Authorship
When analyzing Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, the major aspect I would like to focus on is how literacy takes on new task and shape when flowing from book to movie to fan fiction. The most apparent change made throughout these transitions is the change in authorship. Before we can determine authorship, we must look at how an “author” is defined. In a course discussion about this topic we discussed Michel Foucault. Foucault says that, “The author is not an indefinite source of significations which fill a work; the author does not precede the works; he is a certain functional principle by which, in our culture, one limits, excludes, and chooses . . .”
The fundamental story line was created and credited to Fannie Flagg, the original author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café. Flagg was the mastermind behind the storyline and characters, so she is given credit as the novelist.
When the novel gave its rights to become a motion picture is when the authorship changed hands. Flagg did not lose her author title, nor did she lose credit for being the creator of such a brilliant narrative. What happened here is that others gained authorship by contributing to the film. We discussed in class that anyone who contributes to work can be labeled as an author. Meaning the editors, producers, directors, and actors all have their own specific rights to authorship.
The next literary form is fan fiction, a webpage where users can share their own stories that they have created themselves. Authorship is now awarded to the person responsible for writing the short story. In Community 2.0, Kroski best illustrates this point by saying that “community today is about everyone becoming a user.” The World Wide Web is a place where anyone can gain authorship; simply by publishing an article, a review, or fan fiction.
I would like to make the argument that when Flagg published the book and included her recipes in the back; she passed on authorship from herself to everyday readers that followed these instructions. Readers who have cooked recipes from Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café are authors of their creations that were produced in the kitchen. Not only can readers execute the recipes, they can add their own special touches and twists to them, essentially making them their own.
The recipes that Flagg included in the back pages of the novel also require a literacy that many readers may not obtain: cooking literacy. There are many people out there who cannot cook or operate kitchen technologies. These people may not even own an oven, microwave, or utensils necessary for implementing the recipes. When one chooses to take the instructions from the back of the book and bring it to life in the kitchen they are not only taking on a form of authorship, but they are taking a new form of literacy and skills that are required.
The fundamental story line was created and credited to Fannie Flagg, the original author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café. Flagg was the mastermind behind the storyline and characters, so she is given credit as the novelist.
When the novel gave its rights to become a motion picture is when the authorship changed hands. Flagg did not lose her author title, nor did she lose credit for being the creator of such a brilliant narrative. What happened here is that others gained authorship by contributing to the film. We discussed in class that anyone who contributes to work can be labeled as an author. Meaning the editors, producers, directors, and actors all have their own specific rights to authorship.
The next literary form is fan fiction, a webpage where users can share their own stories that they have created themselves. Authorship is now awarded to the person responsible for writing the short story. In Community 2.0, Kroski best illustrates this point by saying that “community today is about everyone becoming a user.” The World Wide Web is a place where anyone can gain authorship; simply by publishing an article, a review, or fan fiction.
I would like to make the argument that when Flagg published the book and included her recipes in the back; she passed on authorship from herself to everyday readers that followed these instructions. Readers who have cooked recipes from Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café are authors of their creations that were produced in the kitchen. Not only can readers execute the recipes, they can add their own special touches and twists to them, essentially making them their own.
The recipes that Flagg included in the back pages of the novel also require a literacy that many readers may not obtain: cooking literacy. There are many people out there who cannot cook or operate kitchen technologies. These people may not even own an oven, microwave, or utensils necessary for implementing the recipes. When one chooses to take the instructions from the back of the book and bring it to life in the kitchen they are not only taking on a form of authorship, but they are taking a new form of literacy and skills that are required.
The Five Faces of Oppression
This novel is heartwarming and humorous, although it does focus on cultural issues that blacks and women faced in the Deep South. This ties in well with Young’s The Five Faces of Oppression. He first starts his chapter with the fact that oppression cannot be simply defined, yet broken down into five groups. Two of these “faces of oppression” seemingly relate to the oppression that characters faced in Fried Green Tomatoes: exploitation and marginalization.
Young says that exploitation takes on the form of gender and racial issues, being that they cannot work or are not offered the same wage as the typical white male. This is an issue in the novel and the movie. We are introduced to African Americans who are not as well educated, therefore are not paid as well or not paid at all. This has to do with the issue of accessibility. The accessibility to education for blacks was non-existent. Without proper education or literacy, they cannot perform a job. Women were also exploited in ways. Traditionally speaking, they are homemakers. The fact that Idgie and Ruth created a business during these times was against the social norms.
Marginalization is a form of oppression where these minority groups cannot work at all. In this storyline we do not have any main characters that are denied access to work; there is a chapter in the book that brings up the issue of black slavery, however.
These two issues can be classified under one umbrella that Young terms “Cultural Imperialism”. Young states, “these categories refer to structural and institutional relations that delimit people’s material lives, including but not restricted to the resources they have access to and the concrete opportunities they have to develop and exercise their capacities.” Flagg beautifully illustrates this idea in her novel. She brings awareness and historical background to the issue of cultural, racial, and sexiest oppression. Although this book is meant to be a feel-good narrative, it addresses many deeper issues such as these.
Young says that exploitation takes on the form of gender and racial issues, being that they cannot work or are not offered the same wage as the typical white male. This is an issue in the novel and the movie. We are introduced to African Americans who are not as well educated, therefore are not paid as well or not paid at all. This has to do with the issue of accessibility. The accessibility to education for blacks was non-existent. Without proper education or literacy, they cannot perform a job. Women were also exploited in ways. Traditionally speaking, they are homemakers. The fact that Idgie and Ruth created a business during these times was against the social norms.
Marginalization is a form of oppression where these minority groups cannot work at all. In this storyline we do not have any main characters that are denied access to work; there is a chapter in the book that brings up the issue of black slavery, however.
These two issues can be classified under one umbrella that Young terms “Cultural Imperialism”. Young states, “these categories refer to structural and institutional relations that delimit people’s material lives, including but not restricted to the resources they have access to and the concrete opportunities they have to develop and exercise their capacities.” Flagg beautifully illustrates this idea in her novel. She brings awareness and historical background to the issue of cultural, racial, and sexiest oppression. Although this book is meant to be a feel-good narrative, it addresses many deeper issues such as these.