Video for CCCC Presentation

A Digital Narrative

Inspired in part by past students and Natalie Martinez's guest post, I created my own digital story based on a forthcoming small scope narrative in the Sept 2013 CCC journal. Since the digital narrative is only two minutes, I was not able to include everything from the text; however, the ability to include my own voice and family video provide additional rhetorical strategies that highlight the persuasive power of multimodal composing.

on the profession edit with video 0001 from Cruz Medina on Vimeo.


In part because the personal nature of my narrative, I have been interested in investigating the intersection of digital storytelling and the Latin@ storytelling genres of cuentos and testimonio. On the Ohio State site for "Testimonio and Argentina," they provide a definition for testimonio that identifies some of the intersecting strategies with digital storytelling:

"One strategy to improve our understanding of this period is through the use of testimonio. Testimonio is a genre of literature that retells historical events using literary elements such as dialogue, poetry and metaphors from an eyewitness perspective...Testimonio blends two traditionally distinct academic disciplines, history and literature, to help relay historical experiences." ("Who is the Subaltern and What is Testimonio?")

Issues of identity, ethnicity, race, and gender can be addressed in these storytelling genres that resist and challenge dominant narratives. In the case of my family, the story has been passed down orally as something of a cuento, a story recounted in the margins. Like the testimonio, the digital narrative makes use of an eyewitness perspective, while also incorporating music, narration, and carefully sequenced images that embody the aesthetics of the literary elements associated with testimonio.

Some Digital Storytelling

Texas State University-San Marcos' Summer Predoctoral Fellowship Video Short

Back in Spring I announced I'd been awarded with a Summer Predoctoral Fellowship at TSU-San Marcos. Since I often encourage digital storytelling in my second semester composition course, I attempted to document my time on campus as a pedagogical practice of modeling. Put to a soundtrack of 70s funk and Pop en Espanol with a more overtly direct message at the end, I hope the medium fits the purpose and agenda.

Important Note: All footage "filmed" on my iPod's video camera, que rascuache no?



TSU-San Marcos Predoctoral Fellowship from Cruz Medina on Vimeo.

Sly and the Family Stone

Los Modulos

http://vimeo.com/27886607