Laura Menzel Blog #3: What we say and how we say it

How we communicate is integral to how the content of our communication is received.  What we say is only half of the message we send.  The interpretation of an idea is based on how it is delivered, who is delivering it, and the context of the delivery.  For example, in the clip we watched of "Top Dog, Underdog", the metaphors implicit in the content were enhanced by both the setting and costume design.  The ring formed by the audience and dog food boxes made the viewer think of a dog fight.  The use of white face highlighted racial tensions.  The presentation of the content allowed the viewer to focus on the metaphors within the content rather than becoming solely absorbed in the story line.

How a speech is said also affects the way it is received.  Orpheus McAdoo performed minstrelsy, which typically ridiculed and satirized African American culture.  However, in his choice of presentation, McAdoo was an instrument for uplift politics in an effort to improve the social mobility of African Americans.  He dressed well and spoke in a refined manner to accentuate that he was an educated, high class gentleman.  McAdoo also identified as "colored" while in South Africa to further increase his social rank.  In these ways, McAdoo garnered a certain amount of respect.  With a captive audience, he could choose which messages to deliver.  McAdoo purposely did not perform stump speeches and did not use black face because these directly satirized uplift politics.  By presenting his show as a gentleman, McAdoo could control how his message was received.

Theater and film can easily use set and costume design to refine a message, but non performative forms of media can also refine their overall message by choosing which stories to publish and how they are juxtaposed.  As Anderson points out, newspapers told particular stories of world news that differed from region to region, thus solidifying a particular national identity.  "The very conception of the newspaper implies the refraction of even 'world events' into a specific imagined world of vernacular readers" (Anderson, 63).  Newspapers allowed citizens to construct their own history and deliver it to thousands of other citizens.  With a unified story, a national consciousness could be born.  The content of a message is of course very important, but its power can be amplified by a shrewd delivery.