Imperial Blues-Alexia Bacon

In Imperial Blues by Ngo examines the cultural happenings during the Jazz Age in New York.  The author navigates the Jazz Age using the lens of empire.  In order to look at the scope of this period Ngo makes it clear the importance of studying this past, the boarders of the United States, and to take into consideration the influence of Imperialism during this time.  Ngo uses examples of imperialism in New York that came up in space, bodies, and gender.  The Methodology that the author uses is the blurring of boundaries in order to process how imperialism forms conceptions of race, sex, and gender.

I appreciated how Ngo uses social histories, along with literary texts, and the meaning behind music lyrics in her work.  Her research led me to reflect on Chicago’s own neighborhoods.  Chicago is not only extremely segregated, but several of the neighborhoods in the city are experiencing gentrification.  This also caused me to think of the work I am doing with young people.  I work in one neighborhood school where the neighborhood is being gentrified, I can draw certain parallels from Ngo’s book that align with the stories and narratives of the young people that I work with, or thinking how their stories change and/or are effected by new cultural narratives that are influencing them.

Discussion Question

·      Much of the chapters focus on the power of personal narratives and subjectivity, with this thought I wonder how much power should be given to “stories” within research? Is this applicable to various forms of research or does this only work in specific subjects/situations?

·      How does the gentrification in Chicago effect people’s narratives of the culture of neighborhoods their families may have lived in for decades?