Zachary Crosby

Maddie Kahl

ENC 2135-77

22 April 2018

Palestine and its Diaspora: Artist Statement

Poster

I chose to compose in this genre because I was interested in making an easily understandable and digestible piece of media for those interested in learning more about Palestine but may not know a lot of the vocabulary or concepts. I think that a poster can be used to display the key facts or figures necessary to understanding the concept at hand. In my case, I incorporated a map with population figures for both resident Palestinians and refugees living throughout the region. I also included pictures of food and important national figures and symbols. This serves to bring in and audience and interest others in some of the culture of Palestine. Finally in the center is the invitation to a meeting to further discuss Palestine using my Prezi as a vehicle.

I have created a number of posters for different subjects. This is not the first time I’ve used a poster in the area of cultural studies of the Middle East. However this is my first time attempting to tackle the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a way that is accessible. I originally started with my Prezi; this was deliberate. I wanted to gather all of the facts and figures that I would need for my poster beforehand. By making the Prezi first, I also had all of my pictures and maps ready to be printed and to go on the poster.

For the poster I first began with a blank poster board. I then decided what elements I wanted to incorporate. I planned out where each piece would be located. Places in the bottom right, food in the top left, meeting in the center, etc. I wanted everything to lead into the meeting. I then printed all my pictures and the map that I used on my Prezi. I labeled my map and glued it to the poster. I then began preparing and gluing the rest of the pictures. Finally I added the written elements and the invitation to the meeting, followed by the artistic detailing.

I put this poster up inside Diffenbaugh building for a brief time. I was able to put it close to the main entrance although only for about half a day. When I came back to get it, it had been pulled to the ground by some passing students. I believe that it received a lot of traffic, mostly from students in Modern Languages and History classes. This was not only my intended audience but also the resulting audience. I wanted to entice those with a background in learning about world cultures and histories because the subject is more immediately accessible to them than it might be for other students.

Prezi

As I began my project, a Prezi seemed more and more like the appropriate genre to follow up my poster. In the fictional world of the meeting that I created in my poster, I would have presented my Prezi at the meeting and used it to open up discussion. I believe that Prezi is a unique piece of software that is very helpful for displaying a great deal of information in a seamless and aesthetically-pleasing manner. I am most familiar with Prezi for presentations. My freshman year at the University of Mississippi I presented on Islam and terrorism in my Writing 101 class using Prezi to great success. It was excellent for conveying my point that not all Muslims are inherently terrorists and vice-versa.

I began with this genre because I wanted to collect all the necessary information for the succeeding poster. I also spent the most time on this part of the project. I began by opening up a new Prezi page, completely blank. I was originally interested in finding a template on Prezi however all of their free choices seemed lackluster in conveying my point than simply making my own. I began the simpler concepts: maps, culture, and people. For my map, I took a screenshot of Google Maps and added my own labels of resident Palestinian populations as well as refugee populations. I think this quickly established the most important areas throughout Palestine and the surrounding region. On the first slide were some photos of these important places as well. I continued by tackling some of the more complex things. I wrote out a list of major events and their effects in order to frame the timeline. I followed that with a breakdown of the conflict in the most general terms possible. This was the most difficult part because I had trouble avoiding vocabulary that might be unique to the field or just rarely used outside the context of the subject. I also had to double check to make sure that the information on that slide was accessible to others. I asked my partner to go through it and after some tweaks (like the arrows) agreed that it was easy to follow.

Much like the poster, as they go hand in hand, the Prezi is meant to inform an audience of like-minded students who have the basic understanding to grasp some of the concepts related to Palestine and the conflict.

Poem

I chose to write a poem as my final genre because I wanted to eschew the hole of facts and rationality I dug myself into with Project 1 and the other genres in this project. I knew immediately that if I composed a poem in Arabic that I could try and convey my feelings about Palestine and its inhabitants and do those feelings justice. I have written many, many poems in my time as a student. Poetry was originally my favorite genre to compose in before I stopped writing poems and focused more heavily on academic style writing. I think that choosing to do this poem in Arabic separates this genre from mere adequacy. I wanted to take the meaning of my poem to new levels by composing in the language of Palestinians themselves. I saved the poem for last because I knew it would take the most concentration and focus. I wanted to make sure that I could properly convey all my feelings and condense them into a meaningful poem.

When I sat down to write this poem I knew that I wanted to invoke the words of Palestine’s most famous poet, Mahmoud Darwish. I spent a lot of time thinking about ways to connect my words to his. I settled on beginning to write about myself and how I am a Jew who is proud of his heritage and his people’s connection to the Holy Land (sacred lands). I use King David’s lyre as a symbol of Jewish heritage and connection to the Holy Land. When I speak of great walls encircling me I am referencing the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. I like vaguely referencing these places and things however I think the effect is greater when the poem is read in Arabic. I then switch gears and discuss how I have immersed myself in Arabic culture and how I wear a foreign culture. I conclude by referencing Mahmoud Darwish’s most famous poem, Identity Card. He writes:

“Write down on the top of the first page:
I do not hate people
Nor do I encroach
But if I become hungry
The usurper's flesh will be my food.”

The usurper he references is supposed to represent the Jews or British. Not only am I of Jewish origin but my father is also a citizen of the United Kingdom. I use this to ask the question if I will be eaten when the Arabs become hungry, whether it be for vengeance or another goal.

The audience for this poem is much different than the other two genres. I am interested in reaching Arabic speakers as well as scholars of Arabic literature and culture. I wish to convey my feelings as a Jew studying Arabic language and culture to those who will understand why these feelings drive anxiety in my mind.

The poem was a trip into my soul while the poster and the Prezi laid out a stage to introduce people to the culture and people that enthrall me so. This project satisfied both my love of culture and facts as well as my love for expressing the feelings that surround the culture I love.