“He got kicked in the back
He say he needed that
He hot willed in the face
Keep daring to motivate…”
–– from the song History by Michael Jackson
Upon the launch of the Guerrilla Decontextualization website in August 2012, the concept that inspired it was defined primarily in ultra-modern technological terms. Examples of the practice included the following: short clips from longer videos presented as definitive statements of an individual’s beliefs, photographs of private moments marketed for public entertainment, and statements made decades ago reported on the evening news as though they were made just a few hours earlier.
All were instances of events removed from their original context for the purpose of fulfilling an undisclosed agenda. The result often went beyond simple defamation of character, which is generally defined as any knowingly erroneous communication that damages an individual’s or organization’s reputation. By insidious contrast, guerrilla decontextualization usually involves partial truths made to look complete. It goes beyond simple defamation of character or slander because it sustains an entire culture devoted to manipulating public perception for the sake of financial, political, or social gain.
When Knowledge Becomes a Victim
What happens when history itself––as one lives, breathes, and knows it––is guerrilla decontextualized? How can history then provide authentic life-enhancing legacies if the person presenting it chooses to slant reality toward one angle or another because he or she prefers a version that makes his or her preferred demographic look more heroic? More humane? Or more worthy?
How could a guerrilla decontextualized history reveal that all individuals hold the potential––just as Nelson Mandela and Mother Theresa did––to bless the world with uncommon gifts of transformative vision, sacrifice based on a seemingly endless capacity for love, and leadership based on a titanic will to serve humanity to the best of one’s ability? The answer is it likely could not. Such an intentional misrepresentation would lay a foundation for perpetual chaos rather than one for enlightened responses to tragic circumstances. It would serve to create assumptions that too many would accept as valid “facts” until those “facts” crash head-on into what might be experienced as–– a revelation. Or as––a violent conflict of interests.
The Michael Jackson Example
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by Aberjhani
While I don't entirely understand the concept of guerrilla decontextualization, I certainly understand the idea of revisionist history. As I wrote in a poem recently, the way that history is portrayed for young children, it's a wonder that we have survived. I get a lot of unsolicited shocking emails about issues and public figures that are just as you describe, taking some part of a person's life from the past and casting it as evil in some way or another, when the person's entire life has been spent in doing good. For example, I get a lot of trash about President Obama, it seems like every action that he takes angers some people and they tried to create a case for removing him.
I tried to open the link for Albert Camus, but it didn't work.
Ron