Yay Last Reading

So I'm not sure if it's just because I did this reading during a break in my Methodology writing or what, but I thought this section was by far the best section of the book.  If the book had been structured along the lines that were presented in bullet point form in the afterward, I think I would've enjoyed the whole thing more overall.

A few things I didn't understand:

On page 109, the opening of this reading, the authors state that "Historically, oppressed people have expressed themselves using their languages, literacies, music, and arts...."  What means of expression does this not include?  Do they mean academic works?  If so, why is that separate from languages and literacies?  What is the difference between the word "literacies" here and the words "literature" or "writing"?

On 111, they mention a scholar focused on "Chicana feminist pedagogy."  What exactly does that mean?  Teaching the subject of Chicana feminism?  Teaching in a Chicana feminist way?  Teaching in a way that emphasizes the importance of Chicana feminism?

On 116, there's a section that I found myself agreeing strongly with where the authors discuss how indigenous groups are discussed as a historic event in the classroom but not as a contemporary entity.  However, after a little more thought, I think that applies to a lot of things.  As an education system, we are scared to deal with contemporary events.  A lot of US History curriculum ends around WWII--I know anecdotally that very few classrooms cover Vietnam or the 60s in general except to acknowledge the Civil Rights movement very peripherally.  I agree that indigenous people's marginilization is much more than the events I just listed, but I think as a culture we are hesitant to insert anything into the History classroom that is still controversial.

On 117, a scholar is quoted as dividing counternarratives into autobiographies, biographies, and composites.  It doesn't define composites, but I didn't understand why counternarratives can't include fictive works, or poetry, or academic work in general.

A few things I liked:

Importance of narrative on 110.  Something that's really hit home with me this semester, in both this class and in Dr. Jackson's narrative class.

Problems with language in the classroom on 114.  In an education system built around evaluation, it's inevitable that we value one language more than another.

Acknowledgment that primary sources are downplayed on 127.  Only addition I have to this is the recent example of a Wikipedia editor refusing to use an email from Philip Roth on the author's Wikipedia page because Wikipedia only accepts secondary sources.  The practice is understandable, if they used primary sources then anyone would be able to insert their own spin on their Wikipedia page, but we have to draw the line somewhere.

One thing I didn't like:

This section as a whole explored the importance of narrative IN research, but doesn't seem to acknowledge the potential of narrative AS research, like in works such as Notes of a Native Son, Bootstraps, or other critical memoirs.