AN EXERCISE IN WORLDMAKING 2009 - ISS
AN EXERCISE IN WORLDMAKING 2009 - ISS
AN EXERCISE IN WORLDMAKING 2009 - ISS
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16 What’s Yours is Mine 189<br />
A Life Revealed<br />
The double-spread of images marks a shift, the ‘Afghan Girl’ still nameless<br />
but now, with the turning of every page, unveiled. The title reflects<br />
this undressing, ‘A Life Revealed,’ where wording such as ‘told’ or<br />
‘asked’ is not used, but ‘revealed’ as if to imply a grand opening and excavation:<br />
a lifting of the burqa for Western eyes. This heading is subtitled,<br />
‘Seventeen years after she stared out from the cover… a former Afghan<br />
refugee comes face to face with the world once more.’ The<br />
disturbing phrase, ‘face to face,’ immediately begs the question: Can she<br />
see us, the audience, from the page? We, the well-to-do buyer, can see<br />
her face, scrutinize the two photographs, ourselves the intimate explorer,<br />
comparing features, discovering matching freckles and liplines, like a<br />
one-way sexual expedition. And her? What did she find in her tiny distorted<br />
reflection mirrored in the camera’s lens? The passage of time is<br />
suspenseful. Seventeen years of waiting: what will she say? The sentence<br />
concludes with ‘once more’ to confirm the reader’s relationship with this<br />
character. This is a sequel, a catching up of old friends….<br />
After the sequence of ‘thrilling’ headlines, photographs and suspenseful<br />
captions, readers finally have access to the story. The actual article<br />
begins with an engaging opening paragraph, including the ominous abstract:<br />
‘She remembers her anger.’ The author engages readers here with<br />
raw emotion, a glimpse into the ‘mind’ of the anonymous woman<br />
through constructed inner dialogue.<br />
2. Orientation<br />
The Orientation is an introduction to characters, temporal and physical<br />
settings, and situation, usually by using ‘past progressive’ timing (Johnstone<br />
2001:638).<br />
Orientation of Memory: Romantic Encounter<br />
The text begins in present-tense, describing the 1985 encounter and establishing<br />
relationship: ‘She remembers the moment. The photographer<br />
took her picture.’ ‘…She had not been photographed since,’ prioritizing<br />
time shared with the photographer. The recollection is set metaphorically,<br />
‘the light was soft,’ creating a romantic setting. The Hero ‘noticed<br />
her first,’ reconfirming her unique value. The constructed monologue<br />
moves readers through McCurry’s memory.