You See Your Own Eyes Reflected Back: The Radical Potential of Art and Oral History in Imagining a New Humanism

Abstract

The global reach of mass media leaves few unexposed to Western ideals and ideas, which privilege White and Eurocentric images. Through a combination of visual and narrative stereotypes, ads, movies, print media and television distribute implicit messages about how humans should be viewed, categorized and commented on based on their perceived social identity. This juggernaut of disproportional representation ensures that people exposed to implicit messages will unconsciously absorb and accept them. Drawing on the engaged scholarship of the first author and interviews with strangers, this manuscript explores the ways in which an intentional and inclusive combining of the same elements of visuals and narratives can be utilized to problematize one-dimensional stereotypes, create space for unlearning biased social messages, and provide an alternative method of seeing others and ourselves. This work demonstrates how Author 1 promoted her anti-racist White identity development while simultaneously supplanting stereotypical images of individuals with diverse lived experiences with complex, person-centered oral histories and portraits that serve as compelling counter-narratives.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. This paper was conceptualized and written by the first author, a junior scholar, with support from three research mentors. The mentors were intentional in centering the voice of the first author in the work that she conducted.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Brown University [Royce Fellowship].