This week was extremely busy. So to end two weeks of midterms I have come up with this blog posting for the ASTU 100 class. And it is indeed connected to the theme of law and society.
To start this off I would like to talk specifically about the article written by Willie Van Peer. This was more appropriate to talk about since we used it to write our summary. I would like to say that the article is very well written and just like the Nussbaum article it talks about the usefulness of the arts in influence a change in human rights for the greater good. And in a way I have to agree with him for he does make a very good point and expands clearly on this particular point. I feel that literature in general contribute to the progress of human rights because it connects us to the characters of literature. It makes us empathize with them and feel the pain they are feeling as we follow their own journey and the hardships in which they begin to experience. Most authors of novels supporting the progression of human rights often showcase the character’s emotions during a tragic or discriminating event so as to get readers to see how human they are and imagine what it would be like if they, the readers, were in their situation. Van Peer also successfully persuades us to believe him by using examples of famous works such as the book ‘Hard Times’ by Charles Dickens. This is effective as it shows how truthful this article is.
So to further elaborate and clarify my point let’s take for example ‘Obasan’, a book by Joy Kogawa in which we have to read for our next assignment. ‘Obasan’ focuses on a major issue in human rights, the fact that Japanese-Canadians have to evacuate and that most of them are just not treated well by the locals within the area. For example the scene where Stephen, a member of Obasan and Naomi’s family, is bullied and arrives home injured. The fact that Naomi’s grandmother and grandfather have to be admitted to the ‘sick bay’ is also rather disturbing especially the details surrounding it. As a result seeing all of this makes one wonder whether these people actually deserve such a treatment and then will question the morals of this world. So the readers will begin to feel sympathy and begin to connect with the central characters of this novel. Therefore these people like Van Peer said will most likely contribute to the progression of human rights because after hearing about what had happened during Obasan’s time they would want to propose an act to stop it from happening ever again. It contributes to an act of change due to the feelings of compassion. This though is backed up by the way the Nakane family is presented within the book. They are viewed as innocent as well as almost comparable to our own families thus showing that we as human beings are no different than they are.
So what do you think? Do you think that ‘Obasan’ and Willie Van Peer’s article are two fine pieces of work that showcase the true importance of how literature is a factor that heavily contributes to the progression of an improvement in the rights of human being? Because as stated above, in my point of view both Joy Kogawa and Willie Van Peer have conveyed this effectively through the use of emotion in her characters in the former and the use of persuasion via immense elaboration as well as by providing examples in the latter.
Hi Jonathan! I very much appreciated your blog post, particularly your discussion of Obasan through the lens of Van Peer’s argument, an analysis that I had not considered. Your posting compels me to discuss Obasan through Nussbaum’s and Rose’s arguments as well, both of which you appear to indirectly include, though you never explicitly mention them in your discussion of Obasan. For example, your argument that “readers will begin to feel sympathy and begin to connect with the central characters” echoes a key point of Nussbaum’s: that literature such as Obasan fosters better citizenship and social awareness through allowing us as readers to develop empathy with characters experiencing political or social injustice. Your discussion of details included in the novel such as the atrocious conditions of the Sick Bay, which forces readers to “question the morals of this world” also approaches Rose’s argument that Obasan is a particularly persuasive novel because it blends fact with fiction, increasing its societal significance because it deals specifically with events that actually occurred within and affected “this world.” In response to the question that you posed regarding the effect of literature, particularly Obasan, upon social progress, I’d add that the arguments presented by both Nussbaum and Rose are just as relevant in determining the effect of Obasan upon social progress as Van Peer’s.