Monday, September 10, 2007
The Center Cannot Hold
In "Los Angeles Notebook," Joan Didion uses not only an unconventional story structure, but also unconventional sources. Identify five such sources in the story, sources that mainstream journalists would be unlikely to consult or cite. You can make a simple list, but be prepared to discuss in detail the consequences of her redefining who or what constitutes a credible source.
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"Los Angeles Notebook" is unique piece that would make many journalists shake their heads in disapproval. In Journalism the facts of a piece are to be concrete. Instead Didion contradicts that by finding abnormal sources and even jumping to conclusions.
By defining the Santa Ana wind as a case in which "science bears out folk wisdom" Didion begin to go off the deep end. The author then describes rumors reaching doctors' ears of headaches, nausea and depression when the wind blows. Starting with rumor Didion continues onto speculation concerning the high ratio of positive and negative ions in the air. This mention of science is somewhat formed concretely in the first sentence, but is diluted in the second by the fog of myth; "No one seems to know exactly why that should be; some talk about friction and others suggest solar disturbances." Didion's suggestions continue to include some Los Angeles school teachers that "do not attempt to conduct formal classes during a Santa Ana, because the children become unmanageable."
"Los Angeles Notebook" continues in this style in the whole of the piece. His quotes, and broad suggestions, although helpful in defining the winds affect on people, are against factual journalistic style. As humans we need proof, this piece doesn't give us that. All Didion gives here is an illusive idea that the "oral history of Los Angeles is written in piano bars."
Raymond Chandler
Ray Chandler was a novelist. He lived in L.A. and is cited in "Los Angeles Notebook." He is an unusual source for a journalist, because a more typical source for a piece like this would be a professional in the subject, such as the physicist who discovered the change in ions in the air, or one of the firefighters who experienced the fires which were party caused and intensified by the Santa Ana.
The neighbors
Didion speaks about her neighbors and her experiences with them to show more symptoms of the Santa Ana. Although this may not be entirely out of the ordinary, she doesn’t give their names, or present their thoughts in the typical interview fashion. She instead relays to the reader her own interpretation, her own experience with them and their changes during the Santa Ana.
The Easterners
Didion speaks of travelers from areas such as New England and relays their thoughts on the weather, or lack thereof on the West Coast. She quickly points out the error in her their suggestion of the area having “no weather.” Again she gives no names, or specifics. She gives the reader the overall impression that she got when she spoke with several, or possibly only one, Easterner.
The Pianist
Didion says “The oral history of Los Angeles is written in piano bars.” By this, she implies that the pianist, by simply performing in a piano bar, is making himself a source to anyone who’ll listen. Didion implies that he is somewhat of a journalist himself, and uses music instead of journalistic prose. It would certainly be rare for a journalist to use a musician’s work as a source instead of his words that might be obtained in an interview.
The Unemployed Screenwriter
Although Didion seems to be eavesdropping on a conversation, she may be in fact part of the conversation and not quoting anything she may have said herself. The screenwriter gives a less than favorable opinion of the people in Montecito. Another participant in the conversation is the construction worker, who seems to almost take offence. This is understandable, as the people of Santa Barbara are employing him. However, as the conversation goes on, it appears that the construction worker simply may not understand the true meaning of the words that the writer is using. This may not at first seem unusual, but at the end of this section, Didion discloses that she is in a casual place over an hour away from the subject location.
Although all of these sources are in themselves not typical of journalists, Didion is mostly using herself as a source. The people, events, and situations being reported are all given to the reader unabashedly through the eyes of the journalist. Didion embraces this style throughout the piece.
Raymond Chandler-
Like Sean said, this is an odd source for a piece of journalism because he is not a trained expert in the field he is talking about. However, I think what really makes this an odd source is the fact that what he says mixes science with what seems almost like the beginning of a fictional story. His examples sound thrilling and most likely are made from generalizations and second-hand stories rather than facts.
The Radio Show-
Most journalists would not have used the radio show as a part of their story because the callers all had conflicting information and more opinions than facts. Didion, on the other hand, is able to use this source to show the ignorance of these night people much more clearly to the reader than a more traditionally written piece would have been able to.
The Large Woman-
Most journalists probably would have covered this entire incident in one sentence, if at all, but Didion's use of this abrasive woman chasing her all over the market really works to show the kind of people that shop at this place and the kind of social standards they generally live by.
The Actor's Wife
I guess this isn't really such an odd source today, with entertainment journalism and such, but it was strange for the time, and also Didion used the source in a way that most tabloid reporters would not. Instead of the attention grabbing style used today, Didion shows a brief look at the truth behind the smiling faces of Hollywood, and that maybe everything is not quite as perfect as it may seem, even amongst the rich and famous.
The Writer-
I can't help but wonder if the writer isn't a friend of Didion's. Even if he isn't this is an odd source for a piece of journalism. He is just a man in a piano bar, probably a little drunk, yet what he says really brings together all the themes from the story in a nice conclusion. This wrapping-up is, in my opinion, what makes this story literature instead of just straight journalism.
One unconventional source that Didion uses in her piece are the people of Los Angeles who know the Santa Ana is coming just by feeling it in the air. Didion states "I have neither heard nor read that a Santa Ana is due, but I know it, and almost everyone I have seen today knows it too. We know it because we feel it." The fretting baby and sulking maid have no evidence that the Santa Ana is coming, and neither does Didion. She is basing this assumption strictly on the ominous feeling that has overcome the area without any hard fact to back it up.
Another source that she uses that seems out of the ordinary is Raymond Chandler. As mentioned already, he is not a specialist on the Santa Ana or the effects it has on people, he is a writer who contextualizes specific events that may occur during this time of unpredictability.
When discussing the effects of a "foehn wind," Didion mentions a seemingly reliable source: doctors. Instead of providing any kind of specific case as an example, though, Didion passively mentions some health related issues that the doctors hear about during the time of the Santa Ana.
Another unusual source that Didion uses is the late night listeners of the radio show. By using this source, she is showing the unstable and destructive state of society by presenting the conflicting and somewhat undeveloped views of humanity. The irony lies in the opinions they are defending so avidly when in actuality they know very little about what they are talking about. The way the scene is set up, with dialogue that seems like it could have been pulled right out of a movie script, is a very unconventional way to present her sources. However, the point that she is trying to make jumps out at the reader with this style of writing.
The fifth, but certainly not last, unusual source in this piece is the "large woman in a cotton muumuu" at the market. Although it is a seemingly trivial interaction between two woman in a store, the scene reveals a lot about the people of the area at this time. The large woman finds it necessary to harrass the other woman about her attire throughout her shopping trip, and her over-the-top obtrusivness possibly represents a society obsessed with attacking and demeaning others which in return results in an unrealized destruction of those who are doing the judging and everything that surrounds them.
Are memories facts? Are feelings facts? Are personal experiences facts? Are things overheard on the radio or while waiting on line facts?
These are important considerations as we explore what you might draw upon in writing your own literary journalism.
1. Didion's first unusual source is folklore or oral history. Usually, folklore can't be considered credible as a source, as it's usually employed to add some color to a fact that on its own, doesn't impress. However, Didion does well at making folklore seem like a legitimate source in the detailed way she describes the effects of the Santa Ana: doctors hearing about depression, teachers refusing to conduct classes for fear of unruly children, blood clotting poorly during the winds.
2. On the first paragraph of the second page, Didion recalls that when she first moved to LA, she had been told that Indians threw themselves into the sea "when the bad wind blew." This isn't a phrase that Didion made up herself, yet she doesn't cite the person who first used those words, nor does she talk about the specific situation in which she heard it. Sources that a journalist doesn’t cite, either because she cant remember or because she doesn't want to, don't usually appear in articles.
3.Nathanael West. Cited on page 482, West's work, "The Day of the Locust" helps prove Didion's point about the destructive nature of the winds, but she goes way back into literary history to do it. The reason using West is unusual is because his novel was written right after the depression, long before Didion started writing. Usually journalists cite supporting sources that are recent, as skeptical readers may be more easily convinced by a contemporary source.
4. In the second part, Didion quotes people who called into a radio show. She takes direct quotes from them, using quotation marks to indicate exactness. The callers did not know that what they were saying would be going into print. They didn’t know they were on Didion’s record. Usually journalists need permission to cite sources so directly.
5. The last unconventional source is Didion herself: throughout the piece, she slips into first person. Though objectivity doesn’t really exist, many mainstream journalists like to pretend it does, and they would see using the word “I” as dismantling any form or shape objectivity may have taken in an article.
The people of Los Angeles are used as credible sources that a Santa Ana is coming. Didion even says "I have not heard nor read that a Santa Ana is due, but I know it, and almost everyone I have seen today knows it too. We know it because we feel it." Feelings and opinions can be found in traditional journalism but they don't tend to be the basis of an article - here opinions and these gut feelings are being turned into fact. Also, rather than getting the expert opinion of a meteorologist, she is citing everyday people who, again, merely express their feelings on the issue, which she uses to support her own opinion.
In the same article on the Santa Ana, Didion cites stories of people killing one another and committing other acts of violence to prove that Santa Ana's really cause negative feelings and unhappiness. Unless a professional such as a doctor says that a Santa Ana is the cause of this behavior, then these stories are not credible. Without an expert opinion, all these incidents seem like coincidences.
In the second excerpt about the late-night radio show, all of the quotes are what Didion heard. There is no other source cited. This is a completely one-sided story with no other sources; for all we know this is completely untrue. I was actually a bit confused by this excerpt, meaning I am not sure how this is journalism at all.
The source in the story about the Beverly Hills party is unknown, which makes for a very unreliable story. We have no idea where the information is coming from, who heard it, whos house it is ("someone's") who the English actor is and who the wife is, etc. This story is based completely upon the unknown, and hardly constitutes a story at all. As James said, people today could find this story very intriguing, but it is more often found on Page Six or a gossip website, and is not considered serious journalism.
The most prominent source, in my opinion, is Didion herself. As Katrina said, most journalists keep "I" out of their articles. Whether Didion actually said "I" or not, it is clear when the story is based entirely on her own opinions and experiences. Though some people do believe a story from one source, if it is news we typically want to hear many sides to the story, if not just another source to make it valid.
Human Perception-
At the opening of L.A. Notebook, Didion writes about having “neither heard nor read that a Santa Ana is due.” Following, she describes her reason for knowing that the Santa Ana is coming because it’s what people are “feeling.” This seems to suggest that she is relying on a primitive, human instinct for weather perception, rather than a scientific source. The people who are affected by the Santa Ana’s coming include the maid and the neighbors. Didion also uses myth to show the intensity of the Santa Ana’s effect when she mentions Indians throwing themselves into the ocean.
Chandler & West-
While these sources seem minor within the piece, they demonstrate Didion’s unconventional sources in L.A. Notebook. Chandler is used to illustrate her point on the destructive nature of the Santa Ana on human events. West is used to illustrate the way in which Los Angeles views itself in coexistence with the Santa Ana.
Radio Show-
Didion records a late night radio conversation. Her sources include call-ins speaking over the radio, which conventional journalism might not consider a credible source for definite information. However, she quotes the call-ins, therefore giving their accounts validity. This demonstrates another instance in the piece where Didion relies on basic human perception as a source.
The Supermarket-
Didion’s narrative account of her trip to the supermarket is used as a source to describe a social situation in Los Angeles. Wearing an inappropriate outfit in public, she is followed by an overly concerned woman. In this context she describes the layout of an L.A. market as well as the reaction of a person to her outfit.
Piano Bar-
In part five, Didion says, “The oral history of Los Angeles is written in piano bars.” A conventional journalist might say that clearly, oral history is not written at all. Alongside, the music being played people talk about their lives, and putrescence, as with the writer and construction worker. Didion captures the everyday discussions of Los Angeles citizens in a place where most journalists may not think to do such.
The first unusual source in "Los Angeles Notebook" is the use of intuition to say that the Sana Ana is coming, like it's a fact when Didion clearly writes that she has not read anything or heard anything about the Santa Ana, she just knows it's coming. The use of unnamed unremembered sources like the "someone" who told Didion about the Indians going into the ocean. The fact that she uses hearsay with her writing that "surgeons are said to watch for the wind" she didn't ask surgeons if they do watch for the wind, she just heard that they did. She names people as sources by naming them according to their actions, such as The Drunk. He surly didn't tell her he was a drunk or if he did he might also have given his name. And the most peculiar source might be the television show dialog and her classification of these people on the show. Didion's style is unusual, but has a very charming effect.
I agree Joan Didion’s piece of literature is out of the ordinary. Her work stands out the most in my opinion of the literature we’ve read so far. I enjoyed reading the first piece the most about Santa Ana, the hot deadly winds expected and the type of destruction they have caused in the past. Joan describes them as “foehn wind.” She presented this piece from a personal perspective, going into detail about the things she has witnessed and what she has been told. Her sources were unconventional because “normally” responses from surgeons, novelists, and an Israeli physicist wouldn’t be necessary. Most people would be more concerned with meteorologists’ perspectives about such hot deadly winds. I enjoyed her work because it gives off views of different situations you wouldn’t expect to read about, they are mostly feelings and opinions rather facts. This goes to show about the big woman in the grocery store, the pianist, the actor’s wife, and the radio show all have one thing in common, they are only expressing their thoughts which is not common in journalism.
Didion's piece "Lost Angeles Notebook" is a very unconventional piece of literary journalism. Her style is different from that of older literary journalists. Also in her piece what's very vague are her sources.
1. In the first part of "Los Angeles Notebook" she mentions a lot of vague sources, but one that I found interesting was "some teachers" without any explanation of who these teachers were and lacks credibility.
2. The large woman with the cotton muumuu. No further information is given like tradional journalism would have. Normally there would be at least a whole section explaining the people in the article, so names aren't just thrown out there and no background on them.
3. The American is presented as just some random person, although the American is an important role.
4. A couple of french communist directors was also thrown out there. With Didion I feel everything is very random, and people are thrown in. The french communist directors, could actually be what she assumes them to be, or different. I feel all these people are more fiction than real because I sense Didion using assumptions as a journalist to all the characters.
5. The piano player. Not much of the Piano player is known, but the last piece seems to be significant due to him. Conventionally their would be a vast amount of information about him in the article but alas there was none.
I feel Didion's pieces have random elements and her credibility to me is low, yet at the same time it could be a political statement through her writing. If people are gullible enough to believe something that says SOME TEACHERS, there is a problem with society.
Professor Good's comment got me thinking. Then I started to read, and came across a simple sentence at the bottom of page 480: "We know it because we feel it."
Purposely, Didion draws less from concrete sources and relies more on the feelings of memory in this piece. Although, technically, I suppose statements overheard or feelings remembered turned to source quotes are not always fact, no one seems to mind if they can relate.
Scattered memory ties the work together instead of boring, concrete interview-esque quotes. Sometimes it is not the fact that is important. Instead it is all the things protruding or attaching or shaping that fact. The "facts" behind the FACT.
Joan Didion's "Los Angeles Notbook" is a strange fit for an anthology of literary journalism. The piece is based mostly on hearsay. She starts out the piece almost immediately with a reference to her intuition which tells here that the Santa Ana is beginning to blow. She then goes on to talk about how she "recalls being told" that Indians would throw themselves into the sea when a wind like that blew. She doesn't give reference to any source there. She goes on to throw facts at the reader about the Santa Ana however gives no reference for any of these save the nondescript attribution to an Israeli Physicist.
In the following parts the narrative changes. It becomes a record of things that the author overhears while in LA. While one can assume that the quotes she is delivering are accurate, it's also very unlikely that the sources know that they are being quoted for something. As a Journalist it is typically proper for a person to get consent before using someone's quotes in print. Also this sort of quoting can be suspect as the author was likely not taking notes while in the grocery store or in the night club. Therefore the report of the story is based entirely on the author's memory which, while useful for information, is not necessarily an entirely reliable source.
The unfortunate and slightly ironic thing about all of it is that while it doesn't work very well as a piece of literary journalism, it is an amazing piece of writing. Didion's work is top notch even if it doesn't fit very well in a factual anthology.
Didion's "Los Angeles Notebook" is presented more as a folk interpretation rather than a piece of journalism. This fact is mainly seen in the sources she uses throughout the piece; sources regular journalists would tend to avoid.
In the first few paragraphs she sets an omnious tone talking about the Santa Ana winds and their affect on Los Angeles. In these paragraphs she quotes Raymond Chandler, a writer, about the power of the winds. If he were a professional Santa Ana researcher or a weather expert this source would have been appropriate to regular journalism, but there is little detail about Raymond Chandler in the story, just that he wrote a few sentences about the winds.
The second uncoventional source can be seen in "The Easterners." These unknown tourists are used to represent the juxtaposition between thought inside and outside L.A. regarding the weather. Instead of subsequently quoting firefighters who have dealt with the havok of the winds, Didion then throws out random statistics regarding forest fires and deaths during the Santa Ana winds without any source. In regular journalism a source would be listed for each of these statistics and a veteran firefighter would be used in juxtaposition to the seemingly naive Easterners.
The third source may be the most uncoventional of all. Didion recalls a radio conversation in full that is weird and absurd. She uses this source to show how people lose their heads during the Santa Ana and bicker about silly subjects. It is a more lighthearted account than the one she gave of her neighbor's husband "roaming the place with a machete."
The fourth uncoventional source is the conversation between the American and the wife. This is uncoventional in that it veers off the subject of the absurdity and danger surrounding the Santa Ana winds and moves toward a "slice-of-life" look at elite L.A. The last line is both funny and ironic as Hollywood is known as the land of fame and happiness but this wife feels almost the complete opposite regarding her husband.
The last uncoventional source may be the most important source of all. The writer in the piano bar is a cohesive element as he brings together the whole story, as James said before. The writer's mention of the "putresence" in the area represents both the background of L.A. and the impatience the Santa Ana winds bring.
Most of the sources in Didion's piece are uncoventional to regular journalism because she just presents the dialogue of these sources in full to present both the big picture and personal idiosynchrasies brought about by the Santa Ana winds.
"Los Angeles Notebook" was a very engaging piece of literary journalism, as it used a very realistic vantage point: that of the bystander or passer-by. Because of this vantage point, it is unlikely that those who were quoted in the piece had any knowledge that they were being quoted, as Didion presumably did not make herself known, at the time, to be a journalist.
There were at least ten sources mentioned in this piece. A few of them were Didion's neighbor, the "telephone voice" on the radio, a woman at the market, the wife of an English actor, and a construction worker at a piano bar. Several, though not all of these sources were "interviewed" through eavesdropping.
The last line gave a subtle explanation as to why each of these sources was important. When asked by a friend in New york why she was at a piano bar in Encino, Didion simply replied, "Why not." This, to me, reveals that while the sources may not have had any direct information, or "credentials," each of them represented a fragment of a greater bank of information. Why would Didion quote these particular sources? Well, why not?
The rules of Journalism seemed to be pushed to the breaking point in Didion’s “Los Angeles Notebook”. In many ways the article seem more like a notebook someone had wrote compared to a news article.
Wife of an English Actor:
First of all, this was one of my favorite segments of the story. To just overhear a conversation and publish quotes without names is rather unusual. The other idea of ethics comes into play, but if there are no names used does it matter? Either way this was a great edition to the story and the conversation was very visual to picture. It is not often you would include the word “fag” in a news article.
Drunk at Piano Bar:
First of all, you would probably never quote a drunk, because they are intoxicated. Once again, there is no name, which seems to be common. The speech of the drunk and attitude really came to life in this off colored source.
Radio DJ & Callers:
Quoting a radio DJ, now that is a first for me to read. It seems odd to quote a DJ, but at the same time it seems somewhat similar to quoting a public official. However, the DJ is not quite as established and once again had to idea he was being quoted. The callers were also great, because their characters truly came through. You have to get caught off guard with the witch burning comment.
Large Woman in a Muumuu:
First of all, the visual of a large woman in a muumuu will grab most reader’s attention. That alone reveals a lot about the woman in some ways. The whole stalking incident and remarks are classic and most reports would probably never include this in a story. At the least they would probably do it differently. This was a great element to the article though.
Easterners:
Including a general group of people’s opinion is very odd. Odds are she just has talked to Easterners and over time heard their opinion. In some ways here comment is stereotyping as well. There seems to be a sense of basis in her statement too.
So, for the most part it seemed to all of the sources did not know they were being quoted. Not including names for the quotes is even further against the golden rule of journalism. This certainly was an interesting look at journalism and how sources can be used.
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