Benny’s recent blog post about trauma and poetry is very intriguing. She discusses how over the term she has realized that poetry is one of the best ways to convey trauma. We can see this through history, such as the rise in poetry after traumatic events such as 9/11 and the World Wars. Benny argues that poetry is so key to understanding and discussing trauma because they are open to a multitude of interpretations. While I agree with this, and can add that poetry is so vital to understanding trauma because of its accessibility, I would argue that other genres of literature do just as well a job as poetry in reflecting trauma. In fact, I found that I was more moved by the graphic novels (Persepolis and Safe Area Gorazde) than I was by the poetry we studied.

Out of all the genres we have studied this term, which one do you think you related to most? Which genre helped you understand the trauma the authors attempted to portray the best?

Hi Class,

In Harnoor’s blog post “De-Framing Frames of War” she discusses Butler’s theory that we are influenced by the frames that surround us. She then applies this to the migrant crisis, and discusses how we can become prejudice due to our “frames”. I think she brings up an interesting point, but I wonder, how can we change these frames? While a “frame” picked up by the media may be easy to brush off, a “frame” or opinion passed down by one’s family many not be so. How can we manipulate our frames to avoid the formation of an “us” and a “them”? Is that even possible? Harnoor also writes about how she believes that improper representation of a group in one’s “frame” can lead to detachment, making violence seem fine. I agree with this, and also think that it’s difficult for us to relate to other people when we don’t know them personally or don’t seem to be directly affected by the trauma.

What are your thoughts on the frames through which you interpret current events?

–Olivia Richardson

Welcome back everyone! Hope you all had a relaxing, well-deserved break.

As we’ve only had a few classes, most blogs this week focused on the novel we are currently discussing, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, 9/11, and islamaphobia. These blogs were very interesting to read, as most of them contained a personal element or experience.

In Ben’s blog The Necessity of Trauma, he discusses how trauma makes Oskar mature in a sense. His heightened maturity is not only because his father told him to never act his age (Foer, 13), but also because of the loss, confusion, and shock he experienced by losing one of the most important people in his life. But he also asks an important question; do we only grow through tragedy? I would argue that we grow through experience, traumatic or not. Trauma tends to warp people in a way, you rarely hear someone growing for the better through a traumatic experience. Oskar displays this in that after he looses his father he is afraid of crowds, public transportation, tall buildings, elevators, and so on. Ben also discusses Marji from Perseoplis and Naomi from Obasan and how trauma affected their lives. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you perceive the outcome) I think we can all say we have experienced a traumatic experience and been changed by it, for better or worse.

Benny also discusses Marji in comparison to Oskar in her blog “Why me?”. She examines their difference in perception of traumatic event, while Marji is more focused on why people are acting a certain way, Oskar focuses more why such horrible events happened to himself. She brings up an interesting and truthful point, that sometimes it’s hard for people to realize that others are going through difficult times when dealing with their own troubles.

Finally, one of the most personal blogs I’ve ever read was Naima’s “Islamaphobia in the Modern World”. Naima writes about her family’s experience with islamaphobia, for example her cousin being told he was not Canadian because Canada is a “white man’s country”. She also brings up an interesting point, that though people view the world as “progressive” because of it’s dwindling racism towards black people, specifically in the US, and the rise of feminism it really isn’t. The world is only progressive in that people are “progressing” to new prejudices.

Keep up the good work guys!

–Olivia Richardson

In Naima’s blog post regarding our field trip to the Joy Kogawa fonds she brings up an important point, that Canada was not always a multicultural and accepting country. I think this can be exemplified throughout Canadian history, especially with the use of the Residential Schools and the treatment of First Nation’s people. It is easy to stereotype a country like Canada, to say that all of its people are nice and that Canada has always been full of peace and love. But I think it is important to look past that. Naima’s blog got me to think about other countries and how we stereotype them, like how Mexico and much of South America is associated with drugs, and the Middle East is associated with terror and violence. But this isn’t the case. Those stereotypes represent only a tiny fraction of the population occupying those areas, and those stereotypes apply to the whole world. It is time for people to stop viewing certain countries as good and others as bad. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone strives for forgiveness.

–Olivia Richardson

In Michael’s blog post titles “Gorazde’s Truth”, he expands on Sacco’s highlighted phrase “The Real Truth”. I, like Michael, originally skimmed over the word “Real Truth” in the beginning of the book, but after a discussion in class came to realize its importance. Michael brings up an interesting point, that “memory and by extension truth is not complete without the feeling and emotion attached”. I think that not only Joe Sacco’s graphic narrative, but also Persepolis and Obasan add to this argument. All three novels exemplify times of extreme trauma and emotion, and try to replicate the memories created by these events. Without emotion memory would be stale, it would seem too factual, almost like your history textbook. Emotion also allows the readers to understand what caused a character to do what they did. For instance, it is easy for understand why in Obasan by Joy Kogawa Stephen pushes away Japanese culture. He feels persecuted for his heritage and that if he associates himself with Japan, he can’t also be considered a Canadian. Emotion makes memory more relatable and easier for us to understand.

-Olivia Richardson

I found Amy’s blog particularly interesting because I too have noticed this trend in the graphic narratives and novels we have read throughout the term. It is scary to think that to some people violence and constant trauma has become a daily routine. I think that this interpretation of graphic narrative style originating from Hilary Chute’s article “The Texture of Retracing in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis” can also be applied to Obasan by Joy Kogawa. Through her descriptions of Naomi and her family’s (especially Obasan) reaction to their displacement and hardships were normalized. Besides Aunt Emily and Stephen, the characters didn’t complain about the difficulties they faced, but rather described them. This makes them seem normal, as if everyone, regardless of their race, experienced the same misery. It is interesting to see how this “horrifying normalcy” can be applied to not only graphic novels and their styles, but also novels and personal life.

-Olivia Richardson

The first blog posts are up and wow, I have to say I am blown away. I had no clue my classmates had such intense ideas brewing in their minds. Since we haven’t read much literature in class besides Shazad’s article on “interpretive communities” and our textbook on academic writing, most of the blog posts focused on memory and the meaning of “global citizenship”. I’d like to summarize and voice my opinion on a few posts (which you should all read if you have the time), so here goes.

First, I would like to talk about the pieces Joey (http://blogs.ubc.ca/joeycreery/2015/09/23/memories-and-music/) and Ramon (http://blogs.ubc.ca/ramonmelser/) wrote. They both discussed the importance of memory and music, as well as music’s effect on society. The way I see it, music is a universal language. From creating a good time, to driving a revolution, music unites and inspires people. One specific example of music changing society is the NWA’s Fuck the Police. As we discussed in sociology, this song swept through the world, altering society as it went. The fact that one song can do that blows my mind. On a different note, Joey specifically talked about how music can revoke memories. I believe this is something everyone has experienced. One thing I wonder is, can music alter our memories? Can the context we hear a song in bring better or worse emotions to the memory?

Another blog post I found particularly interesting was Georgia’s (http://blogs.ubc.ca/georgia/). Georgia wrote of how deleting memories will eventually lead to a “dehumanized society”. She argued that memories are like a web, and if you delete one memory, you damage the web. Also, she argues that erasing a memory is selfish and is as if you are deleting a part of yourself. Here is one sentence that stood out to me: “If we don’t remember pain, we can’t enjoy pleasure, and if we don’t remember sadness, we can’t enjoy happiness”. While this is very true, what if a memory is too painful to remember? What if erasing a memory would make you happier? Is it better to live in ignorance and be happy, or to live informed and depressed?

Again, I am so impressed by all of your blog posts. As we are still getting to know each other, it was great to hear your personal stories captivating ideas.

Keep up the good work everyone!
-Olivia