The Power Genre

Figure 1. Gary Field (2012).

Although power is a prominent concept within any prison system, cultural products and literary genres are not something the average person associates with prison populations, as it is widely understood that the dominant discourse is shaped by the most powerful groups (Van Luyn, 2013), and prisons are predominantly inhabited by individuals from minority and lower socioeconomic groupings.  As one prisoner uses tongue in cheek humour to depict his strict environmental control in this post: https://betweenthebars.org/posts/6567/greetings-from-behind-the-wire the following shocking documentary describes just how political power has been used to compound victimisation and control America's poorer classes criminally, through the U.S. War on Drugs."The House I Live In"




Of the several genres present throughout prisoner's blogs at Between the Bars (BTB), the more informal forms feature most prominently, namely poetry, lyrics, the diary and developing genre (McNeill, 2011).  There are however, certain deep thinkers in this space and I believe it to be a virtual place of great importance.  There have been many criminological studies and analyses of crime, yet as suggested by Van Luyn, many voices are silenced in the dominant discourse (2013) and prisoners have been noticeably absent from the dialogue on crime.  It is only through BTB that inmates are now provided with an unprecedented, uninterrupted voice.  The launch of BTB began as a study by university students to encourage relationships outside of the prison environment, although there are also many untapped resources amongst the dialogue, as detainees openly share their life narratives.  Just as Montaigne's essay served to "reveal [his] mind in the act of thinking" (DiYanni, 2011, p.2), that is also revealed in these human stories, providing the potential to further our understanding of criminality, and ourselves.

Figure 2. Gary Field (2013)

Genres organise our thinking, enable (and restrict) meaning and shape the universe of discourse (Van Luyn, 2013).  Although it is human nature to organise for the purpose of understanding, it should also be a responsibility of the dominant discourse to include all narratives and incorporate understanding of all aspects of ourselves.  It makes sense to believe that a disservice is being committed in silencing any one of these narratives as it dehumanises and compounds the segregation of those considered as 'others'.  If it is the dominant discourse which is shaping the universe of discourse (Van Luyn, 2013), it is heartening to think that BTB and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has utilised its power to include these distinct, previously silenced voices, who play a substantial role in any criminal justice system.




References

DiYanni, R. (2005). Twenty-Five Great Essays 2nd Ed. Pearson Education, New York.


Field, G. (Artist). (2012).[Image of Drawing]. Florida; Between the Bars.  Retrieved from https://betweenthebars.org/posts/7302/

Field, G. (Artist). (2012).[Image of Drawing]. Florida; Between the Bars.  Retrieved from https://betweenthebars.org/posts/12676/building-a-bridge-across-the-digital-divide 

McNeill, L. (2011). Diary 2.0? A Genre Moves from Page to Screen in Language and New Media, Linguistic, Cultural and Technological Evolutions, Hampton Press: New Jersey.

Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Week 6. [Powerpoint Slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au