I appreciated the author’s disclosure of their unique position in relationship to this topic and the depth it lends! I’m always surprised how different disciplines have different practices around these things.
In social research we call these sorts of background disclosures by the author/researcher positionality statements.
Likewise, as noted in this interview, not all disciplines or sub disciplines use or endorse them, playing on the differences in beliefs about whether to keep the researcher out of a presumed objective report or to put the researcher in, owing to an unavoidable subjective/interpretive lens.
I often think these sorts of disclosures would be helpful in everyday media like podcast interviews so we know “who you are in relationship to…X”
I was thinking this too. In my American Culture classes in college, I remember my professor saying things like, “Gone With The Wind isn’t a movie about the Civil War. It’s a movie about how people in the 1930s *viewed* the Civil War.”
These things, such as this author’s disclosure of their own experience affecting their biography—that’s the lens. It’s just as important to the final image portrayed as the subject matter itself.
Thank you for sharing this link. The disclosures would be helpful in many contexts. I'm going to take it to my team in a public agency. We're aware of how we bring a certain power element into community engagement, as one example, and discuss and apply intersectionality. This will enrich that and we can be more direct and explicit about who we are as individuals and how that shapes our thoughts and reactions.
I'm thinking of a recent meeting in which someone described a specific methodology as "qualitative". It's a numerical index so I said in the chat, "Hey, it's actually quantitative; here are the numbers that go into it."
A colleague replied that they meant the selection of that index was a human choice, not something that arose out of modeling. But where do the models come from?! Who decides what goes into them?! ALL models are qualitative if human choices are part of the definition of "qualitative". And that means they're shaped by the positionality of the researchers who decided on the independent and dependent variables and what was worth studying in the first place. (I work in a sector that has left out a lot of variables and people over the years.)
Thanks for giving my brain somewhere to go with my frustration in that moment.
This was incredibly fascinating. I know very little about Classic Hollywood -- I had never heard of Anna May Wong 🙈, but I am in awe of her and her strength.
The part about the studio head gatekeepers coming late and closing off opportunities for so many was eye-opening. In some ways that should be what's labeled as tragic - how myopic, fear-based views have avenues to run dominant throughout our culture just because of the wealth and power of these gatekeepers, who arrogantly think they know better than the rest of the population. It's heartwarming to see people like AMW doing all in her power to resist these forces as best she could.
I loved this article and interview. Thank you for bringing both to us - the author and her thoughtful insights on how the biographer's worldview is reflected in her treatment, and of course of Anna May Wong herself. I'll get the book on my TBR. ALSO - wowza, the article you shared from Deceptor (last link) packed a huge punch of truth.
Wonderful interview, very excited to read the book, but honestly the reason I’m in the comments is just to marvel at the ruthless, perfect Just Trust Me and then double-marvel at it because it’s by …. Kelsey McKinney…of NORMAL GOSSIP?? New level of fandom unlocked.
Definitely adding this to the 'to-read' pile!! Great interview, really interesting.
I've been listening to the back catalog of Karina Longworth's podcast, "You Must Remember This" and this story seems to fit into the same niche. What we remember isn't necessarily the most important - or even most interesting - part of a lot of Hollywood history. The context of these different events *matters*. Who had the power, what the social climate was like, how the star reacted to success/failure/tragedy/opportunity - it's all interesting and important.
What a great interview/article/book review. I tend to read more memoir than biography, but as the best reviews do, this makes me want to read this book next. Thank you both for such insightful questions and answers.
I appreciated the author’s disclosure of their unique position in relationship to this topic and the depth it lends! I’m always surprised how different disciplines have different practices around these things.
In social research we call these sorts of background disclosures by the author/researcher positionality statements.
Likewise, as noted in this interview, not all disciplines or sub disciplines use or endorse them, playing on the differences in beliefs about whether to keep the researcher out of a presumed objective report or to put the researcher in, owing to an unavoidable subjective/interpretive lens.
I often think these sorts of disclosures would be helpful in everyday media like podcast interviews so we know “who you are in relationship to…X”
https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/undergradresearch/chapter/1-2-a-note-on-reflexivity-and-positionality/
I was thinking this too. In my American Culture classes in college, I remember my professor saying things like, “Gone With The Wind isn’t a movie about the Civil War. It’s a movie about how people in the 1930s *viewed* the Civil War.”
These things, such as this author’s disclosure of their own experience affecting their biography—that’s the lens. It’s just as important to the final image portrayed as the subject matter itself.
Thank you for sharing this link. The disclosures would be helpful in many contexts. I'm going to take it to my team in a public agency. We're aware of how we bring a certain power element into community engagement, as one example, and discuss and apply intersectionality. This will enrich that and we can be more direct and explicit about who we are as individuals and how that shapes our thoughts and reactions.
I'm thinking of a recent meeting in which someone described a specific methodology as "qualitative". It's a numerical index so I said in the chat, "Hey, it's actually quantitative; here are the numbers that go into it."
A colleague replied that they meant the selection of that index was a human choice, not something that arose out of modeling. But where do the models come from?! Who decides what goes into them?! ALL models are qualitative if human choices are part of the definition of "qualitative". And that means they're shaped by the positionality of the researchers who decided on the independent and dependent variables and what was worth studying in the first place. (I work in a sector that has left out a lot of variables and people over the years.)
Thanks for giving my brain somewhere to go with my frustration in that moment.
This was incredibly fascinating. I know very little about Classic Hollywood -- I had never heard of Anna May Wong 🙈, but I am in awe of her and her strength.
The part about the studio head gatekeepers coming late and closing off opportunities for so many was eye-opening. In some ways that should be what's labeled as tragic - how myopic, fear-based views have avenues to run dominant throughout our culture just because of the wealth and power of these gatekeepers, who arrogantly think they know better than the rest of the population. It's heartwarming to see people like AMW doing all in her power to resist these forces as best she could.
Thank you for such an interesting interview!!
I loved this article and interview. Thank you for bringing both to us - the author and her thoughtful insights on how the biographer's worldview is reflected in her treatment, and of course of Anna May Wong herself. I'll get the book on my TBR. ALSO - wowza, the article you shared from Deceptor (last link) packed a huge punch of truth.
Wonderful interview, very excited to read the book, but honestly the reason I’m in the comments is just to marvel at the ruthless, perfect Just Trust Me and then double-marvel at it because it’s by …. Kelsey McKinney…of NORMAL GOSSIP?? New level of fandom unlocked.
Definitely adding this to the 'to-read' pile!! Great interview, really interesting.
I've been listening to the back catalog of Karina Longworth's podcast, "You Must Remember This" and this story seems to fit into the same niche. What we remember isn't necessarily the most important - or even most interesting - part of a lot of Hollywood history. The context of these different events *matters*. Who had the power, what the social climate was like, how the star reacted to success/failure/tragedy/opportunity - it's all interesting and important.
I can't wait to read this book!
What a great interview/article/book review. I tend to read more memoir than biography, but as the best reviews do, this makes me want to read this book next. Thank you both for such insightful questions and answers.
This is such a powerful interview and thank you for shining a light on this Asian American actress who was truly ahead of her time.
I should say, as a paid subscriber, this is the kind of content that gets me up in the morning!!
Really interesting - looking forward to it.
I didn't know who Anna May Wong was until reading this essay. Today I ran across two poems about her and had to come back to drop links.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/162166/anna-may-wong-has-breakfast-at-tiffanys
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/149818/anna-may-wong-stars-as-cyborg-86