ENG910 - Blog Post #10

Through our discussion of the Annancy Stories by Pamela Colman Smith, I found the text to be a perfect example of how an image, although potentially a direct reflection of its text, can add so much significant meaning that the words lone never would have brought out. The story that we discussed posed its wn significance to Colonial texts and the history of Colonial Jamaica, through its relationships between characters (which was how I primarily noticed the dynamic being discussed), but the critiques of colonialism that the text aims to make seem to be brought to life when analyzing the image that we discussed, "I know what you is. You playin' trick pon' me." In the image itself, we see the dynamic between the Victorian white man that seems to be standing above the Jamaican woman, who is dressed as a white woman. The positioning of the characters in this image appears to be Pamela Colman Smith's way of asserting the dominance of Victorian men over the people of Jamaica that were being colonized, and at the same time is her method of commenting on this colonialism and showing the effects of it. As we discussed, the facial expressions and dress of the characters are essential for distinguishing them and understanding how they fit into the scene that is being presented. Our discussions in class have reminded me of how important the smaller details are to the larger picture, which is something that I often find myself overlooking.

Today's discussion has allowe me to consider my own research and understanding the images that I will be looking at for my own final research assignment. I find so far that I have been focusing on the major themes that come about through looking at the image as a whole, when the background of an image has so much to say for itself in addition to what is being presented. This weeks discussion almost acted as practice for me to consider all parts of an image and the themes that they aim to bring out, as I disussed in my comment of what I thought the cloak of the woman in the image added to the discussion of colonial themes. Going forward in my own research I am going to greatly consider the ideas that the background of my selected images hold and how they contribute to the ideas that I am trying to discuss already.

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