To Diary or Not to
Diary
By Markus Zuercher
As the title suggests, the question can be asked; is a diary always a
diary or can it be a chronological record of events with some personal notes? Van
Luyn (2013, pp. 3-8) explores the significance of
how genres form links in the chain of
information the text contains, how genre focuses the readers
interpretation of this information and how genre dictates what information is
included in the text.
Following on from my last blog
where I used a Church book page as an example, the genre or style of writing
provides an indication of what to find or expect to find in the written text.
In a recent post on the Geneal-forum, a member posted this picture of an entry from an official Birth-record book.
Image
of Birth record entry 11 April 1834
This book is reads like a diary, day by day entries of children born in
a particular town. It is a chronological record that can be interpreted as a
diary. The genre of this journal entry is dictated by the pre-printed text
clearly indicating the required information: name of child, birth date, time,
name of mother etc. But it also leaves blank space for additional entries. In
this case for example it is noted that the mother has no occupation and another
interesting fact is there is no father mentioned. This can lead to (false)
conclusions be the reader as the specific information is missing.
In his article Diary 2.0?, McNeill (2011) describes this as
‘filter-style’ blogs entries referring to other content via web links. The
above Birth record can be seen as filter-style record. Although it has no
direct links, to find out if there is husband (father of the child) one has to
go and look up the Marriage record book.
Reference list
McNeill,
L. (2011). Diary 2.0?: A genre moves from page to screen. In C. Rowe & W.
E. L. (Eds.), Language and New Media:
Linguistic, Cultural and Technological Evolutions (pp. 313-323). Cresskill,
NJ: Hampton Press Inc.
Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our
Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 6 notes. [PowerPoint
slides] Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au
Picture
credit
Image of Birth record entry 11 April 1834. (2013). Retrieved Sep 5, 2013, from http://geneal-forum.com/phpbb/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=18703
Great beginning Marcus! I felt drawn in straight away and just wanted to keep reading on. "is a diary always a diary or can it be a chronological record of events with some personal notes??"..the line is my absolute favourite.
ReplyDeleteClever way on referencing past blogs that you have done; making it easier for your followers to understand what you are writing about.
Through your example of a "filter - style" diary and your explanantion also reminded me of a part of our reading this week. Mcneill (2011) esxplains different forms of diaries as a sponge-like function each having different forms and styles yet doing the exact same thing; holding different forms of information.
McNeill, L. (2011). Diary 2.0?: A genre moves from page to screen, in Rowe, C. & Wyss, E.L. (Eds.) Language and new media: Linguistic, cultural, and technological evolutions(pp.319). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton.