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vicki (australia)

[Rflection]

I wanted to share some early thinking about how I could use dramatic techniques to better effect in my book. The ethnographic material I work with is naturally dramatic (a courtroom drama that pans in and out to a warzone). It lends itself to writing scenes, theatre scapes and dialogue. I am already using lots of extracts of transcripts from the hearing in the text to ‘show not tell’ (like cross-examination between the counsel and witness).
One idea is to juxtapose these factual dialogues with a constructed/speculative/alternative dialogue I could write, between two guerillas in the mountains (to add multiple perspectives and tell the story from a hidden angle), and/or actual conversations between myself and the person charged. Or to animate two pieces of physical evidence through conversation (a book, and a t-shirt). Another device might be to expand the 'stage' with descriptions of small actions taken to develop or humanise a 'character' (the defendant pouring a glass of water for their translator; the tears rolling down an observer’s face in the gallery because they too were tortured and imprisoned as a young political activist...). Because there needs to be scholarly analysis and conceptual work woven in, I like the idea of giving the reader a rest between different modes of engagement. That shifting of gears also seems a dramatic technique that draws one in?
One worry I have is over-dramatising sensitive material about people’s lives and tipping the balance from engagement to entertainment that risks missing out on structures, systems, and power. But I guess that’s the challenge - to use theatrical devices to shift the reader’s attention to precisely these things. This week’s material has been great food for thought.