The danger of a single story
April 17, 2010 12:30 PM Subscribe
Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Adichie on the danger of defining a place or a people by a single story. From TEDGlobal 2009 and via Feministe.
I have heard of this more generally as the problem of "exampling" - unless you can show enough examples to represent the variety, only one example can be worse than none at all.
Of course this is a completely different kind of problem when talking about peoples ideas of whole countries of people than when talking about a new concept, but it seems like the same principle is in effect.
posted by idiopath at 1:35 PM on April 17, 2010
Of course this is a completely different kind of problem when talking about peoples ideas of whole countries of people than when talking about a new concept, but it seems like the same principle is in effect.
posted by idiopath at 1:35 PM on April 17, 2010
great talk. I know that when I hear a single story about something, it really sticks with me and alters my view.
posted by rebent at 5:28 PM on April 17, 2010
posted by rebent at 5:28 PM on April 17, 2010
Yes, I agree. It is a bad idea to generalize large geographic areas and groups of people via isolated stories.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 5:36 PM on April 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by furiousxgeorge at 5:36 PM on April 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
A Basket of Leaves: 99 Books that Capture the Spirit of Africa
Is 99 enough?
posted by stbalbach at 5:58 PM on April 17, 2010
Is 99 enough?
posted by stbalbach at 5:58 PM on April 17, 2010
Excellent, thank you. "The problem with stereotypes is not that they are not true but that they are incomplete."
posted by blue shadows at 12:09 AM on April 18, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by blue shadows at 12:09 AM on April 18, 2010 [1 favorite]
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posted by delmoi at 12:46 PM on April 17, 2010