Elite listening to victims reduces their narratives to anecdotes and reinforces elite authority.
Evidence
The pragmatic rule illustrated by this example cannot, of course, be universalized. But it gives insight into what is a generally recognized property of traditional knowledge. The narrative “posts” (sender, addressee, hero) are so organized that the right to occupy the post of sender receives the following double grounding: it is based upon the fact of having occupied the post of addressee, and of having been recounted oneself, by virtue of the name one bears, by a previous narrative—in other words, having been positioned as the diegetic reference of other narrative events. — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition, 199 (
#complicates, via linked claim)
Autobiography is usually thought of as seizing the authority of authenticity. But in order not to be authoritative, I’ve got to speak autobiographically. I’m going to tell you about my own take on certain theoretical legacies and moments in Cultural Studies, not because it is the truth or the only way of telling the history. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 235 (
#complicates, via linked claim)
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Subordinates endorsing self-demeaning ideologies reduces the coercive force elites need. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3223; Victims can internalize beliefs that actively worsen their own disadvantage. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 1071; Audience pushback against victim narratives can enforce individual responsibility ideologies — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race…, 787 (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- Narrator authority in traditional cultures derives from having been narrated by others
#complicates(0.80) — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition, 199 - Autobiographical narration can undercut rather than claim authority over a history.
#complicates(0.76) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 235