Hey bloggers,

Its been a while since we have last blogged and in that time, so much has been going on in ASTU. For this week’s blog, there was not really one thing that everyone talked about. Blogs this week ranged from discussing our most recent joint CAP lecture about the #BlackLivesMatter movement, Mohsin Hamid’s novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist, to a chapter of Phil Klay’s novel Redeployment.

Clara and Ryan both took a look at the joint CAP lecture and Ryan points out how in the lecture, there is a reccourring theme of identity in all of our classes. This theme of identity and the question of who do we grieve arises. Both Clara and Ryan expand on Judith Butler’s ideas and how we see people as either being with “us” or “them.” It is interesting how it is not necessarily another culture that is the problem in a multicultural place, but rather the institutionalized racism that still exists and is beyond our power.

On the other hand, Baris talks about how he did not see The Reluctant Fundamentalist as being an anti-American novel, but instead how it is about the struggle and confusion of Changez trying to adjust and fit in to a new place with a different culture. I had not really thought about the novel this way all too much before reading his blog post and because I had never really experienced something like this myself. Having been born and raised in Vancouver, I have never lived anywhere else. In fact, I have not even moved houses. When travelling to a new place for a vacation, it is not the same kind of feeling because you know that it is only for a short amount of time and and you still go home and get back into routine. The different lenses in which the book can be interpreted through makes it all the more interesting and allows for you to really see what others think.

This week Martin discusses Phil Klay’s Redeployment and how even when soldiers return home from war, a part of them is still there and that coming back home is a battle within itself. He mentions how once the soldiers are back home, they have difficulty adjusting back to normal life because they have been trained to always be cautious and attentive of everything in their surroundings. Many soldiers like Sgt. Price are then confused as to what is home. When at home, they want to go back to the battle field and when on the battle field, they are wishing that they were at home. This makes it difficult when trying to adjust which raises the question that Therese asks how should we act when they get back? Do we thank them for what they have done or do we ask them about the war? This battle that soldiers face when they come home is much more than them. It has an impact on everyone, especially those who they are close to and are trying to welcome them home.

This weeks blogs have all been very diverse and interesting. I look forward to reading everyone’s last blogs soon, but until then, good luck to everyone with their upcoming assignments!

– Elizabeth

Hello bloggers!

My turn as the class blogger has come around and I must say, the blogs I read this week were great!

I’m sure it is of no surprise to you that this week many people chose to write about Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. A reoccurring theme this week was the discussion of style in which Satrapi used in her graphic narrative.

In Paolina’s blog, she writes how she is beginning to see “Persepolis and comics in a whole new light” and personally, I agree with her.  I am no longer seeing comics as something just for children and I am growing an appreciation for the simplicity behind them. In fact, “graphic novels add a new dimension to the reading experience.” While Paolina writes how her view on comics has changed, Gabriel writes about how Satrapi reveals the normalization of violence. Satrapi not only shows us how normal violence is in her life at the time, but in society today. Similarly to Gabriel, Kate addresses how through the minimalist style of the drawings, it shows “trauma more effectively and horrifically than simply describing it with words or a more realistic image.” Due to the fact that it is from a child’s perspective, the drawings cannot always be realistic. A child cannot always comprehend how horrific some things really are and because of this, it allows the reader’s imagination to wander.

Unlike many others this week, Baris focuses more on the similarities of growing up in Iran (when Satrapi did) and present day Turkey. Even through Satrapi’s minimalist style in Persepolis it is difficult to imagine what hardships she experienced, but for me, it is even more difficult to imagine someone in our very own class has experienced something similar. Persepolis has helped me in realizing that although the things Satrapi has experienced may be extraordinary, she herself, is still and ordinary person and that until the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war she was just living her normal life like many of us.

Being able to read everyone’s thoughts and opinions of the book as well as their own experiences and connections was something I really enjoyed. I look forward to reading all of your future blogs, but before I go, I do have a few questions. What if Persepolis had been in colour? Would it have changed anything? Or what if Satrapi had decided not to have made it a graphic narrative at all? Would the underlining message be as intensified as it is?

Until next time,

Elizabeth