Part of what we will discuss in class over the next few days is the "truthfulness" of "documentary" images. Please read this discussion between Errol Morris and James Curtis here.
I like the exerpt, "If I could do it, I'd do no writing at all here. It would be photographs; the rest would be fragments of cloth, bits of cotton, lumps of earth, records of speech, pieces of wood and iron, phials of odors, plates of food and of excrement. Booksellers would consider it quite a novelty; critics would murmur, yes, but is it art; and I could trust a majority of you to use it as you would a parlor game."
Agee seems to be struggling with the intangibility of language, for he would rather give us tangible objects to more accurately and appropriately convey what he's seeing in the south. For Agee, language with this project seems so tepid and void of anything he could possibly wish to convey to the reader. But, that's the only means by which he knows how to convey the families and their situations.
Also, a little after this passage, Agee is worried this book will be treated much like people have treated Beethoven, Cezannes, van Gogh, Kafka, Blake, etc., which is to say treated as if the book and the individuals and their situations in it are trivial. Agee doesn't want this book to fall into the hands of those who will not appreciate it, those who don't have a "soft place in their hearts for the laughter and tears inherent in poverty viewed at a distance..."
Agee is in a catch-22 with language, photography, and the production of the book. Language is the only means by which he can attempt to convey his subject, but how well does it actually do so? With photography, the meaning in a photo lies with the person viewing it and his interpretation. Those who have enough money for the "retail price" of the book are the only ones who have it readily available to them, but more people need to read it as far as Agee is concerned.
While reading this book I began to focus on Agee as a character and his interactions with the people around him. There are a few repetitive things I began to pick up on which I began to think may be significant in some way.
I became interested in how Agee seems exceptionally intent on making unspoken understandings with the the people around him, somewhat along the lines of "I understand you...I'm just like you...you can trust me." The way in which he tries to gain their trust and connect with them to me seems very unnatural; his dialog always seems forced and desperate for approval.
Going back to the unspoken connection between himself and others, Agee also seems to be fixated on people's eyes; whenever he seems to really be attempting to understand someone or communicate with them, he always mentions looking into their eyes as if to speak directly to their souls. I find this interesting because eyes aside, when Agee is describing other bodily characteristics, all his comparisons seem to relate to metal or wood or some sort of inorganic tool of labor; nothing human or organic, except when he is speaking about their eyes.
All taken together, their appears to be a wall Agee has created between himself and those around him; while he wants to be accepted and liked by the people around him, and can see through their eyes that they are just like him, human with feelings and desires, in the back of his mind they are not like him, because their bodies are made for labor, and made of brass or wood and live a completely different existence than he does.
So I've been focusing on identity as I've been reading, and I don't really have any conclusions on it but I feel like Agee is examining basic humanity in a sense, and he is experiencing some sort of crisis of identity since he always appears and acts (to me at least) so alien and unnatural to the people around him, maybe there's something wrong with him on some basic level.
I like the exerpt, "If I could do it, I'd do no writing at all here. It would be photographs; the rest would be fragments of cloth, bits of cotton, lumps of earth, records of speech, pieces of wood and iron, phials of odors, plates of food and of excrement. Booksellers would consider it quite a novelty; critics would murmur, yes, but is it art; and I could trust a majority of you to use it as you would a parlor game."
ReplyDeleteAgee seems to be struggling with the intangibility of language, for he would rather give us tangible objects to more accurately and appropriately convey what he's seeing in the south. For Agee, language with this project seems so tepid and void of anything he could possibly wish to convey to the reader. But, that's the only means by which he knows how to convey the families and their situations.
Also, a little after this passage, Agee is worried this book will be treated much like people have treated Beethoven, Cezannes, van Gogh, Kafka, Blake, etc., which is to say treated as if the book and the individuals and their situations in it are trivial. Agee doesn't want this book to fall into the hands of those who will not appreciate it, those who don't have a "soft place in their hearts for the laughter and tears inherent in poverty viewed at a distance..."
Agee is in a catch-22 with language, photography, and the production of the book. Language is the only means by which he can attempt to convey his subject, but how well does it actually do so? With photography, the meaning in a photo lies with the person viewing it and his interpretation. Those who have enough money for the "retail price" of the book are the only ones who have it readily available to them, but more people need to read it as far as Agee is concerned.
Rachel Hancock
While reading this book I began to focus on Agee as a character and his interactions with the people around him. There are a few repetitive things I began to pick up on which I began to think may be significant in some way.
ReplyDeleteI became interested in how Agee seems exceptionally intent on making unspoken understandings with the the people around him, somewhat along the lines of "I understand you...I'm just like you...you can trust me." The way in which he tries to gain their trust and connect with them to me seems very unnatural; his dialog always seems forced and desperate for approval.
Going back to the unspoken connection between himself and others, Agee also seems to be fixated on people's eyes; whenever he seems to really be attempting to understand someone or communicate with them, he always mentions looking into their eyes as if to speak directly to their souls. I find this interesting because eyes aside, when Agee is describing other bodily characteristics, all his comparisons seem to relate to metal or wood or some sort of inorganic tool of labor; nothing human or organic, except when he is speaking about their eyes.
All taken together, their appears to be a wall Agee has created between himself and those around him; while he wants to be accepted and liked by the people around him, and can see through their eyes that they are just like him, human with feelings and desires, in the back of his mind they are not like him, because their bodies are made for labor, and made of brass or wood and live a completely different existence than he does.
So I've been focusing on identity as I've been reading, and I don't really have any conclusions on it but I feel like Agee is examining basic humanity in a sense, and he is experiencing some sort of crisis of identity since he always appears and acts (to me at least) so alien and unnatural to the people around him, maybe there's something wrong with him on some basic level.