The Diarists’ Audience
NABS conference, The Documents of Life RevisitedEdinburgh , 20th May 2011
Sally [email protected]
Share Project
http://www.sharingpractice.ac.uk
Sense of audience
• So, from the start, the diaries were never private,
never context-free.
• Some diarists came to the project with an audience
in mind.
• Sometimes this was the researchers,• Sometimes this was the researchers,� I want to take a moment to thank Sally and the other
people who started this project. It is very interesting to me. And I think that you are very clever to ask people to do this just once a month. I obviously couldn't do it every day. It's just too time-consuming. But once a month is about right. I had fun keeping track of everything I did today, and then writing these reflections. I look forward to seeing the report you write on this project at some point in the future (SP119)
Sense of audience
• So, from the start, the diaries were never private,
never context-free.
• Some diarists came to the project with an audience
in mind.
• Sometimes this was the researchers,• Sometimes this was the researchers,� I want to take a moment to thank Sally and the other
people who started this project. It is very interesting to me. And I think that you are very clever to ask people to do this just once a month. I obviously couldn't do it every day. It's just too time-consuming. But once a month is about right. I had fun keeping track of everything I did today, and then writing these reflections. I look forward to seeing the report you write on this project at some point in the future (SP119)
Sense of audience
• For some, the audience was more distant
� Before diving into the details of my mid-September day I think it’s worth outlining the reasons why I’m excited about the opportunity to be involved. Firstly, this current project reminded me of the Victoria Wood drama “Housewife, 49” reminded me of the Victoria Wood drama “Housewife, 49” based on the war-time Mass Observation diaries of Nella Last. We are hearing a lot at the moment about “the student experience” and a number of exciting projects are underway to capture the realities of being a student at the start of the 21st century. I am attracted by the potential richness of diarising “the academic experience” in a warts-n-all manner. (SP168)
Sense of audience
• For some, the audience was more distant
� Before diving into the details of my mid-September day I think it’s worth outlining the reasons why I’m excited about the opportunity to be involved. Firstly, this current project reminded me of the Victoria Wood drama “Housewife, 49” reminded me of the Victoria Wood drama “Housewife, 49” based on the war-time Mass Observation diaries of Nella Last. We are hearing a lot at the moment about “the student experience” and a number of exciting projects are underway to capture the realities of being a student at the start of the 21st century. I am attracted by the potential richness of diarising “the academic experience” in a warts-n-all manner. (SP168)
Sense of audience
• Despite guarantees that anonymity would be
preserved, and careful statements asking
participants not to inadvertently identify themselves,
some entries were aimed at an audience far from
the Share Project itself, a manifesto for history
� On Wednesday 15th September at [named] University we began to dismantle the excellent, widely praised English degree which we have together shaped, developed, honed, critiqued and delivered for many years (SP170)
Day Survey Reporter
• Sent every month to contributors – a “thank you”, a
sense of community.
• Also, sent to Times Higher and Mass Observation.
Chastisement & Punishment: November
• “Monday 15 November 2010: Have decided not to
write this month. A quote from my September diary
in the THE referred to an event within the institution
on 15th. I've not heard that anyone here read it, but
it's kind of put me off. Maybe next month.” (SP206)
•• Who is the audience?
Chastisement & Punishment: February
• Academics are one of the most whiniest groups of
people in the work force! All they do is complain,
while they have one of the best jobs in the world.
Where else people get to decide what they do when
other than lecture/meeting times and get to decide
what direction to take their research in? I am sick of what direction to take their research in? I am sick of
the newsletter for this survey being full of complaints
by people who should probably quit their jobs if they
hate them so much!
• I had a wonderful day this Tuesday ...
Chastisement & Punishment: February
• If I hear any more complaints about how bad their
academic job is, I'll probably stop participating in this
academic whiners' survey! (SP 325)
• Who is the audience?
Diarists’ Audience
• Despite whatever else contributors may think, de
facto, I am the audience: The Diarists’ Audience.
• The Reporter contains no overt analysis, only direct
quotations “we can learn from understanding the
voice of a life” (Plummer)voice of a life” (Plummer)
• I read, I extract, I reflect themselves back to them –
and in doing so, shape their responses.
“Outside” communication
• “Obviously my colleagues write better than I do as
I've only supplied a pedestrian report of activities
and timings. Are you content with the latter or do
you want social commentary and philosophy?”
(e-mail, 26th October 2010)
“Inside” communication
• I read with interest the overview piece from February for this project, and I will admit I felt a little anger at the contributor who left work early that day to spend time with his son because it was a lovely sunny day ... I felt it was a very unfair picture of how academics live their working lives. (SP 127)
•• In the feedback sheet from February 15th someone said something very true – we have a great job. We have flexibility about what we teach, what we research and the hours we work. Today I am working from 7:45-2:45, because it suits me & my family. (SP 234)
• Now look at me, I sound like a moaning Minnie – just like all those people quoted on the last diary day. Good grief, so we work at the weekend –so much of what we do is what we love to do. (SP126)
Direct communication
• And I'd prefer this didn't go in the monthly sum-up,
thanks. (SP127)
Continuum of construction
375 diarists1 reader
Thematic reporting
375 readers
Continuum of construction
375 diarists1 reader
Thematic reporting
375 readers
Continuum of construction
• There is no sense – or a real sense – of authorship.
Do I write the newsletters, or do they?
• There is an unusually complex relationship between
text and audience.
• Is this a dialogue? Or co-construction? Or pollution?• Is this a dialogue? Or co-construction? Or pollution?
• Who has power?
• I have no solutions for this - other than to document
the dilemma and nuance so that this variety of voice
and influence is perceptible.
Constructed artefacts
• ...the ways in which life stories... are written is an
interesting and important topic to study. The very
modes of writing may indeed shape the life – or the
“findings” (Plummer)
• This work is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.