Allegiance, King of the Hill, and the Telephone Game
Autobiography within the frameworks of Berlant’s intimate publics becomes a telephone game. “Normative” expectations become warped as informational integrity becomes attenuated. One person says something, then another person has to say something “more real” (i.e. more extreme) as a way to maintain authority within a shifting political framework. This doesn’t always happen. People like Ghandi,…