Hello everyone! It has been a few weeks since I have posted, so I thought I would catch you up on what we have been focusing on in my ASTU class. We recently had a group presentation as well as a literature review to follow. Each group was assigned a key word and our job was to research what scholars had to say on our specific word. We then each wrote a literature review on the scholarly sources, which we analyzed. My group’s key word was forgetting and the scholars seemed to share some similar, but also contrasting views on this word.
Some scholars deem forgetting as a necessary act in order to move on from traumatic and painful experiences. For example, in his article Between Remembering and Forgetting, Mordechai Gordon, an educational scholar, states that “forgetting can make it possible for people to move on with their lives and ‘turn the page’ so that they do not get stuck in negativity and ruin” (496). Gordon uses the traumatic event that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut, where 20 children and 6 adults were shot, to highlight the importance of forgetting. The decision was made to tear down the school, leaving no trace of it left, because the individuals living in Newtown felt as though it would be too painful to have to see the school where many were killed.
On the other hand, there are scholars who believe that the act of forgetting can go too far and completely erase the memories of certain groups of people who in fact should be remembered. Katherine Hayes, a scholar of culture and memory, suggests that commanded forgetting has the tendency of completely erasing certain ethnic groups from history. Hayes uses the example of Aboriginal communities to highlight that “commanded forgetting cannot be deemed successful as a strategy” (214). I find Hayes’ argument on forgetting very convincing. It makes me think of The Canadian Residential School System, which we have talked about a lot in my Sociology class. The Indigenous children were forced to “forget” their culture, traditions and values in order to fit in with the dominant Canadian culture. This is one of many examples where forgetting has gone too far, erasing the memories of Aboriginal culture.
As I sign off for this week, I want you to take a position on the act of forgetting. Do you think that forgetting is necessary in order to move on from painful experiences? Or do you believe that the act of forgetting has the tendency of going too far?
Works Cited
Gordon, M. “Between Remembering and Forgetting.” Studies in Philosophy and Education. 34.5 (2015;2014;): 489-503. Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. Web. 22 October 2015
Hayes, Katherine. “Occulting the Past. Conceptualizing Forgetting in the History and Archaeology of Sylvester Manor.” Archaeological Dialogues 18.2 (2011): 197-221. Cambridge Journals Online. Web. 22 October 2015
Awesome blog post! I really think it’s an interesting concept to think about forgetting as a way to process trauma, and move on. I’ve always thought it best to never forget and all of that, but when you think about it, probably some of the most traumatic experiences in my life have been forgotten, and thats not necessarily intentional, but sort of the natural way that it’s worked out for me. Now, I do still think that there is a value in remembering, and that to pay homage or respects to what has come before us is an important part of life, but I am starting to better see how forgetting can be such a powerful tool. Also with the Sandy hook stuff, I think yeah its better not to think about it, but we can’t forget those who lost their lives, and i know that’s not what you’re saying, but I just feel like while you can forget about certain aspects of memory in order to heal, sometimes the pain that comes along with remembering gives that memory more value. I did think that was a really good example though. As to whether or not I think forgetting is necessary to move on? I”m not sure that i’d say it’s necessary, but I do think that it is one rout you can take. Personally I think it’s better to face the traumatic experiences and process them for what they are worth so we can learn from them and improve the situation. Whether thats with gun violence, or anything else. Theres lessons to learn from trauma and hardship and personally think that it is important to remember.