Is Elsewhere Really Better? A Podcast.

https://soundcloud.com/user-547114810/is-elsewhere-really-better-73117-538-pm

About half of my summer semester class on African Women Writers was taught by Abou-Bakar Mamah. He stepped into the role mysteriously, but seamlessly, as the professor who was supposed to teach it was suddenly unavailable (we found out later due to a family emergency). He brought a balanced, thoughtful perspective to the topic of African/a Feminism and women’s issues in literature that I didn’t quite expect from a man, being honest. Since a major theme of the class was migration (transatlantic and otherwise), we talked a lot about fictional characters’ experiences of movement and place, encompassing the ideas of what, why, and how. But Abou obviously had his own story to tell. The purpose of my interview was to hear him out, but later on in the assignment, it seemed to change. It became about more than Abou-Bakar’s story, and about the more universal theme and meaning of “elsewhere.” I realized that the questions I asked initially only brushed the surface of the real thing I wanted to know. For example, that I wanted to know what is “human” about this desire to go abroad.

It should be said that I realize that my interpretation of his answers are only mine. I was very aware while putting together my narration “synopses” that I was minimizing the scope of what the interview and podcast had the potential to be, which was even more than what I was making it. The addition of music was the real cause of the creative change. It inspired creative agency around volume and placement, even on repetition and omission. It turned into, for me, a kind of art project. With music, my story came alive. I found myself transported into the realm of artistry, and poetry. As a result, it did not turn out as black and white as a newspaper article type interview might have. It transcended. It redefined.

Podcasting presents a new way of scripting, writing, and dialoguing with people and ideas through play, performance, appropriation, and multitasking, all essential skills within participatory culture. Podcasting encourages listening, comprehension, and analysis of one’s own guiding questions, in a 21st century way where students are motivated to connect to new worlds in multiple ways at once. They crave this (and they already do this). For students, this type of assignment would allow them to have (and find) a creative voice in the classroom (and could very much turn into a long-term interest to develop outside of school). As an assignment, it brings up important factors of media literacy as “How might different people understand this message differently than me?” and “What lifestyles, values, and points of view are represented in – or omitted from – this message?,” as found on page 59 of Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture.  I found, and find, myself asking these questions of my own podcast of Abou-Bakar’s story and influence on the question: "Is Elsewhere Really Better?" I have only brushed the surface.