Beyond the Cassandra Metaphor

"The term originates in Greek mythology. Cassandra was a daughter of Priam, the King of Troy. Struck by her beauty, Apollo provided her with the gift of prophecy, but when Cassandra refused Apollo's romantic advances, he placed a curse ensuring that none would believe her warnings. Cassandra was left with the knowledge of future events, but could neither alter these events nor convince others of the validity of her predictions." "The Cassandra metaphor is a term applied in situations in which valid warnings or concerns are dismissed or disbelieved." (Wikipedia, May 15, 2009)
A story’s ability to change our perspective of ourselves and those we see as other is so powerfully affecting is can be a threat to our systems of belief. Alberto Manuel’s City of Words presents the story of Cassandra, who’s insights and stories were so outside the conventional view they were not believed (2007, 22) Manguel’s interpretation of Cassandra is of a character who’s insight was something to be feared because she wasn’t speaking from the established views of society. As a poet-story “maker” who exposes a fuller representation of reality, she was a threat to the social order and vilified (2007, 21). When it comes to deeply entrenched social practices we aren’t comfortable allowing just anyone to act the authority to contest them.
Audre Lorde was not just a gifted seer, nor a scapegoat. She took the way she saw the world and with agency constructed a life of action. Finding ways of placing herself at the centre of her own outsider life offered new ways of moving in the world. With a clear view of our world and our honest positions this has inspired others, showing the space around concretized ideologies we can all create.
Zami, to me, is a testament to the realities and struggles of finding our way to the centre of our own lives against the myth of insurmountable odds.
What also feels very different about this book is the myth of getting to a final goal, a realized dream. Lorde's alternative biographical work is not a " I struggled and look at me now" perspective. It reflects a process, that is as linked intrinsically to her life, to who she is, within this oppressive world we all share.