1.
From Yancey to Royster to earlier readings, there has been a great
deal of discussion of boundaries and the composition class. Why do
you think this is a common or even useful metaphor? What does
considering these two types of boundaries together: educational and
cultural mean for you as a teacher?
2.
Last week we discussed helping a student find their voice. But
Royster puts the concept of “authentic voice” into a new
perspective, as a person can have multiple authentic voices (619).
How does Royster’s nuancing of authentic voice complicate the idea
of helping someone find it? Or can we not mix that discussion with
Royster’s piece?
That part of Royster's essay was striking to me. It does complicate things because we tend to think of identity in the singular. There is one "you" and one "I." Any activity that is not in accordance with that singular ego is seen as ingenuine to some degree. And voice, being a primary expression of the ego, is viewed similarly. Your voice is yours, the one which sounds natural and comfortable tends to be thought of as the most "you." So then, it seems that we would have to have multiple selves in order to have multiple authentic voices. This may work under Royster's idea of "hybrid-people" but I think it's not what you or her are getting at. Rather, I suppose that in order for a voice to be authentic, you have to have control of it. This is where, I believe, Royster splits with her friend in that scene. Her friend is speaking of a comfortable voice being authentic, Royster is speaking of a mastered voice as being authentic. So I suppose that, as long as you have mastery of the voice, it is authentic. Perhaps this comes in not subscribing to conventions unwittingly or perhaps just in controlling the genre rather than letting it control you, in whatever way that's done. On the flip side, perhaps no voice is authentic as they all are influenced by external ideas and conventions.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of multiple authentic voices Royster refers to is very similar to code switching. Though, there are more extreme forms of it, most people understand the concept of requiring differing "voices" depending on the situation (talking to parents, friends, bosses, etc.). In one scene from the article, the person claiming Royster was speaking in an "authentic voice" and how she "didn't have to speak in appropriated academic language" was cringey at best, and the person obviously does not reflect on how she may do the same thing given the context. Cross-boundary discourse and hybridized forms can therefore be powerful in adding many voices into a whole. Showing forms of writing that employ hybridized styles (Royster gave a long list of great writers), may help with this concept when presenting it to others and helping them find their own voice(s).
ReplyDelete