I liked when we were discussing Up the Yangtze in class the other day and we arrived at the concept of privilege. We spoke earlier in the year about understanding the world around us through metaphors, in terms of other things we can relate or identify with. I believe that privilege functions as a barrier to identification or understanding between different groups created by class.
The dominant or privileged class establishes the norm or standard upon which all else is compared, their own database of metaphors/comparisons to draw from. If they don't have to worry about a certain issue, they are blind and un-empathetic to it because it is not something they are familiar or accustomed to dealing with.
For example when Cindy's coworkers we talking about her on the boat they were saying she should just work harder to fit in and earn more money to send to her parents. Her coworkers don't have to send money back home to support their families, they were raised differently and accustomed to a different lifestyle. They can't relate to the struggles Cindy has to face, the worry about her families home being flooded, the fact they may starve without her help, why she can't buy nice clothes like the rest of them, etc.
These barriers to communication and identification are a direct result of the class system set up by the concept of privilege.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteYour ideas on metaphor are very succint and to the point. Hum had spoken out about the use of metaphor to create identification, but how they had normally missed the mark. Observe Harper's Weekly's "Introduction of the Celestial", which casts China as a mysterious man who is being helped by Columbia, a representation of America (204). She details how the picture is designed to set up Amerca as "the Hero" (205). Despite this, the representation of China is infantilized and broken down, similar to how the girl is infantilized and forced into a role by her family, her coworkers, and the tourists. Great job.
-Allyn
Jewls,
ReplyDeleteI like your use of the metaphor. Perhaps the metaphor in this case is the river. The river which represents the difference between two lifestyles. On one side of the river, there are the rural uneducated locals, like Cindy. And then on the other side, there are the others, the hegemon. The ones that are educated, who can fend for themselves and can live without the wage of their children that work on the boat. The river represents the economic struggle of China and the possibility of a prosperous society through the building of the hydroelectric dam. So, the river is one big metaphor that stands for many things in the film.
-Kelli