Summary
With “Memoria is a Friend of Ours: On the Discourses of
Color” Victor Villanueva attempts to describe his concept of “memoria”. With
aid from the holy literary triumvirate, Pathos, Logos and Ethos, memoria helps
to make vivid one’s heritage and upbringing. Villanueva cites various poems and
texts, each dealing with race and social clashing, and discusses colonial
discourse, which examines the struggle between the native and the trailblazer.
Villanueva describes the tension between inhabitants brought on by shared space
and different skin tones.
Synthesis
“Memoria” focuses on the discourse community, but through a
different lens. Gee can be recalled here, with his sentiment about being in or
out–no in between. It is literally and figuratively black and white. I
certainly believe that race is its own discourse community, and within it many
sub-communities, be they social, economic, religious, racial. And that’s
something you can’t really force yourself into. You may examine African American
culture, understand it, familiarize yourself, but you’ll never be a part of it
if you aren’t black. This unchangeable, involuntary genetic makeup we’re all
given is set in stone, forever disabling you from becoming a member of an
outside discourse community.
Questions for Discussion and Journaling #7
To Gee’s standard and definition, Villanueva’s primary
discourse would likely be rooted in his upbringing. His family life and its
extensions would be what’s most familiar to him. So I’d place family in the
primary slot. His secondary discourse would likely pertain to his profession, I
assume. English. Writing concerned with racism, society, the dynamics of
various cultures.
Personal Opinion
What I liked most about this article was Villanueva’s use of
poems and short stories to expand upon and display. I liked his critiquing,
synthesis. Martin Espada’s poem was really quite great. Never had I really
placed race into distinct, individual discourse communities. They are, to be
sure, I’d just never consciously labeled them as that. Maybe I’m not saying
that correctly. Either way, it was a fresh, interesting perspective that was
instantly applicable, at least from a third-person sense.
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