SCENES OF SUBJUGATION
Exploring the Definition of the "quintessential American"
INTRO
Background and Thesis
For our creative project, we’ve decided to (re)make history by engaging with the concept of subaltern histories as we explore what it means to be American and who the “quintessential American” really is. We will aim to (re)make what is to be American by considering defining events in history where certain minority groups were not seen as American. We will present alternative perspectives from people who were lost in history and excluded from the traditional historical narrative.
We chose to create an Instagram page that focuses on three different events in history that contested what it means to be an American. Through the unique medium of social media, as well as through the strategic usage of this website, we will be able to explore how some groups have and continue to be excluded from our conceptions of American-ness as well as forefront many of the voices that are often obscured within the archive.
It is a story predicated upon impossibility—listening for the unsaid, translating misconstrued words, and refashioning disfigured lives—and intent on achieving an impossible goal: redressing the violence that produced numbers, ciphers, and fragments of discourse...
Saidiya Hartman, Venus in Two Acts
OUR INSPIRATIONS
The documentary Reel Injun inspired us to engage in an in-depth exploration of how different groups have been affected by events in history and the complex legacies these events have left. We also liked how Carrie Mae Weems used photography in her installation The Hampton Project, so we chose to create an Instagram account that would forefront the power of photographic documentation. We chose our Instagram handle, @scenesofsubjugation, as a tribute to Saidiya Hartman’s “scenes of subjection”, as we felt she captured our mission to uncover hidden scenes of pain and trauma that have been whitewashed in the pages of history books or even entirely forgotten by the mainstream populace.