Since the beginning of this term in our ASTU class we’ve been discussing the War on Terror and it’s varying components. Reading “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” by John Foer we delved into the concept of trauma transfer brought up by the scholar Saal in her essay analyzing the novel. With this ongoing conversation we’ve built upon the thoughts of how western society has been effected by 9/11 and the consequences of privilege in such devastating events; how this event has impacted North America in such a large way when in fact things like this occur on with frequency across the globe. The fact that this terrorist attack occurred on American land changed many aspects of our society, from security in airports, the countries views of Islamophobia, and how the larger society interacts with people who look a certain way.
However, for myself growing up I wasn’t largely impacted by these events in finding my perspective of the world, since the culture and people I grew up with had different issues.
Hearing my classmates tales of family members being a part of the military, being so closely effected by 9/11 in different ways, seeing news stories of the attacks as children in various parts of the world, or attributing the war on terror to a certain look of people. With all of this discussion, I realized I had been completely oblivious for much of my life on these effects since my family was effected by a different trauma: the Canadian and Aboriginal peoples relationship.
For myself, I was effected by the racism of non-aboriginal people towards my family and I, and so to some extent I can sympathize with having people generalize the you into the one, as is the case with Muslim people as well. As we’ve talked about, no trauma can or should be compared. However, depending on our surroundings we are effected by the transfer of trauma from of those around us and their experiences dictate how we go through life and perceive other traumas.
-Mckaylee Catcher