Hey! Lately in ASTU we’ve been discussing articles written by Ilka Saal (“Regarding the Pain of Self and Other: Trauma Transfer and Framing in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close“) and Judith Butler (“Survivability, Vulnerability, and Affect”). Saal’s article consists of an analysis of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, and what Judith Butler’s interpretation of the novel would be. Butler’s article, on the other hand, covers a wide array of topics, such as the acknowledgement of ourselves through others and our tendency to view some lives as more grievable than others. Many of the blogs I’ve read this week focused more on Butler’s article, and the various interpretations that can be drawn from it.

Many discussed Butler’s extensive analysis into why we tend to perceive some lives as a loss, and others as hardly lives at all. Olivea mentioned the distinction between “us” and “them” and how Butler’s explanation that “I implicitly hold to the view that I am responsible only for those who are recognizable to me in some way” (36) further solidifies this acceptance of this idea in many societies. Kennedy analyzed how this distinction is often used to “justify the horrible atrocities that we would typically consider unjustifiable.” Although this may be the way things are, it is not the way things should be, as he says “…just because somebody comes from a different place than me, or looks different than me, or even fights against me, does not take away their inalienable right to be considered human.” Martin further analyzed “who is considered as an ally (the ‘we’) and who counts as the enemy.” He discusses how culture reflexes has led to many believing that some lives are more important than others in terms of race. He concludes with saying that we must alter this idea in order to rid of mourning for some lives but not others.

Others did not chose to discuss Butler, and instead opted to further discuss Foer’s Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Magda mentions the theme of grief being present in the novel. She discusses how finding where the key belonged (although irrelevant to Oskar’s father) provided closure and allowed Oskar to rid of his “heavy boots.” Whereas Magda discusses theme, Inneke analyzes the personal connections within the novel. She relates the trauma of 9/11 to what her grandmother endured in Jakarta, Indonesia. Her grandmother lived through the 1998 tragedy as she moved from place to place to avoid the riots following severe economic problems.

The blogs this week were very intellectual and incredibly fascinating to read! The themes and ideas brought about by Foer, Saal, and Butler provide a great deal of interpretation and much to think about. Thank you for reading!

-Erin 🙂

Hey bloggers! It has been a busy couple of weeks starting our first year in university. I just moved to the beautiful, rainy city of Vancouver, British Columbia from my sunny home in Northern California. I am a part of the Coordinated Arts Program here at UBC and we have recently been introduced to what it means to be a part of such a global and expanding world. Our professors assisted us in tying together multiple disciplines under the umbrella topic of global citizenship. Many students this week focused on this topic, and others zoomed in on a specific academic article by Farhat Shahzad read and discussed in our ASTU course called, “The Role of Interpretive Communities in Remembering and Learning.”

Clara Chang opened with the introduction of Shahzad’s article and presented the topic of multiculturalism used as an example of an interpretive community (a group in one’s life that assists them in the process of remembering and learning). Many interpret multiculturalism in the classroom to be beneficial to all, but Clara digs deeper into this topic to discuss how it could hurt the members of this global environment. She touches on the fact that children may be exposed to topics that contradict the religion and values they are introduced to at home and the possibility of disagreement if the members of the community are not coming from a homogeneous background. Clara strongly closes with the thought that we must keep these discussion topics open, rather than allowing fear to dictate the conversation.

Mia Spare took a different angle on Shahzad’s article by introducing the idea that different past experiences will expand one another’s boundaries and views on the world around them. She also touched on Shahzad’s theory that family, friends, and peers can assist one in interpreting the data presented to them in textbooks or the media, and that this can narrow down an individual’s perspective. Mia discusses her realization that many of her own views have been a result of an interpretive community, and gives the example of her grandfather shaping a personal, subjective view of the Vietnam War. She concludes with the fact that various interpretive communities and technologies of memory she has encountered throughout her life will forever affect her personal perspectives regarding numerous topics.

Ryan Bednar analyzes the topic of globalization from a personal standpoint as he believes his citizenship does not parallel that of his ethnicity. He discusses the idea that nationality is becoming more irrelevant as globalization is increasing. The topic of North American culture being defined by immigrants is of importance because of increasing fluidity in travel among nations, thus allowing for other continents to shape their modern culture as North America always has. Ryan feels as though we are losing our roots, for the question of ethnicity will develop into one of citizenship. He believes that this a topic relatable to many students at UBC and sees idea of diminishing ethnicity to continue for generations to come.

Inneke Soeyanto discusses the broad topic of what it means to be a part of the Global Citizen CAP stream. She personally defines global citizenship as having the responsibility and understanding of what is happening around the world from both a global and local perspective. From a sociological standpoint, global citizenship can interpreted as one who takes local social issues and applies them to a more global spectrum in an attempt to provide explanations to these issues. This idea can be applied to a political standpoint as well, but it must also be realized that politics is about the varying ways order in society can occur. To conclude, Inneke discusses the English relevance of global citizenship to come from formulating analysis and solutions to global problems and perspectives.

It must be noted how Shahzad’s article can be applicable to the ongoing discussion of global citizenship. Those who characterize themselves as a citizen of the world have different interpretive communities than those who accept belonging to only one nation. We, as global citizens, provide a more worldly and open-minded perspective to issues concerning sociology, political science, and English. We must embrace the world as it is now and prepare ourselves to create a better tomorrow.

Signing off! See you all soon! -Erin Livinghouse