbian identity presented by Holmund support her identifying the “dyke documentaries” as ethnographic films?
“Chasing Fae: The Watermelon Woman and Black Lesbian Possibility” By Laura L. Sullivan
Sullivan’s article describes Cheryl Dunye’s 1996 film, The Watermelon Woman and examines the ways in which Dunye explores issues of race and sexual orientation likely encountered by a black lesbian. If you have not seen the film already, then are you more compelled to see the film after reading this article? If you have already seen the film, then does the article strengthen your opinion of the film?
The Watermelon Woman is the first film directed by a black lesbian. In last week’s class we learned that Racheal Whiteread was the first female to win the Turner Prize in 1993. Why do you believe that we (cultures, groups, communities) document “firsts?” Using the Sullivan essay as a reference, what are some of the many ways in which we can read this as a post-modern film?
“The Archives of Lesbian Feelings: Documentary and Popular Culture” By Ann Chetkovich
Chetkovich briefly discusses Dunye’s character Fae Richards to make a point regarding knowledge and information. That information can be false, as is the Fae Richards character being documented by Cheryl in The Watermelon Woman, but the information leads to knowledge which is true. What is your reaction? This reminded me of our earlier reading by Gavin Butt, Between You and Me: Queer Disclosures in the New York Art World, 1948-1963 with regard to gossip as a means of research and art historical analysis. What is the point of considering the non-academic or the untrue? How can it help? Can it hurt?
Each of these articles was written about films made in the nineties. The articles themselves were written between 1996 and 2002. Has anything changed culturally or historically that would support or cause us to question the authors’ arguments? We have been critical in previous class discussions regarding themes that categorized art and artists as members of a group or movement and we have focused on the historic context of the artist and the work. Considering a previously examined article like Anna C. Chave’s “Eva Hess: A “Girl Being a Sculpture,” do we, as critical readers find any pitfalls in the arguments presented by Holmund, Sullivan, Chetkovich or Cottingham?
Based on the readings, why would lesbian filmmakers choose to make documentaries about being a lesbian?
I found the Holmlund article to be very interesting. I did have to read the article twice in order to fully grasp everything that was going on. And I found it truly intriguing that the reactions from the audience to the two pieces discussed were so different. At some points I think Holmlund is really supporting the presentation of the “dyke docs” as ethnographic films, however at other times I’m just confused as to what she is trying to say.
ReplyDeleteI found the Sullivan article to be the most interesting. It is definitely has a different spin. The thought which Sullivan brings up, that being a black lesbian is like being invisible (excuse the paraphrasing) really very fascinating. And like we talked about in class during our discussion of Black Womanhood, there is a divide between being black, and then being a lesbian. It is difficult for these women to make the connect with the different social pressures that they have to conform to. Also, I have not seen the film in which Sullivan references. And I am more compelled to watch it. Society has driven us to recognize firsts as accomplishments, as milestones. Personally I think some firsts are overrated strictly due to the fact that it shouldn’t have taken so long to reach this “first” to begin with. I mean, think about how big of a deal it was when Obama was elected the first black president, but also remember that black people have had the right to vote, and the civil rights movement has been over since the end of the 1960s, why did that take so long?? (ok down off the soap box…).
I am so happy that my "wise mentor" Camille Paglia was brought up in the Laura L. Sullivan article. Though the quotes were outrageous I had to look it up to make sure it really was really just an act. I found this on one review of the Cheryl Dunye film:
ReplyDelete"The Watermelon Woman sports numerous cameos, including one by Camille Paglia, overacting shamelessly as a Swarthmore professor with some half-baked ideas about the spirituality represented by the fruit of the watermelon vine."
This is hilarious and very much in line with the sort of thing Camille Paglia would do.
I am curious about this definition of ethnography. I associate the word with a documentation of different cultures. You can see where documentation of a 'subculture',such as lesbianism, might fit into that definition. I also think that the word gets mixed up with 'race study' because of the prefix, 'ethnic',and how that word has become used in language to describe the other.
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I have seen parts of the watermelon woman and found I could not sit through the whole thing. There is a lot of arguing and 'she said she said'. Tamara points a finger at the relationship of Diane and Cheryl--one wants to be white and one wants to be black. It is a funny argument, but as a 'first', I don't know. I think it just perpetuated some stereotypes...
It should be pretty obvious to anyone familiar with my work to know where I’m interested in taking this discussion. I’m personally fascinated with the idea of archive construction… even more so when combined with the seemingly redundant task of archiving an already existing archive. But this task is only redundant if one is making a “photocopy” of an existing archive. What the Cvetkovitch points out is that by translating an existing archive through personal experience the existing archive is changed. In this case “queered.” I was a bit disappointed that the article never defined what an archive is… I was also a bit confused about the position the article seemed to take in discussing this as a uniquely lesbian approach to the idea of archive creation. I would argue that spectatorship and fandom is why any of us keep anything… this does not strike me as an exclusive lesbian practice. Although, I do see the importance of this type of ephemera archiving in establishing the idea of a specifically “lesbian history.” That’s my two cents.
ReplyDeletep.s. "to keep something is to do nothging to it with more intensity."
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