"Unconditional Love and Perseverance Across Generations"

by: Janet Medlin

Janet Medlin is a recipient of the 2021 Jeremy Demian Marx Award for Cultural Anthropology for her paper “Unconditional Love and Perseverance Across Generations.” Here, she talks about her research process.

At the beginning of my “Reading Ethnographies” ANTH 194K Senior Seminar class—which I had the privilege of taking with Professor Anna Tsing in Fall 2020—Tsing told us our final research papers should be focused on one of 2020’s “once in a lifetime” or unprecedented events. We had a plethora of options to choose from: COVID-19 and its subsequent global pandemic, quarantine/social distancing, BLM protests in the wake of George Floyd’s unjust murder, the ravenous California wildfires accompanied by its apocalyptic orange skies, or the upcoming Presidential Election that November, just to name a few. I’ve found that when it comes to writing—or any other form of expression—I do my best and most passionate work when the topic I’m writing about is one that relates to me personally, meaning it is near and dear to my heart. This is why I decided to research intergenerational/familial relationships during quarantine, because I myself quarantined with my parents for six months (March-September 2020) after living in Santa Cruz when classes were in-person. I also have always had a close relationship with not only my parents, but family in general; so, I was curious to compare my experience with others who may have a different kind of relationship with their elder generations (as well as discovering these elder generations’ different perspectives rather than my own as a Gen Zer). Because each and every one of us have a family of our own—no matter what our relationship may be like with them—I also knew this topic would hopefully resonate and relate to people in some shape or form. 

My grandma also inspired me to pursue this topic, because throughout those first six months of quarantine she always (and wisely) urged me to maintain hope for some positive surprises coming out of this challenging time. Similar to us college students, she lost a “regular” high school experience when World War II broke out and everyone around the world became somehow impacted by this historical event. So, even though she is part of the “Greatest Generation” and comes from a different era, she could still relate to my generation’s contemporary struggles and further emphasizes the idea of history repeating itself throughout time (but not in the exact same way). 

As for research, I interviewed two of my own family members—my dad and grandma—as well as a middle/high school friend of mine named Devaki, my fourth grade teacher named Ms. Takei who has young children, my competitive swimming friend named Rachelle (and her mom). All of these interviews were formatted in the same style (meaning I emailed each person similar questions about their experience of quarantining with their family), except for my grandma’s which was done over FaceTime and as an oral history (meaning she told me her own experience/story of the war impacting her life and how that might tie into the pandemic, while I mainly just listened or came up with spontaneous questions as she talked). I also used my own experience and site observations of quarantining with my parents, as well as a poem I wrote myself at the beginning of my paper (I’m also a Literature major along with Anthropology, and I’ve always loved both writing and reading poetry). The final pieces of my research came from two ethnographies we read during my Senior Seminar course, and an outside source/academic journal paper about the effects of isolation that I found through UCSC’s online library catalog. 

One of the first obstacles I encountered throughout my research was figuring out how to interview people with a stutter (or do so in a way I felt comfortable), which is why I ultimately decided to go with email for all of them except my grandma’s. While there is definitely more of a comfort zone with family and people I know well, there may never be an entirely “comfortable” zone for me with anyone when it comes to my stutter. It was also a bit intimidating to ask people if I could interview them (besides my dad) due to this topic being touchy or vulnerable for many, but thankfully my two friends Devaki and Rachelle volunteered themselves. I’m truly honored by the trust everyone put in me by speaking on such a personal topic, and believing I would do them all justice through my writing and reporting of their answers. I was initially afraid another obstacle would be not having enough material to work with, but thankfully everyone offered thorough and detailed thoughts of their respective quarantine experiences. My final obstacle in this research was actually writing the paper (a twenty-four page one; the longest paper I’ve ever written) itself, which occurred during an emotionally stressful time for me (along with the other two final papers I had to write for my other classes). However, I was able to power through and channel my feelings into my writing, which is certainly not the first time I’ve done so. 

I think Anthropology is important because we humans—despite our unique and different cultural upbringings—are much more similar than we realize. By recognizing these differences and using them to tell our own stories, we can relate to others on an empathetic level and use the power of our own voices/reflexivity to make a difference. While it is true that many of Anthropology’s foundations are rooted in racism and “othering,” contemporary Anthropology is gradually becoming more aware of this and working to undo it in numerous ways: maintaining an open mind, placing ourselves in others’ shoes, and acknowledging the simultaneous value of our own distinctive perspective, but others; as well. I believe we all have our own story to tell, and a way of making a difference in the world that nobody else can. Anthropology can therefore embody this idea of finding your voice (often through the process of research), which is shaped by our own familial, cultural, and epochal contexts.