Individual Blog Post #1 GWSS 241

Arjun Sen


One of the more profound concepts I learned about in this week's readings was "social erasure", where an artist, a concept, or even an entire genre can be altered or even removed completely from the public eye by those documenting them. The documenting, be it through newspaper articles, critiques, or even music adapted from another source, takes on a bias such that society's perception or memory of the original creation is diminished substantially. The most prominent example of this from the readings of this week was that of Rosetta Tharpe, a gospel artist in the 1930s, who, by many accounts, paved the way for the genre and became one of the top recording artists of her time. These same accounts also noted that Tharpe appeared to have been selectively erased from musical history, as many women of color often were. One observer of her concerts compares her to Elvis Presley from the '70s, writing that she "looked and sounded like a blacked-up Elvis in drag". Besides the obvious racial tones of the statement, the observer made it appear that Tharpe was influenced by Elvis, and not the other way around.

In another vein, I found the exploration of remembrance to be exceptionally powerful in the construction of an altar for Dia de los Muertos. The personalization and addition of adornments such as the papel picado show the level of respect and devotion the culture as a whole displays to their deceased elders. To prevent them from being forgotten, the altar is made vivid and bright, with each person's altar reflecting their habits or personality. I was also interested to learn the history of the construction of the altar, and the myriad of influences that played a role in the design, from Aztec traditions to the Catholic beliefs.

Music selections:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZIummTz9mM

One of the songs I chose was "Leave Out All The Rest" by Linkin Park, a song exploring the concept of remembrance after death and how important it is not to be forgotten. Linkin Park had a major influence on me growing up, and the various memorials to Chester Bennington, the lead singer who died in 2017, highlights the themes of the readings well.

2. https://youtu.be/4c9W2-uGvQQ

Another song I chose was "The Crying Game", popularized by the movie of the same name. Though this song gained widespread fame for the movie, the original recording of the song was out nearly 30 years prior to its screen appearance, and the original version's creator remains unknown to this day. This highlights the importance of recognizing work and preventing social erasure.