By Melissa Zhou An overview on human rights is invariably associated with the forces of colonialism that have shaped its meaning. By narrowing down the vast scope of history into three prominent cases — namely, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789 in France, and its relationship to French colonialism in Haiti; the advent of self-determination in 1945 through the UN Charter, along with colonialism perpetrated by the US and Europe; and Canada’s support of the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, with reference to the Indian Residential School System — it is evident that colonialism is paramount…
Comments closedMelissa's Archives UBC Posts
The Triumph of Subjectivity: Emphasizing the Individual in the Literary Representation of Human Life
By Melissa Zhou ‘The greater the artistry, the greater the inwardness’ (Kierkegaard, 65), remarks Johannes Climacus, a phrase which rings through the Postscript as an ancillary note derived from the idea that truth must be approached subjectively—through the infinite passion of the soul—and not objectively. But what is subjectivity in literature—what does it entail? In John Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale, the subjective has no logical form; it is not fixed, but a series of shapeshifting emotions and perceptions; it exposes the contents of a particular revelation, before dissipating into itself. What “the subjective” captures, therefore, are the inward experiences…
Comments closedBy Melissa Zhou Stemming from the post-war emphasis on self-determination, the prospect of indigenous autonomy has gained leverage in challenging the Doctrine of Discovery, and working towards reparation. In Canada, various court decisions—such as those resulting from R. v. Guerin and R. v. Sparrow—underscore the importance of Indigenous sovereignty regarding the prospect of binationalism. I argue, with a focus on Latin America, that the prodigious advances made by Canada in recognizing the sovereignty of Indigenous people have international effects, and portray binationalism as a favorable approach to the relationship between states and Indigenous people. The right to self-determination that emerged…
Comments closed