Public Secrets and Public Mourning : Reconciliation Through Remediation
The presentation of the text as a hypertext allows it to uniquely tell the stories of these women through remediation. Susan H. Delegrange notes in "(Re)vision & Remediation" that women are faced with "both misrepresentation and lack of representation (that) hints at the ongoing problematic of space and the body for women. Their exclusion from the public sphere and their historical lack of physical and discursive mobility were rationalized by dominant masculinist discourses about women’s bodies—what they should be doing (tending to home and family), and where they should be doing it (in private"(22). The women who are constrained by the prison system are forced into a sphere of incarceration that is still dictated by and formed for men. These women are quite literally "excluded from the public sphere" as they are incarcerated, but they are also excluded by the masculine dominated systems of the prison itself which excluded their unique needs within its walls. While the hypertext itself does a great job of remediating the trauma narratives of these women, the prison itself could do with a remediation of its culture as well. Delegrange references a reformation in terms of rhetoric, but I believe her proposition could be applicable to the unique case of "Public Secrets" as well; she notes that "there remains a need to write new definitions of public and private space that make both spheres intelligible and available to rhetoric, and that provide full rhetorical access, both analytical and active, in public and private spheres, for women and other underrepresented groups" (22). The women with in the prison system require remediations within the spheres they dwell and they lack the access.
When considering the trauma narratives of these women it is helpful to reference Gilmore's notion of trauma discourse. Gilmore notes that in terms of colonialism “the ethical burden does not require only that the structural effects of colonialism be addressed, but also the psychic harm it continues to impose be faced.”(99). This holds true for the women incarcerated within the California Prison system as well. It is not only important that we address the actual structure of the system, we must address the mental harm that this insufficient system has placed and continues to place upon these women. It is important that we as a public listen to their trauma narratives as Gilmore notes “if one adopts a view that autobiographical and literary text constitute public mourning, expand the limits of what it means to acknowledge and give the losses of history, and offer a traumatic witness capable not only of injury but of speech, then it is possible to see in them the articulation of that which is always on the verge of disappearing: the human subject of historical an intimate trauma” (116). This is exactly what Daniels has done with "Public Secrets." She has provided these women with an opportunity to voice their traumas and their narratives place within an insufficient historical system and in presenting it as a hypertext she has enabled their voice to be heard an believed by a public that has the power to mourn and acknowledge alongside them.
In her essay ”Broderlands” Gloria Anzaldúa describes the Mestiza consciousness as being possessed by an individual who can “develop a tolerance for contradictions, a tolerance for ambiguity” (79). In this respect the incarcerated women of "Public Secrets" possess a similar "Mestiza way." They have the ability to tolerate the contradictions between the prison walls and the outside world. They have a tolerance for the ambiguity of their incarcerated time. Anzaldúa goes on to state that "his person has a “plural personality” and operates in a pluralistic mode. These individuals are often caught between two cultures that they equally identify with (79). As such they have developed an ability to essentially code switch between them. Because these individuals have the ability to see multiple perspectives they have a unique ability to find new solutions. The women within the California prison system identify with both the inside and the outside they are caught between and as such they have the unique advantage of presenting opportunities for reconciling the systems shortcomings by sharing their personal trauma narratives. "Public Secrets" is the first step in providing them the opportunity to do so.
In her essay ”Broderlands” Gloria Anzaldúa describes the Mestiza consciousness as being possessed by an individual who can “develop a tolerance for contradictions, a tolerance for ambiguity” (79). In this respect the incarcerated women of "Public Secrets" possess a similar "Mestiza way." They have the ability to tolerate the contradictions between the prison walls and the outside world. They have a tolerance for the ambiguity of their incarcerated time. Anzaldúa goes on to state that "his person has a “plural personality” and operates in a pluralistic mode. These individuals are often caught between two cultures that they equally identify with (79). As such they have developed an ability to essentially code switch between them. Because these individuals have the ability to see multiple perspectives they have a unique ability to find new solutions. The women within the California prison system identify with both the inside and the outside they are caught between and as such they have the unique advantage of presenting opportunities for reconciling the systems shortcomings by sharing their personal trauma narratives. "Public Secrets" is the first step in providing them the opportunity to do so.
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