Hi Class,
I know this is backtracking a bit to last term but I wanted to write about Safe Area Gorzde and Judith Butler. The graphic novel Safe Area Gorazde by Joe Sacco describes his time spent in Gorazde during the Bosnian Civil War. In one passage we read about how many of the Bosnian Muslims were once neighbors and friends with the Serbians, the people they were currently fighting against. This situation reminded me of Judith Butler’s perception of “us” and “them”. How can people who once lived next to each other, shared their lives with one another kill each other?
Judith Butler states that the body is socially constructed. Is it because of this that the Serbians were so easily influenced and pulled by the politics to develop a hatred towards their neighbors, their friends? Butler also brings up the point that we are all connected to each other and depend on each other. Yet how can two groups go from depending on each other for support and community to the exact opposite? Is the separation of “us” and “them”, the concept of having an enemy also something that we, as humans, depend on?
This reminds me of our Political Science class from last semester when we discussed American security after the Cold War. After fighting for so long, after having someone to blame for world issues, after having an enemy, it was almost as if Americans didn’t know what to do with its military power, so they directed it towards another area of the world, the Middle East. What does this have to say about the split between “us” and “them”, is it an unhealthy dependency? Is it what causes violence and global issues? How do we change society and politics so that dependency (or even desire) is not needed or wanted?
Thanks for reading, comment if you please!
–Olivia
