Venezuela and the Right to Narrate w/ Laura Vidal (E3)

What does it mean to have, to demand, the right to narrate? Usually  associated with Edward Said and the Palestinian experience, this concept  ultimately speaks to a widespread feeling among those who are racialized, those who are gendered, those who are displaced. It reflects  a more generalised need to reclaim something that feels stolen.In this episode, I sat down with Laura Vidal, a Paris-based Venezuelan writer and researcher. Laura recently wrote an essay in Spanish entitled “¿Quién tiene derecho a contar nuestras historias?”  (“Who has the right to narrate our stories?”) With our respective  experiences as former regional editors for Latin America and the Middle  East and North Africa respectively for Global Voices, as well as our  mutual engagement on this question throughout the years, Laura and I  explore the interrelated topics of identity, displacement, trauma – and  the right to narrate.Why do those who are displaced regularly get deprived of the right to  narrate their own experiences? What is ‘Venezuelan-splaining’? Is it a  form of gaslighting to downplay the experiences of those who are seen as  having ‘made it’, by which I mean those who now live in relatively  ‘stable’ cities/countries? How do those who are displaced deal with  survivor’s guilt? Recommended by Laura:Websites:La Vida De Nos (+ English)He Got to Know the Jail of the Revolution in Which He Was Born by William UrdanetaCaracas ChroniclesGlobal Voices’ Special Coverages on Venezuela– What Is Happening in Venezuela? (2017)– A timeline of Venezuela’s political deadlock (2019)Novels:Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi AdichiePachinko by Min Jin LeeNon FictionIdentity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny by Amartya SenImpostures interculturelles by Fred Dervin The Other by Ryszard KapuscinskiPodcastsCode SwitchRough Translation