| The stories of Palestinians currently exist in a context where they are hidden behind
oppressive and disingenuous narratives. Since October 7th, 2023, dominant western and Israeli
media have failed to disseminate the stories of Palestinians who are suffering from constant
Israeli military attacks. Israel claims it is trying to target and eliminate enemies of Israel, such
as Hamas. However, Israeli military and media are making a monolith of the Palestinian people
and, through manifest manners, creating a hyperreality that is considered more real than actual
reality. Manifest manners, defined by Gerald Vizenor, are “the discourse of dominance, the
racialist notions and misnomers sustained in archives and lexicons as “authentic”
representations.” (pg. vii). The result is rendering the violence expressed in Palestinian stories
invisible. The best way for Palestinians to regain visibility is by engaging in survivance.
Survivance, also by Vizenor, is the concept of retelling stories by people who are misconstrued
in dominant narratives. This can be observed when looking at the writings from Palestine. Since
October 7th and over the past ten years, Palestinians have been telling their stories to uphold
their survivance in order to live beyond offenses made by Israel.
Keywords: Manifest Manners, Survivance, hyperreality, Gerald Vizenor, Israel, Palestine |