The U.S public school system mandates American History within high school curriculums. If one grew up American, they are most likely familiar with the perilous fight for independence against the British during the Revolutionary War. The Founding Fathers and the development of the current U.S government with the constitutional convention are also a significant time in American history, as it marks the creation of the current U.S government. Besides the reiteration of these influences in patriotic performances such as the singing of the National Anthem, or holidays such as the Fourth of July, people may brush off History as a story in the past. It’s imperative to consider what perspectives significantly influenced the current view of standard American history in textbooks. Edward W. Said answers this question by noting, "History is written by those who win and those who dominate." It can be offered that current history textbooks are written in accordance with the accounts of prominent figures in history, including the Founding Fathers and other men of power at the time. Textbook interpretations of history are, therefore, known through the dominant narrative.
Alternate interpretations of history have become predominant in pop culture through television shows such as Drunk History, Pawn Stars, and American Pickers. They offer an alternative narrative, or ante narrative, to the existing dominant portrayal. Alternative views challenge viewers to reevaluate the history they are familiar with into a renewed and reframed version. According to Disrupting the Past to Disrupt the Future: An Alternative of Technical Communication, [1]"an ante narrative allows the work of the field to be reseen, forges new paths forward, and emboldens the field's objectives to embrace social justice unabashedly and inclusivity as part of its core (rather than marginal or potential narrative." Ante narratives serve to open new doors that encourage reinterpretation of History to "suggest and enable different possibilities for the future." In turn, audience members are challenged to reevaluate themselves through current conditions, as well as perceived past narratives.
Modern expositions of History use alternate interpretations of narratives by acquiring different perspectives to challenge the dominant narrative. One such pioneer in the field is Lin- Manuel Miranda through his Broadway musical Hamilton. The use of musical theatrics and on-stage drama depict a picture of Alexander Hamilton's personal and professional life. Incorporations of modern rap singing, and choreography have proven to be successful tact’s in reintroducing history to a young audience. This Broadway fan-favorite has produced more than half a billion in gross profit, with an average ticket cost of 849 U.S dollars. Due to its enormous success, I have chosen to analyze an episode of Drunk History as Lin-Manuel seeks to depict the story of Hamilton and the development of the United States. This interpretation is of particular interest because the narrator retells a significant time in U.S. history using pop culture diction. During this criticism, I will be exploring these ideas as I identify narrative elements to define the degree of effectiveness this artifact produces.
Historical narratives such as these reinterpret history, keeping it relevant and attractive to a new generation of audiences. Differentiation between the dominant story and the ante narrative calls into question the status quo, challenging an audience to reevaluate the stories they've come to know so well. The evaluation of the past causes readers to reflect on the current conditions of their reality. A narrative analysis will enable the exploration of the issue by identifying the different elements between the dominant story and the ante narrative. Sonja J. Foss defines a narrative as a "mental representation of causally connected states and events that captures a segment in the History of the world and its member. .A narrative text is one that brings a world to mind (setting) and populates it with intelligent agents (characters). These agents participate in actions and happenings (events, plot), which cause global changes in the narrative world" (1989, pg.391). Identifying narratives, as well as their purpose and contribution to society, have a pivotal impact on understanding deeper meanings behind stories that may seem ordinary by first glance. There is something to be said about how these benefactors strengthen the foundation for which modern and academic culture resides.
I will be adopting the methods outlined by Foss to construct an analysis of the artifact while creating a criticism of its methods. Elements of the artifact will be identified as they reflect or contrast the dominant and ante narratives. This information will be used to determine the purpose of the artifact, and the reality of its current accomplishments. This rhetorical contribution will begin with a description of the artifact and narrative criticism in general. I will then identify why this artifact is considered a narrative using. Using Foss's contributory ideas, I will identify the objective of the narrative and the features to detect the degree of effectiveness if offered. Reporting the analysis finds will develop a discussion on how this criticism contributes to rhetorical theory.
Description of Artifact & Defining A Narrative Criticism:
The artifact under analysis is an episode of Drunk History featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda as he recounts the History of Alexander Hamilton. Drunk History is a YouTube and television series, hosted by Darek Waters as he interviews historians through a conversational and informal tone. Waters and Miranda indulge in alcoholic beverages as they share their perspective on specific historical recounts. This results in a comedic brush of narration, and often uses curse words and mouthed sound effects. The narration is coupled with film, using a voice-over from the narrator as the actors mouth the dialogue. The episode of Hamilton uses actresses, rather than actors, to play the roles of Alexander Hamilton and Arron Burr. Miranda focuses the story on the rivalrous relationship between Hamilton and Burr, despite their similar orphaned upbringings. The story recollects the beginnings of their careers as they move into political roles during the American Revolution, the creation of the modern American government, and Hamilton's mistress scandal. All the while, their relationship molded into a rivalry through fierce competition and tension, eventually leading to their final duel in which Burr shot and killed Hamilton.
According to Foss, four elements distinguish an artifact as a narrative. These elements include (1) two or more events that (2) have temporal relations with a (3) casual or contributing relationship, and (4) unified subject. The Hamilton Drunk History episode encompasses all these elements, both within the story and the narration style. Several prominent events mark this story, including the meeting of Alexander Hamilton and Arron Burr. As they develop a rivalry, they advance their political career through historical events such as working in the Revolutionary War, the Constitutional Convention, and their final duel. These events are narrated by Lin-Manuel Miranda using chronological and flashback time organizational styles. Contribution exists as Miranda's voice over the story. Additionally, there is a contribution to dynamic social pop cultural elements by character portrayal of male characters played by female actresses. The acted-out story paired with Miranda's voice-over work in the unification of interpreting Alexander Hamilton's personal and political life, as it contributes to our understanding of American History, and our current selves.
Identifying the objective:
Three primary features of the narrative contribute to the overall goal: Narrator, character, and audience. The interconnective roles between the elements build the foundation of the narrative's aim; to challenge current historical narratives by producing an antinarrative. By taking an extrinsic analytic approach, whereby analyzing the narrator's method of interpretation and execution of this retelling, there are two clear objectives. The first is relaying accurate historical events. Although the narrator's interpretations produce the dialogue, the historical events, names, and character's actions remain with historical accuracy. The second objective is to reproduce History using nontraditional means to entertain a new generation of audiences. This objective seeks to pull the precise dates and facts from history books and present them as "funny stories" for audiences to enjoy. There is a combination of educational and entertainment techniques to serve this artifact's objective. The third and overarching objective of this article is to challenge the dominant narrative by offering alternative methods through elements of the narrator, characters, and audience members. In addition to creating narratives, this artifact revisits History and perceives it with a modern twist, encouraging the audience to understand using a new perspective. If successful, this will challenge the audience to re-envision history and question future historical inquiries.
Narrator:
Miranda employs a mediated method of narration as he tells the audience about the occurring events and characters through a voice-over. He is both visible and audible; the structure of the episode ensures that he is present and engraving intrinsically with the story and extrinsically with the host. The voice-over method might be considered an intrusive narrative strategy because it delegates the words and actions of the story characters. The diction and word-choice Miranda apply is vital to consider, as it facilitates the objective of this narrative. It is accomplished by maintaining the integrity of the dates and historical figures while using slang to portray a comedic tone. For example, when describing how Hamilton arrived in the U.S. from the Caribbean, Miranda says, "The ship he's on catches fire! Here comes sick-ass Hamilton on a flaming ship; your ass will never be the same!"
Furthermore, the narrator uses conversational tones, pauses, and body gestures to emphasize a comical approach to the narration. The word usage and general presentation are antagonized by the intoxicated state the narrator maintains throughout the episode. Despite his elevated state, Miranda adequately connects the temporal order of events within the story. His intimate relationship with a piece of History contributes to the factual accuracy and passion he oozes throughout his narrative performance.
Character:
From an intrinsic view within the story, two main characters drive the vehicle of events. Hamilton and Burr shared a similar orphaned upbringing; however, they differed in terms of wealth and social class. Hamilton was weak and relied on his intellect for professional advancement, where Burr was wealthy and used this to his full advantage. Their homogeneous family upbringing, or lack thereof, set similar standards to which they were measured. This ultimately led to their fears of competitive attitudes toward one another through their political careers. More noteworthy is the role the narrator plays as a character. Miranda composes all verbal dialogue between the main characters. He represents both of them and drives the events in the story with his descriptions. His only limitations are to abide by the integrity of the factual History. This method serves to create a connection between the actors, story, and audience in a coherent and relatively seamless manner.
Another consideration should be analyzed when viewing the actresses, Aubrey Plaza, and Alia Shawkat, that play the male roles within the film promotion. Although the traditional text and factual History dictate that Hamilton and Burr were male, both of these leading roles were played by females; meanwhile, the supporting characters were performed by male actors. This presentation contributes to the second object of the narrative, to transition from traditional interpretations of History and alter it for a modern audience. Representation of women in male roles serves to challenge the dominant narrative by offering an alternative. The audience is challenged to question how men and women are represented in History. Additionally, it creates an opportunity for the audience to reflect on how Drunk History's interpretation will influence future historical stories through the inclusion of women.
Audience:
By all intentions was the audience taken into consideration when creating this artifact. After all, the business nature of a television series is to entertain the audience and produce more viewers. This narrative addresses the fans of Lin-Manuel Miranda hit musical Hamilton and the current audience of the show Drunk History. They share a typical demographic of a younger audience with an interest in History and comedy. The intended narrator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, serves to attract his fans to Drunk History as a special guest. It would be impossible to speculate the exact numbers of audience members. Therefore, it is considered infinite as this episode is shared and reposted on social media and streaming services. It could be inferred, after careful analysis of the narrator, that the audience enjoys the informality and new perspective on these historical events. They share the narrator's passionate attitudes towards History, as well as his informal nature and diction. The narrator seems to evaluate the audiences' comedic reactions and intellectual abilities as he constructs his approach to presentation style.
Assessing the Narrative:
Now that the objective has been identified, as well as the strategies that enable the purpose to be accomplished, the next step is to assess the effectiveness of the narrative. I will be using an approach outlined by Foss. This method evaluates if the strategy used to accomplish the objective by allowing the narrative to work in the world about how the aim was attended. In relation to this context, I will be analyzing if Miranda adequately interpreted Alexander Hamilton's History using an interesting approach to engage modern audiences.
Miranda narrated the story in a context that complemented the objectives of Drunk History. He used conversational and comedic avenues to relay this story while maintaining factual integrity. His demeanor and diction were complementary to the needs and expectations of the audience, creating an interactive narrative for views to enjoy. The use of female actresses within male character roles further contributed to including modern ideas for the audience to relate. The structure of this narration and the style implemented employed features of character dynamics and an understanding of the audience by the narrator. For these reasons, it may be concluded that this artifact presently served the two main objectives of this narrative, making it suddenly effective in its pursuits.
Lastly, this narrative challenge the audience to differentiate between the dominant narrative; in this case, the narrative we learned in historical textbooks. The artifact succeeds in addressing the issues of the dominant narrative by using an alternate narrative to rethink how History is being presented. An antinarrative is present and made relevant as it is laced when each element of the artifact’s objective. Specific examples of this include incorporation of actresses in male roles. Drunk History and the narrator, Miranda, imply that females play an essential role in History today, and will continue to do so in the future. The accumulation of these consideration encourages the audience to rethink how history has traditionally been transpired, and how it should be altered in the future.
Rhetorical Contribution:
The nature of rhetoric is diverse and ever-present in everyday situations and objects. Drunk History is an example of this idea within Television. Everyday commodities such as these should be considered as representative of modern interpretations of rhetoric. There is a trend in historical documentaries and shows within pop culture. This narrative criticism serves to identify the effective use of these artifacts. On a broader scale, this analysis could be used as an example of how to find success within modern applications of narration within contemporary society by effectively understanding and communicating with. This criticism encourages rhetors to view narratives as challengers to the dominant group by offering new and innovative methods of viewing our current societal outlook. By rethinking how we view history, it provides rhetors an opportunity to revisit how ideas will alter the future. Rhetorical contributions of this criticism continue the work of Natasha N Jones, Kristen R. Moore, and Rebecca Walton in their article Disrupting the Past to Disrupt the Future: An Alternative of Technical Communication. The intent is to inform people of the characteristics that build the narrative world around us and how they can alter it through rhetorical means. The Drunk History analysis provides a specific example of how ante narratives have the potential to invite reinterpretation of the past to enable different possibilities of the future. In congruence with the ideas presented, the analysis aids us to reevaluate and understand how ante narratives can shape society under a rhetorical lens. It can refocus possibilities and alter how we view their potential impacts through re-definition. This theme can bleed into other topics, lending a new perspective to their former one.
Citations
Foss, S. K. (2018). Rhetorical criticism: exploration and practice. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.
History is written by those who win and those who dominate. at QuoteTab. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2020, from https://www.quotetab.com/quote/by-edward-said/history-is-written-by-those-who-win-and-those-who-dominate
Jones, N. N., Moore, K. R., & Walton, R. (2016). Disrupting the Past to Disrupt the Future: An Ante narrative of Technical Communication. Technical Communication Quarterly, 25(4), 211–229. doi: 10.1080/10572252.2016.1224655
Passy, C. (2019, June 6). A 'Hamilton' Ticket for $849? Experts Call That a Bargain. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-hamilton-ticket-for-849-experts-call-that-a-bargain-11559860459
“Women's History Month: U.S. Women's Labor Force Participation.” Equitable Growth, 22 Mar. 2019, equitablegrowth.org/womens-history-month-u-s-womens-labor-force-participation/.
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