Hello ASTU 100!

Long time no see! I hope you all had a great Christmas break filled with much needed quality time around family and friends, plenty of sleep, moments to reflect on our first term of university, and set new goals for the upcoming year.

However, as we took a pause from the hustle and bustle here at UBC, news from all over the world did not cease to appear on our media news feeds. Events such as the ongoing refugee crisis, terror attacks across the globe, Middle East relations, elections, and foreign policy decisions have stayed atop the sphere of popular media. With the notions of fear, trauma, security, xenophobia, and Islamophobia at its peak, I could not think of a better way to start off our second term in ASTU by reading Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel entitled Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

Through the ideas of 9/11 and American Exceptionalism brought to light in Foer’s novel, many bloggers challenged the exclusive narratives of trauma in 9/11, as well as the popular rhetoric which followed “the worst day ever”.

Questioning the uniqueness of the attacks on 9/11, Mariana is met with skepticism as she writes, “are the attacks of 9/11 actually exceptional? Terrorist attacks were happening and continue to happen now. People experience trauma all over the world.” Instead, she argues that, “events like these are not supposed to set borders between people…they can unite people and make them understand each other more.” What makes trauma a widely debated topic is in part due to its universality; everyone has been affected either directly or indirectly in some way, shape or form by a particular event. This segways us into Imaan’s blog. Here, she writes about her cousin Salima who was en route to the World Trade Center subway stop when the attacks occurred. “With the numerous painful memories that were caused from this day, everyone has their own story to tell…She told me it [was] the most chaotic and stressful situation she had ever been in. Moreover, the novel does an upright evaluation on the true emotions that are conveyed [on] 9/11.” Having my mom fly to New York on a very frequent basis, I have experienced and been told first-hand the direct changes in airport security, but also on the streets of Manhattan with new terror protocol, cameras on every block, and an increased police presence.

As we have discussed extensively in class, the role of ownership and agency of trauma through various contexts is a widely conversed topic. This brings me to Priya’s post, as she brings her another unique story of trauma to the table. “[This novel] took me back to the national trauma that I encountered as a citizen of India during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks…something that I witnessed not only on the television screen but from [a] few of my acquaintances who actually lost their loved ones in the attacks.”

Reverting back to 9/11 Exceptionalism, in my opinion the mere reason we have coined the attacks on the World Trade Centre that occurred on September 11, 2001 as “9/11” hints us towards a unique event in time, but also a new post-9/11 era, if you will. You never here the attacks n Mumbai referred to as “26/11” or the recent Paris attacks as XY and Z. How are events in the novel such as the fire bombings in Dresden, Hiroshima, and the Holocaust set apart from “the worst day ever”? These questions I will hope to delve further in on a another blog post. This post-9/11 era we live in comes with rash emotions, stereotypes, phobias, and irrational fear that are still embodied to this day.

In Foer’s use of Oskar as a metaphor for America post-9/11, Tzur furthers this claim in saying, “For Oskar the attack marks the worst day ever, his entire life is turned upside down and after the attacks Oskar exhibits some very odd feelings…[he] is scared of Muslims and people in turbens, suddenly elevators become places of fear.” Kaveel too expresses similar feelings during his youth where he admits, “I also recall experiencing anxiety when I saw a traditional Arab costume because being the young oblivious child I was, I associated it with terrorism.” A similar dialogue is expressed as Sania writes about a Yik Yak post she read regarding Islamophobia, in which the author wrote, “Canada was founded by Europeans and it should primarily belong to Europeans. Backwards desert religions have no place here.” This type of dialogue has seen a great resurgence as of late in both the private and public sectors. Even Republicans and Democrats are struggling to draw a finite line between freedom, security, racist, and extremist views.

As Oskar famously put it, “There was a lot of stuff that made me panicky, like…Arab people on the subway (even though I’m not racist)” (36).

The need for contextualization is pursued in Jacqueline’s blog where she expresses that, “on the other hand, stories of tragedy like terrorist attacks carry inherently political implications that must be contextualized in order to make broader policy decisions…when American’s were most fragile they were fed lies about how Arabs hate freedom and all things American like hot dogs and Fords.” Whether Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close promotes 9/11 Exceptionalism, I too, am torn between personal trauma and 9/11, moreover, perhaps they are not mutual exclusive? Further, Jacqueline concludes, “9/11 exceptionalism is dangerous in that it creates a culture that ignores the causes of attacks and creates a culture that is incapable of mourning without hatred and ignorance. When people are able to empathize with loss while gaining insight into the larger context in which the tragedy exists then they’re better equipped to exist in a post 9/11 or post trauma world.”

Just as I was about to submit this post to the class blog, a recent incident regarding speculations of the 3 Middle Eastern looking men who were conducting “suspicious activity” inside Pacific Centre Mall on the 14^th of January. Personally, I feel as if this is a direct ripple effect of living in a post-9/11 world, especially as tensions begin to rise by the day. It seems as if more people nowadays carry their own “terrorist checklist” stored in their brain. When it comes to race, skin colour, sex, and religion, we are so quick to pull out our “checklist”, slab stereotypes and racist generalizations that divide us, rather than come together in reconciliation. Although I can completely understand police rationale behind VPD precautions, would we even be having this conversation if those 3 men were Caucasian? Perhaps, we will never know…

My dearest apologies for the duration of this blog, but this post and topic truly spoke to me on a personal level. Once again, I had such a blast reading all of your blogs and do regret not being able to mention many of them. However, do keep an eye out in the “comment sections”  where I will further continue this dialogue!

Kind regards,

Nico Jimenez

Here are a couple links to news articles regarding the incident at Pacific Centre Mall:  http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2016/01/vancouver-police-search-middle-eastern-men-pacific-centre-mall/ and http://bc.ctvnews.ca/suspicious-men-at-vancouver-mall-completely-innocent-vpd-1.2738807

Hello ASTU 100!

With the first two and a half months of university under our belts, I can’t help but push pause and wonder where all the time has gone! At just around this same time last year, I remember the long and grueling process of browsing through several universities here in Canada and the United States, completing application form after application form, writing thought-provoking thesis statements, and on top of that, engaging in graduation festivities. It is safe to say that our dreams have come true, we’ve made it – and this is only the beginning. I would like to begin this class blog by saying that it has been such an honor getting to know many of you and look forward to what is to come.

Now, enough with the warm and fuzzies. On a more serious note, this week’s blogs were extremely intriguing and definitely required a lot of critical thinking. It was great to read about what you had to say on various perspectives and themes encompassed throughout our ASTU class!

With our class discussions in previous weeks analyzing Marjane Satrapi’s clever use of style and representation of trauma in her graphic narrative and with Hilary Chute’s article to add an extra perspective, it seemed apt that it was a popular topic amongst blogs. With Diego building upon Scott Cloud’s coined “amplification through simplification,” he argues that there is this beautiful simplicity in the monochrome minimalist technique, especially in relation to emphasizing trauma. To go even further into Diego’s argument, Mariana adds another brilliant quote to the table, this time from John Maeda who says: “Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful”. When looking at Persepolis, Mariana brings a great thought and truth we have never really discussed by pointing out, “Persepolis is a unique and authentic piece of art. As the majority of people tend to judge a book by its cover, it is essential to tell that the cover of Persepolis [:] The Story of a Childhood is the most colorful part of the book. The bright red background attracts a reader and scares them at the same time. The aggressiveness it holds serves as a pre-introductory to the story. The events described in the book are serious and traumatic.” When looking at trauma from an up close and personal point of view, we must refer to Peijia’s blog, in which she recounts and draws from past experiences a time in her life where she was able to witness deaths of several animals at a young age. “I remember thinking that [the] whole thing was very disgusting, and how said it must have been for the animal to die…Looking back now, if I were to draw what I saw as a 6/7 year old, my visual representation would not be more than a scraggly shape of a chicken with X-crossed eyes and a spew of spiky blood coming from its neck…it was hard for me to even imagine drawing realistically because it was an act you do not particularly want to remember”. This childish innocence combined with naiveness through the stylistic representation of monochromatic trauma is what makes Persepolis so unique itself. From what we know and have analyzed so far, we know that Satrapi’s graphic narrative does a great amount of justice through her abstract illustrations of trauma, but this also raises the question: Does the power of written text hold the same water?

Through the process of studying and linking works from various outlets of art, including literature, Kihan finds parallels to Persepolis via comparison and contrast to Canadian author Anne Michels’ 1996 award-winning novel Fugitive Pieces around the recurring theme of unspeakableness of past trauma! Kihan stresses that, “despite the fact that the highly visual, graphic narrative form of Persepolis and the highly dense poetic/prose form of Fugitive Pieces are on opposite ends of the form spectrum, the works remain comparable in many ways…while Satrapi reclaims abstract illustration to represent trauma, Michaels reclaims the power of the written word to do so…through the structure, syntax and diction of Fugitive Pieces itself…Michaels’ use of language in Fugitive Pieces serves to invert the legitimacy of the popular sentiment that ‘there are no words’ to describe the absurdity and horror of the Holocaust”. To answer and address the previous question posed above, I would concur in saying that the depiction of trauma through specific mediums can be justly accepted through visual and verbal representations. It is up to the author to manipulate and take it upon themselves to portray trauma, but most take into account the power in which trauma can alter the audience’s perspective. This style in which Satrapi in particular chooses to connect with his/her audience in terms of Persepolis is one that has a big play in part to relatability of a childhood.

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood is a graphic narrative about the daily life of growing up and finding yourself in a world full of contradictions. “We all had a childhood,” Kristen writes. What makes Persepolis so relatable, regardless of culture, race, location, or gender is childhood. Because “childhood” and all that encompasses these broad years may look completely different from person to person, it makes our story all the more authentic and unique! Our story is what sets us apart and makes us stand out, yet, it can strikingly bring communities together. Though no childhood is completely identical, we can still draw multiple parallels in culture in society that overlap our own. Kristen further reasons, “While we all have different experiences and cultures, we all had a childhood, we all grew up and navigating the complexities of life. More specifically, the commonness between all children, every childhood, gives Persepolis to act as a memoir, a tender reflection of childhood and allow each and every reader to connect to Marji in a very personal way.” With the notion of a “dominant culture” of that pertaining to western society, it seems as if this Americanization of western ideologies have unconsciously seeped through the walls of a very traditional Iranian culture through the advancement of globalization and cultural imperialism (Guppy and Ritzer 136), and have entered Marji’s own little world! I can very much relate to what Kristen suggests in her blog post and it makes me all the more aware of the similarities Marji and I have in common: the ongoing pursuit of finding yourself in the ever-changing cultural and societal norms that change in the blink of an eye.

Once again, I had such a blast reading all of your blogs and do regret not being able to mention many of them – please excuse the long post as it is. However, do keep an eye out in the “comment sections” of your blogs where I will further continue this dialogue!

Have a great week and see you all in the hours to come!

Nico Jimenez