While many of my classmates chose to write about our most recent class discussions about poetry, some chose to reflect on the texts we read earlier this term, specifically Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Judith Butler’s Frames of War: When is a Life Grievable? A common theme among those that chose to write about these texts was how the text altered their reflections on personal experiences and were applied to concerns of personal interest to them.

Julien shared how reading The Reluctant Fundamentalist helped him better understand the post 9/11 culture in the United States even if he did not agree with many of its implications. His personal experience, growing up so close to New York City, was altered be the events of 9/11. Julien reminds us that The Reluctant Fundamentalist invites us to consider how an event can have drastic and unforeseen consequences, such as the shaping of American attitudes and U.S. foreign policy.

In her blog, Brenna traces how reading The Reluctant Fundamentalist made her reflect on her own position and world view. The text reminded her how easy it is to forget that people are constantly being made to feel like the other. Reading Frames of War reminded Brenna to evaluate her own perceptions of people and inspired her to think critically about the feasibility of  Butler’s idea of viewing all lives as grievable.

Telisa felt that reading Frames of War gave her a better understanding of why some terrorist attacks are noted more than others. She aptly applied Butler’s ideas about how “frames of recognizability” determine who we see as grievable to the under-recognized terrorist attacks in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Egypt. Since the people living in these countries generally fall outside of western frames of recognizability, we find it hard to view their lives as grievable, a problem that, as Telisa notes, needs addressing.

Silvana also reflects about Butler’s Frames of War in her blog. She applies Butler’s concept of learning to recognize all lives as grievable to the violence within Columbia. She questions if peace is possible while Columbians fail to recognize all Columbian lives as grievable and if peace seems unachievable within a single country, how can we expect to have peace globally? Yet, her post is not pessimistic, but rather cautiously optimistic that Butler’s perspective and others like it will help us find alternative solutions to ending violence.

I greatly enjoyed reading my classmates blogs and appreciated how reflective they were on the works we have read. They clearly thought deeply about the messages within the texts and applied them to their own lives or quandaries of personal interest. I believe that this is one of literatures greatest powers, making us reflect on our personal lives lives and changing our perspectives. This is in part what I believe Darda was referring to in “Precarious World: Rethinking Global Fiction in Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist” when he speaks about the power of critical global fiction. Darda asserts that global fiction like The Reluctant Fundamentalist can help us recognize that all lives are precarious. Altering the way we view the world is the power of literature and can have very real consequences. For instance, Darda states that the War on Terror cannot really end until we shift our frames of recognizability and recognize the precariousness of all lives.

I myself also felt that my world view was altered by reading The Reluctant Fundamentalist. I was reminded how we have become complicit to the simplistic, black and white narratives that pop up so often in our lives, especially in times of conflict. We have come to accept the idea of good guys and bad guys. The ambiguity in The Reluctant Fundamentalist reminded me that we should challenge this mentality instead of accepting it. Bulter’s Frames of War made me think about how dividing the world into good and evil makes it impossible to recognize all lives as grievable. The thoughtful reflections from my peers makes me hopeful that the transformative powers of literature can have a positive influence on the world during these difficult and tense times.

Works Cited:

Julian’s Blog – https://blogs.ubc.ca/julianyau/

Brenna’s Blog – https://blogs.ubc.ca/brennasblog/

Telisa’s Blog – https://blogs.ubc.ca/telisa/

Silvana’s Blog – https://blogs.ubc.ca/silvanamastu/