Hello Everyone!
As expected, everybody blogged about their field trip experience. Since I wasn’t there, reading the blog posts helped me picture what it was like exlporing the Kogawa fond. The archives described were composted of letters by readers and editors, newspaper articles, and drafts.
Most of the bloggers didn’t think about the process and energy that writers put into their book before seeing the archives. According to Martin, this is because we are caught up with the book itself and tend to overlook the process and experiences of the author in creating the novel. Seeing the drafts however “makes authors seem less like machines producing well crafted sentences, and more like people writing and labouring over a story” (Isaiah). On one hand, Ryan felt that seeing the author’s handwriting on the page made it more authentic and satisfying especially now that the internet has decreased the value of artworks. Isaiah touched on this idea as well. He claimed that we don’t think about the beauty and complexities behind a piece of work because everything is accessible with media.
Other than appreciating the work that writers put into their work, a number of bloggers talked about the effects of Obasan into the lives of people. Erin for one described the appreciation of Japanese-Canadians to Kogawa, “Kogawa encourages the remembrance of history as a means to improve on the past, rather than forget events that are seemingly too painful for the people to remember”. Maria agreed with Erin on the importance of not forgetting. She stated, “no matter what year Obasan is read by a person affected by a social event, they are able to connect the novel with the importance to never forget events that caused casualties in their own societies.”
I also want to focus on two blogs that were thought-provoking. One is by Joseph who attempted to understand a letter from one of Kogawa’s readers in a form of a poem. The poem questioned why there are divisions in society and why we insist on having them. The sun was used as a metaphor for togetherness and how it was unreachable. As Joseph put it, “There was an air of desperation, of waiting, of hope in clinging to the warmth of fleeting fire and light on earth.”
The second blog I found interesting was Paolina’s. She came up with the conclusion that Naomi’s story didn’t start at the beginning of the book rather it began with Kogawa’s research, the notes she took, and the letters she received. For Paolina, the end of World War 2 and the Japanese-Canadian misery did not mark the end of the story. The story is still continuing through professors, scholars, and even us, students who analyze its meaning.
Reading everyone’s blogs made me realize that this is what memory is about. We, university students, are part of it by addressing what happened and by exploring the truth.
– Therese
Hey Therese! I enjoyed reading your class bog because you were able to express different points of views people had towards the visit to IRBS. I found your first paragraph interesting since it covers the topic of how the visit to IRBS made us realize that there is much more behind a book’s content. The fact of being able to see all different types of artifacts made me think about Joe Kogawa as a common person instead of just an author of a piece of literature. The artifacts demonstrated that for a book to be published it has to go through a process of researching, writing drafts, proof reading and getting letters of recommendation. These different steps are not considered when we are reading the piece of literature because we are more focused on the main theme, character, symbols, etc. From my point of view, archives are a helpful source for students to get to know how a piece of writing actually leaves an impact on its readers. I was able to identify this when I was reading the letters children wrote to Kogawa in relation to Naomi’s road. Even though they were kids, they actually felt identified by some of the events the victims of the internment had to pass through. For example, there was a girl who explained how a war in Vietnam caused the separation of families because boys had to be part of the war. She mentions she felt identified in Naomi’s road, because during the novel families were also being separated due to the internment. My favorite aspect in relation to Kogawa fonds was that they demonstrated me that as human beings we are capable to express our own opinions regarding different issues in whichever format we desire. For example pieces of literature, letters, research papers,etc .
Maria Jose Zegarra
Paolina – I would like to comment on your blog “Don’t forget to remember”. I thought it was great how you talked about the importance of the process that we were invited into with the archives. You do an excellent job of emphasizing how Obasan is so much more than just the finished product we are presented with. In particular, your question of whether or not the story really has a beginning or end was very thought provoking. However, it makes me wonder what may have even been left out of the archives despite their comprehensiveness and what even they cannot tell us about the impacts of Obasan. While you suggest that the archives may be encouraging one not to forget, I can’t help but speculate what they can’t help forgetting in their vastness . As a great man once said, “I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind.” (Dumbledore, timeless).
Paolina – I found it intersting how you said that the story of Naomi and her family did not start on the first page of the book, but rather when Kogawa started doing her research and that the last page of the book was not the end. I actually think that in a way the story still has not ended. Even still today, in Canada we are not completely honest about what had happened during that period of time. We often still overlook it, or if we do talk and learn about it, we do not know much. Although time has passed and technically the book did come to an end, I think that the story is still being written.
Hey Elizabeth!
I really liked reading your most recent blog post, “The Joy Kogawa Fond and Obasan’s Influence”. I agree with you on the point you made about how surprising it was to see the number of rejection letters Kogawa received. As I was reading your blog, I thought of what Isaiah wrote in his blog about how difficult it must have been for Kogawa to move on from comments such as “we see problems with the marketing of this story”. Our trip to the archives definitely confirmed how difficult the whole process is of writing a novel, and how resilient authors must be to move on from negative comments.
-Kate
This is a comment about Isaiah’s blog post this week titled “The Resilience of Authors and the Story”:
I really enjoyed your perspective on and description of the resiliency displayed by Joy Kogawa when she was faced with rejections (e.g.: rejection letters from publishers, negative letters, etc.). I do agree with you that being able to see the “backstage” of the book gives a new perspective to the intricacies and effort involved when writing a piece of literature. Your exploration and questions for Kogawa regarding the responses she received about Naomi’s Road intrigued me. I had never thought of questioning these responses and opinions. I had just taken them at face value when leafing through the archival materials. Maybe you could write a response letter to Kogawa asking these questions and expressing your own thoughts on Obasan. I will definitely consider doing so myself with future novels I read. These interactions between authors and readers provide meaningful interpretations and conversation surrounding the novels, as you clearly demonstrate with your own questions regarding the responses you read in the archive.
Really great job with the blog post! Thanks!
– Clara