Sofia Bock

Abstract:

All people have a right to their own experiences and narratives in all capacities. In her memoir, Know My Name, I argue that Chanel Miller purposefully uses the second-person pronoun “you” to directly talk to readers and allies, to call out perpetrators and rape culture, and especially to support and show fellow sexual assault survivors that they matter. This is important because she tends to all different audiences depending on who the reader is and their life story—so that anyone who picks it up gets something out of it: survivors of sexual assault, perpetrators and those who normalize rape culture, as well as allies and non-survivors. Most importantly, Miller takes an optimistic approach to sharing her narrative and story in a way that everyone is called out and brought into the picture: she purposely does not leave any one else out because she does not want anyone to feel how she felt when she did not talk for a year. In doing all of this and shifting the “you”, Miller makes her story relevant to every single person no matter who they are, calling for change from each and every reader as she copes through each piece of advice and statement she gives.