Maria's Blog

Hello everyone,

I can’t believe this is my last blog post on this site, my first year at UBC is coming to a close. It’s strange in some ways but I had a great time, it was a good first year. Having discussed so much during the past months it’s very difficult for me to pick a subject…

As the most recent thing we’ve discussed as a class is this fear of “the other” and how the military in a way produces that and makes people kind of numb to death and violence, I think I’ll discuss that as a closing thought. Taking the film American Sniper, for example, I’d like to emphasise the film’s portrayal of violence. The film caused people to praise the American military for its heroism and courage and others questioned their ability to make someone to be the villain. There’s nothing wrong with someone wanting to defend their country, and the courage they have shown is commendable. But I also wonder about the lives across the sea and the lives that we don’t hear about, they are lives after all, why aren’t we talking about them?

The stark differences between the United States and Iraq are quite obvious in the film. The United States are portrayed as clean and bright and overall organised, the first shot of Iraq that the viewer gets is from the roof from the perspective of Chris Kyle, the buildings are in ruins and the atmosphere is grey and dusty. We later see Kyle barge into a man’s  home and assault his family in the search for some answers, but the amount of disrespect that was shown and the careless acts of violence were really quite shocking for me. The creation of “the other” has led some to begin to feel dignified enough to think that their lives and opinions are above everyone else’s.

Who is to say who’s lives matter, from Astu I’ve come to realise that no one is, we’re all the same. We’re all different of course, we have different opinions, different ideas, we don’t always agree, but who is to say who get’s to end someone’s life? This creation of “the other” has led us to be divided, we have a clear idea of what is considered “modern” and what is considered “backwards”, and some attach these meanings to place. Where “western” serves as a barometer for progress. There are no quick and easy solutions to these ideas ingrained into societies, but to solve the problem we must first begin to ask ourselves how this started, and how terms like “First World” and “Third World” have important meanings and thoughts attached to them. How can one way of life be considered better? How come western countries, most specifically the USA, have had so much influence in the ways of thinking that in many aspects they’ve stepped over cultures and societies. We have to begin to unravel and question how our lives in a “modern” country have come to be, and we’re affecting others.

Thank you

Have a nice summer!

Hello everyone,

My year here at UBC is effectively coming to the close, with April being just around the corner. Regardless of that, ASTU had been progressing and exploring new topics since we last met.

Recently the idea behind neo-orientalism, have been discussed. Neo-orientalism proposed a series of new questions for me, so in today’s blog, I thnk I just want to expand more on current examples of neo-orientalism, and how although they may seem to be “hidden”, they’re actually quite obvious if we pay close enough attention.

A couple of weeks ago I discussed Orientalism and it’s role in current films. In which I noticed that as a society we’ve grown increasingly more oblivious to what’s going on around us. A lot of these movies (Sex and the City and Eat, Pray, Love) are blockbuster hits, are people just choosing to ignore orientalist notions proposed and come to accept it’s ignorance as part of Western life? What about Katy Perry’s depiction of what Japanese culture is to her, where she essentially just grouped together a series of ideas of what she thought Japanese cultural to be like, and made a performance out of this? When is this ever ok, and how do we continue to see this and being alright with it?

Sometimes the notion of the “foreigner” in order to be accepted in western culture has so be changed in which it has to adopt western ideas, as to make itself seem less threatening. But the idea of the “Orient” in retaliation is this grouping of different cultures to make them seem less threatening.

Another importnt point to bring up when talking about neo-orientalism, is it’s role in making the West seem like a progressive place and in doing so makes the “orient” a backwards place; a place in which the west can use to measure it’s own progress and modernization.

In GRSJ 102 we discussed a code enacted by Hérouxville, Quebec which was being indirectly targeted at Muslim countries. In which they said that seeing men and women together is not surprising, and women can wear whatever they choose to wear, and when you come to Canada they also have to celebrate Christmas, and Halloween is the only acceptable time to cover your face. The Netherlands as well had a controversial immigration step, where if you chose to immigrant you had to see two men kissing. Now, in my opinion, these are ways in which Western countries are measuring their level modernity, while simultaneously grouping “oriental” countries together and calling them backward.

Neo-orientalism is a new topic for me, but I do feel like it’s an accurate way if saying how the world is being viewed today. We have to be paying more attention to the world around.

Hi all,

This week there’s been a lot of interesting topics circulating in our ASTU class here at UBC. The idea proposed regarding which lives matter is a pretty pressing issue. That the lives that we mourn are the lives we consider real, and worth caring about. In this blog post I want to discuss how the idea behind whose lives we consider worth caring, also mixes with the idea of who gets to belong in what we consider the nation.

I also realized that basically all of my classes are intertwined in some way or another. So I’ll also be discussing my GRSJ 102 class, where we discussed the idea of imagined nations. I believe that it all really started with the idea of who was considered an ideal part of our nation. The nation, in turn, is racially, and sexually divided, as well as gendered. Obviously, this is extremely limiting to the larger population. So now we have a very divided nation, in which only some are perceived to belong.

The effects of colonialism, are still present today, it’s not as blatantly obvious, but it’s still present in how we’re systemically divided and how some of us are said to belong and some don’t. The statement behind the lives we mourn, which are the lives we truly care for, is defined by who we see as belonging to our nation. So if the nation is divided and leaves most of of its citizens out of the picture, what does that mean for them? Are their lives north wroth caring?

Of course there’s always been the “us vs. them”  talk, but it’s extremely saddening to see it happen within a nation. If we’re fighting within our own country how can we ever be able to progress in the global sphere. Canada has always been seen as this multicultural and welcoming community, but that’s simply not true. As great as Canada may seem it also has it’s fair share of skeletons in the closet.

The USA on the other hand is a different story, they’re so heavily divided it’s difficult for me to see how they’ll advance. Their police system is prosecuting some more than others, and it’s hardly ever justified. The police cover up murders within their system, and it’s all so opaque, which is something that shouldn’t be how the government is handling its affairs. It really says who they consider a life worth mourning, and who they consider a part of their nation in the first place.

I guess it’s all always been staring me in the face, but since university all these issues have really become so clear and so frustrating. Words can’t describe who saddened I am by all these realizations.

The school year seems to be moving pretty fast, and the end of January is near. We’ve started reading another novel in ASTU, The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. I have to admit when I first went to buy my books back in August, this is one of the books that made me excited to start school. The novel tells the story of Changez, who was born in Pakistan and has come to America with the promise and dream to succeed in the business world. Bright and exceptionally unique he stands out amongst his classmates at Princeton and is offered the opportunity of a lifetime, to work at an elite valuation firm. He meets Erica, who helps him settle into and accept New York City, as his sort of home away from home. Needless to say, when the 9/11 attacks occur, Changez’s time in New York is heavily affected, and his hopes and dreams seem to be destroyed, and his perception of America is changed.

At first glance, the book might strike you as a typical “immigrant story”, but I feel like it’s more than that. Changez comes to the United States with the opportunity to study at an Ivy League School, and his family used to have money, so he’s still accustomed to living a privileged life. To me, he strikes me as resentful and I can kind of understand where he’s coming from. It seems that Changez believes his country to be better that the USA, he sees the beauty that comes with age in Pakistan, and in contrast, he in some ways views the USA as fake. This is seen when he describes how the buildings in Princeton are made to look older (3) as if they’re hiding their real age. He describes the beauty of jasmine buds, and how they can be found anywhere in Pakistan, and in America, the only thing you can find anywhere is popcorn shrimp (84). Then there’s the whole Erica issue, who is a blatant symbol of America (AmeERICA, Erica), he acts like he cares for her, but I think he only likes the idea of her. A Park Avenue New Yorker, who comes from new money, and holds the world in her hands, he is infatuated, but he secretly resents her as well. He can only be with her when he pretends to be someone else, she has everything handed to her, and while he used to live a life like hers, in America it’s the opposite.

When the twin tower attacks happen, it seems to push Changez’s true feelings out in the open, he rejoices at the sight of the attacks (72), when he’s racially targeted and when America attacks Pakistan, that’s when the idea of the “American Dream” begins to feel like  a lie. He sees that the USA can get away with anything, racially profiling everyone and creating this culture of fear in a place where he thought he was welcomed. America’s counter attacks had a huge impact on countries across the globe, seeing as they were underdeveloped and couldn’t muster the power to fight back. Changez saw this as a sort injustice, which of course furthered his resentment.

This is such an odd book, I don’t know if I should be angry with the main character or not. What I do know is that I can understand why he’s unhappy, his home is being destroyed, and although he views it as this grand and majestic place, to others it may just seem as underdeveloped and exotic, and even simply just a place to visit but never to stay. Which is how many third world countries are viewed nowadays, cultures are mixed in together to produce this exotic idea which can be inviting to Westerners as ideal vacation spots. We’re talking about orientalism in my Gender, Race and Social Justice 102 class,  how countries have been made to seem as mysterious and exotic, and maybe even places of cultural enlightenment, but inferior to western culture.

Air France’s representation of Tokyo. Done in a way to make it more inviting to westerners.

Katy Perry, and her interpretation of Japanese culture

Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love. Where she visits India and Bali in her search for Enlightenment.

Sex and the City cast, where they visit Abu Dhabi.

Orientalism is still a very current issue. It’s been present in books/movies, like Eat, Pray, Love and Sex and the City 2 this NPR recording further discusses the idea, and even in advertisements, and music. In can see how Changez’s comes from, how come the West can take the bits and pieces they live from these countries, while simultaneously destroying them? How can they just be grouped into this single “exotic” view?

This book opens up many questions about how the West, more specifically America, has come to interpret cultures, and how they accept foreigners. It’s important to consider how cultures are interpreted in the West, and how it affects our perceptions of the countries they come from. It’s very frustrating for me to see how these cultures are being misrepresented. These movies and artists have a lot of influence on how we perceive things, it’s important to consider the other side of every picture. It’s easy to see how Changez is a very negative person, whose views are hateful and condescending.  However reading about him just makes me consider how this came to be, and in the end, I just feel sorry for him.

Hi all,

After a much-needed break, I’m back at UBC and back in my ASTU class. The term has started off with Joe Sacco’s comic Safe Area Gorazde which illustrates the Bosnian War, primary from the city of Gorazde. The book itself was a difficult read for me because of the ways in which the shocking events of the war are shown. This is the second comic we’ve read, and it is in many ways different that Persepolis. I personally believe that Joe Sacco’s style of illustration makes his point clear, and as it’s drawn in the eyes of a reporter it does a fantastic job at giving the public an inside view that is both shocking and saddening.

While reading this book it is impossible not to notice how unique Sacco’s illustrations are. His style is bold and grotesque. In my opinion, he seems to draw the worst physical qualities and does not sugar coat the reality of the situation. Sacco draws the people with hollowed cheeks, and missing teeth, their eyes wide and skeleton like. Seeing them made me take a step back and actually think about their reality. As a reporter, writing about this horrible event must have been no easy task. Which is why I think bringing in in the medium of comics is an effective way of showing the world what happened. Sacco’s  blunt and almost gross illustrations made sure that the horrors of what happened during the Bosnian war would never be forgotten.

I think that like many, I became very self-aware of my current position in this world while reading this book. My privilege was just staring at me in the face. Of course, my life has never been perfect, but my life has never been endangered, and I am lucky enough to have my family with me. Like who am I to complain about any aspect of my life, it when could’ve been a lot worse for me. I’m attending an amazing university, I’m healthy, I’m happy, I’ve gotten more than most get.

This book to me is unforgettable, it did what not many articles can do, it makes you think about what happens outside of your own world. Atrocities happen every day, you hear about them on the news, read about them online, but for them to be drawn in front of you is a different story, one which I don’t think many journalists have been capable of doing.

It’s almost the end of the semester here at UBC, and my ASTU 100 class has read and discussed the book Obasan by Joy Kogawa. The book discusses Canada’s internment and persecution of Japanese citizens. This, like the hardships experienced by Aboriginals in Canada, is not widely discussed, and surprisingly not known to some Canadians.

On Tuesday, November 15, the class discussed George Takei’s video warning Americans about the potential dangers that come with electing Donald Trump as the President of the United States. Takei discusses the trauma he had to go through as a child when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour, and the impact it had on Japanese-Americans. The bombing of Pearl Harbour created a racially motivated fear against Japanese-Americans, in which the United States government forced many Japanese-Americans, internment camps. The government also took away their possessions that they had worked so hard to attain. Takei uses his story to speak to Latinos about voting against Trump, as Trump has made racial allegations about Latinos being rapists, and criminals. He uses his experience to draw similarities between the two events as being propelled by irrational fear, that history has the ability to repeat itself, and if it does the consequences could be dangerous.

Presently, Donald Trump has been elected president of the United States. The United States which holds a great deal of power in international relations is now being run by someone whose opinions  can be seen as racist and sexist. Donald Trump calls for the deportation of illegal immigrants, whose viewpoints have already encouraged racist and sexist attitudes within the USA. Middle school children have been recorded chanting “build the wall”, and racist statements about how “black lives don’t matter” have surfaced even before Donald Trump became president. It’s terrifying and saddening to see how children are learning that racism is correct, and how people are starting to believe that it’s acceptable to racially harass others, and completely disregard them as human beings.

I can’t say for certain what Trump’s America will look like, but he hasn’t even been sworn in and already the country sees his figure as a sort of pass that being hateful towards others is acceptable. The United States has been divided for a long time, Donald Trump’s election as the representational figure of the country draws attention as to how corrupt the country really is.  Donald Trump  is encouraging a racially motivated irrational fear, one which can cause a drastically divided country. History has a long-standing tradition of repeating itself, the consequences experienced in the past have to be taken into consideration when electing someone as the head of the state.

These past few weeks in my ASTU 100 class here at UBC we have been discussing Michale Ondaatje’s memoir “Running in the Family”. The book is written in quite an interesting way. It incorporates poems, quotes, stories told by others, and Ondaatje’s own imagined tellings. While it is a difficult read at times, it’s fascinating and touching like all memoirs. Ondaatje explores many different topics like history, identity, travel, memory and how they all play a part in the kind of person someone can become.

In particular, the subject of identity is one that I can relate to. In class we briefly discussed the idea of a “Third Culture Kid (TCK)” which is an idea that I can identify with, and so can Ondaatje. My story has always been that I was born in Peru, then moved to Costa Rica when I was three, and finally, at the age of eight, we moved to Canada. I moved when I was young and so, I don’t remember much of Peru, but it is still very important to me. I have a family in Peru and history that I don’t know of or understand, like Ondaatje “I am the foreigner” (p.61).  I feel privileged to live in a first world country where so many opportunities have been made accessible to me, but I can’t help but feel that the person I am and will be is not the person I want to be, not unless my understanding of my history becomes  a little less blurred. In such instances I can understand what Ondaatje is feeling, and what prompted him to write a complicated memoir; history is complicated, identity is even more so.

The part the Karapothas in the chapter Don’t Talk to Me About Matisse is a crucial part of the memoir. The Karapothas (which means the foreigner) starts off with journal entries from past European colonizers, whose views are a reflection of their orientalist attitudes. Ondaatje’s own ancestor, William Charles Ondaatje describes Ceylon and it’s exoticness (p.64), he was the foreigner. This is where Ondaatje’s own internal conflict started, his Dutch heritage mixed with his pride for Ceylon has caused him to be confused about his identity. Ceylon is a place where he is from, but will never belong to. The Karapothas is quite saddening to read. Ondaatje remembers meticulously writing in Sinhalese, feeling it was the most beautiful language and having a connection with it, just for it all to be destroyed. I believe that Ondaatje is trying to grow with his current family in Canada, but he can’t because his past is catching up with him, and he can’t keep running away.

Ondaatje can continue to live in Canada, and forget about Sri Lanka but his history will be incomplete. Our histories and their roles shaping our futures teach us how to grow. Ondaatje comes from a Dutch family, who had the upper hand in Ceylon, without them having the upper hand Ondaatje would have had a very different life. It’s important for him to understand that without these colonizers and their advantages he would have had no privileges. He has to understand this before he chooses to move on. Family and history play a crucial role in the person one can become, moving away from it and ignoring it would make someone incomplete.

With that, I leave you with this quote which I think embodies the process of finding our identity,

“I seem to have run in a great circle, and met myself again on the starting line.”  

― Jeannette Winterstone 

Chapter: The Key

During the past two weeks, we have been reading the graphic narrative Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi in my ASTU 100 class here at UBC. We have been discussing the first half of the narrative, and how memory is used to convey a message, as well how genre is used throughout the text.  The narrative discusses the life of Marji, a ten-year-old girl from a middle-class family living in Iran during the Iranian Revolution, and the Iran-Iraq War. Throughout the text, we get to see the development of Marji’s opinions on religion, feminism, and social classes.

The chapter, The Key evoked many different emotions from me. On page 102 two frames are shown, one is bigger than the other, and both show the very different lives between children from different social classes. On the top frame,we see the children from a lower class, who come from poor families, whose lives may not show much promise. The boys of such families are presented with a key which is their entry to paradise. In paradise, they’ll find “food, women and houses made of gold” (pg.100) the place is described as being “better than Disneyland” (pg. 101). The frame shows the faceless children dying with keys around their necks. Below the upsetting picture is Marji enjoying her first party. She is seen with her friends having a good time, during one of many important moments in her life. The reason that one frame is drawn bigger than the other might have been because Satrapi believes that one holds greater importance.

The two very differing frames made me think of the topic regarding the differences in social classes, which then led me to think of how our views are heavily influenced by our parent’s. Children learn from their parents. They’re the ones from whom we learn to trust, and their way of thinking and acting make up our very cores. For example, I have been compared to my mother in many different aspects not just simply by the fact that I look like her, but because I act like her her too. Unlike my mother, I have been given the chance to live in a developed country which has also presented me with the chance to look at the world in a much broader view than my parents. Like Marji, I have been privileged to live a middle-class life, and like her, I have a middle-class perspective which I inherited from my parents. Although, I simply cannot relate to some of the aspects of Marji’s life. I have been fortunate enough to live in a society where freedom of expression, religion, and even mobility rights are a part of my everyday life and anything else would be foreign to me.

Throughout the book we see Marji’s parents, who are Marxists, fighting towards equality through a series of demonstrations. Which influence Marji’s thoughts regarding what’s right and wrong.  It is a proven fact that parenting styles vary regarding the parent’s culture, social class, or even ethnicity. As Marxists they advocate for equality, Marji’s uncle Anoosh even claims that the “the proletariat shall rule” (pg. 62) I found some of the topics they preached about to be inconsistent with their actions. I disagreed with the way that the Satrapi’s maid, Mehri was treated. Mehri moved into the Satrapi’s home when she was eight years old. She came from a poor family, whose parents could not afford to feed and house her. What particularly moves me is the fact that she doesn’t eat with the Satrapi’s. Mehri’s not much older than Marji, and yet she eats alone, even though she lives with them. Mehri even falls in love with the Satrapi’s neighbour and keeps in contact with him through Marji’s help. Her social class prevents her from being with this boy, “because in [Iran] you must stay within your own social classes” (pg.37). In contrast, Marji’s social standings have been able to provide a different quality of life for her. While she’s been given the chance to live her life and have fun with her friends at parties, other children have to sacrifice themselves to religion on the impression that they’re finally going to live a better life.

Having gone through the revolution and the war with middle-class opportunities has rendered Marji’s experience different than other’s. This is not to say that her experience was any less meaningful or saddening. The scene where Marji’s beloved Uncle Anoosh is murdered under the false pretence that he is a Russian Spy is a prime example of how injustices can affect anyone. The death of her Uncle Taher is another example of how even money can’t fight the inequalities that everyone faces during the war. The fact that someone is in a different social class does not mean that they are immune to experiencing any problems in life.

Although Marji is a middle-class child whose views and experiences are different from Mehri’s and the children with the keys, she realizes the inequality between her life and theirs. She understands that the reason she feels guilty driving in her father’s Cadillac, and because they have a maid is because she’s aware that she has a better life. Accepting her privilege and acknowledging the fact that it exists is the first step towards fighting inequality. This is why Persepolis is such an important piece of literature because Satrapi has been able to use her education and privilege to educate others on her view of Iran, and she doesn’t just mention her experiences but, includes those who lead a different life. This book has given the world a chance to look at what life in Iran really looks like.

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