Ted Talk Recommendation: “The Danger of a Single Story”

“Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.” -Ted Talk

This TedTalk is one of the best I have watched!! It addresses the questions we asked each other in class on whether it is possible to tell the story of an entire nation with just one book/story? If your character is Indian, does that make your story an Indian story?

As we said, we can’t hold characters accountable for telling the story of a nation. But characters can tell stories of people, of human experiences and of what it means to be human.

I like how in this speech, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (the author of the short story “Ghosts”), talks about breaking stereotypes and how there are many stories of different people and countries.

In conclusion, there are dangers of knowing a single story of a group of people. And one novel, short story or movie shouldn’t be the face of a nation or group of people.

P.S PLEASE watch this talk, I think you would find it interesting!