The single story is out there
right now being passed from person to person, written in the paper and
internet, broadcast by newscasters and already in our minds. It has taken
residency in our lives and likely innocently crept in through images, stories
and pieces of information we gather from going about our day as we are
constantly receiving messages told and created by others, maybe even by
ourselves. These days so much is out there to hear about and to know, layered
on us, it is almost impossible to weed out the good from the bad initially.
Once the single story is released it bounces like a virus and becomes our
impression, what we know, or we think we know. Much like a conniving attorney,
one slip of a slanted fact, regardless if the judge overrules it, that idea has
made a mark on the jurors’ minds and is now something to be considered. It
sounds dangerous, doesn’t it? It can be. So what is a single story? During an
eye-opening TED talk, Chimamanda Adiche, a Nigerian storyteller presents “The
Danger of a Single Story” and shares the concept of what the single story is
and how dangerous it can be.
I really do not know that much
about Nigeria. I wouldn’t pretend to and when I try to bring a reference to
mind I kind of float around that Nigeria is in Africa. I picture Africa being a
place of both mixed delicacy and unsavory humanitarian issues. Africa, in general,
is home to the Dior campaign model and actress, Charlize Theron, romanticized safari
expeditions, poaching, AIDS epidemics, political unrest, clean water
initiatives and the sad, starving children in the commercials that for one
dollar a day can save and feed a family. For me, I suppose I do not necessarily
sort out the difference between the two. My single story of Nigeria would be
that of Africa; I do not distinguish what has modernized and what has not. In
my version of the single story all the worlds’ people have all of the options
that I have each day. I am not sure my mental picture is the same as someone
who has been there, nor necessarily the same of someone who has not. During her
presentation, Adiche tells of her impressions she had of the world while growing
up and how she came to learn about the impressions of others when she left Nigeria
and came to America for college. Her roommate asked to listen to her traditional,
tribal music, but she listens to Mariah Carey. Regardless where you are from
and what you do, it is likely at some point you will only see something as one
thing and that is what it will be to you; one dimensional, flat and partial. According
to Adiche, “the single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with
stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They
make one story become the only story.” (Adiche, 2009)
I started to wonder how this
happens, how the single story becomes our reference point. I think back to the
commercial that has played for what feels like at least two decades of my life.
I do not think it is untrue, but it is such a powerful message and possibly one
of the only connections we may have to knowledge of the people in Africa that
we adopt that as an overall fact. I looked on the Save the Children website,
Nigeria is not on the master list. This is not to say they do not have some of
the same issues, I just feel like I needed to preface that fact so that I did
not accidentally spread misinformation through my own single story ignorance. At
TED, Adiche states, “So that is how to create a single story, show a people as
one thing, as only one thing, over and over again, and that is what they
become.” The danger is a lot of these stories are negative in nature. There is
a concept of a storytelling tool called the springboard story, explored by
Stephen Denning, which uses simple messages to relay an idea to others. It
almost seems like the commercial is a well-intention charity fundraising
outreach gone wrong, a truly unintended consequence. It tells of the tragedy
that occurs and plays to our sympathies to gather relief for that part of the
world, while leaving the single story impression which may be the only thing
that some may ever know about that part of the world. Adiche also comments that
we are impressionable and vulnerable in the face of a story.
As I roll around more
possibilities it also seems like this commercial reference is a mixture of
denotative and connotative symbols that play into the theatre of the mind,
something Whalen says can merely be offered to you, held out for your
consideration. (Whalen, 2007) Of course, my offering of Africa and the Save the
Children commercial are one of many possible examples of a single story. I have
had my own run in with the single story. I went to Mississippi for college and
all I heard about the south was that everyone there was barefooted, uneducated cousin-kissers.
I just cringed in my seat as I typed that. What a terrific impression to have.
I did not really think that this single story is what I would encounter, but I
was mighty surprised when I had to stop for gas. I found many of the women in
big fancy SUVs, in full hair and makeup on the weekend just to make their
coffee run. I absolutely watched intently on the action all around me. Who
would have thought that is what I would see on my first day? Certainly not me, but I did. When others checked
in with me and asked about the barefoot and toothless inhabitants of the south,
I was quick to point out that I have seen as many teeth as anywhere else I have
been and the bare feet are actually running around all over the beach in
Florida, the state in which I am from. Adiche’s overall message is that it is
important to have a balance of stories, not just a single story. I accept this
as something I need to work on each day as I encounter the world around me. I
think there is a profound power to becoming cognizant of what happens with dogged
frequency that by naming the phenomena, the single story, we can all work
against the dangerous, stereotyping power in which it yields.
References:
Adiche, C.
(2009, October). Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story. Ted
Podcast retrieved from:
Denning,
S., (2011). The leader’s guide to storytelling; Mastering the art and
discipline of business narrative. San Francisco, CA. Jossey-Bass.
Whalen,
D. J., & Ricca, T. M. (2007). The professional communications toolkit.
Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications.
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