Hello everyone~
My name is Nargiza and it’s a pleasure to make my introduction to this class! I’m a UBC student (of course) with a major in Political Science and this is my 5thyear at UBC. This year I’m taking classes part time and working the other half so this online course is really helpful in allowing me more fixable timetable! I live in Vancouver and my family moved here around 9 years ago from Toronto. My family are immigrants and we are originally from Tashkent Uzbekistan and we moved to Toronto when I was four years old. As an immigrant the concept of nation building and identity are very interesting to me personality and I believe it will be an interesting topic to discuses it in the context of literature, as it is one of the strongest forms of social self identification and a clear representation of the stories we tell ourselves about who we are. This course works to deconstruct the historical processes involved in Canadian literacy. Looking at the relationship between the building of Canadian literature and nation building. This aspect of the course is the most interesting to me as my background in social science focuses a lot on the creation of identities, both personal and national, as mentioned in the novel, “Nation and Novel”
The course focuses on First Nations and their agency in the process, and their forms of symbolic knowledge, much different from modern Western ones.My expectations from this course are to gain a more in-depth understanding of the concepts and themes. I have a rather shallow idea of the concepts and this course is the perfect way to broaden my understanding of self-identification and novels. I enjoy my field of study in the social science and enjoy literature so I hope the combination of these two will result in an interesting and fun class!
Reference:
15 Things to Do in Tashkent in One Day – A City Guide to Uzbekistan’s Capital – Journal of Nomads. https://www.journalofnomads.com/things-to-do-tashkent-travel-guide/. Accessed 12 Jan. 2020.
Eagleton, Terry. “Review: Nation and Novel by Patrick Parrinder.” The Guardian, 28 Apr. 2006. www.theguardian.com, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/apr/29/highereducation.news.
“Tashkent | Facts, History, & Points of Interest.”Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/place/Tashkent. Accessed 12 Jan. 2020.
Hi Nargiza!
What interested me the most in my observation of your introduction was your personal awareness and criticism. I’d love to know more about why you have perceived your ideas of the concepts of the course as shallow? It’s an interesting word choice that I find intriguing.
When you say “symbolic knowledge” I feel like this term could be elaborated to provide further context for your readers and help broaden your own understanding! It implies so much, but seeing as it has specificity to First Nations it would be valuable to include more here.
Hi Arianne! Thanks for commenting 🙂
I guess I was being a little harsh on myself when labeling my knowledge shallow, but I meant in the knowledge of how these stories of nationhood and identity are told and rebuilt. It’s easy to learn and understand that when building a nation one subjects it’s people to an identity that they relate to and re-tell this story again. But it’s another to see what these stories are and how they manage to influence such a diverse population. Maybe it’s because I’ve never really fit into one formation of an identity due to being an immigrant that doesn’t match the identity of those around me, so I always feel disconnected to this process. In relation to that symbolic knowledge refers to that culture and identity, in terms of what kind of stories do first nations have and what symbols correlate with that. For example in Western literature an apple will generally relate to the story of Adam and Eve, and that symbol and the story behind it have such power and impact without the writer even having to comment on it. I want to learn more about the things that impact First Nation writers and readers.
Hello Nargiza,
Thank you for this introduction, you have captured the sense of our course nicely.
“The course focuses on First Nations and their agency in the process, and thier forms of symbolic knowledge, much different from modern Western ones.”
Note: The use of the word ‘modern’ to define Western symbolic knowledge implies that First Nations symbolic knowledge is somehow not modern. This reflects on the power of language to define people; a simple word makes a complex difference.
Erika
Thanks for your comment,
I really do need to consider the phrases and words I use in my ideas so as not to confuse others!
Hi, I enjoyed your linked intro to Tashkent. I have been interested in some of the economics of Central Asian countries after the breakup of the USSR. Specifically the cotton production in Uzbekistan, which seems to be a controversial topic in politics and economics. Yet, when discussing it with a Uzbek national in the fall, I heard that the cotton industry holds a certain symbolic/political weight. I am wondering if you see any parallels between the two instances of nation building? (I am somewhat ignorant on the topic, but I would like to say I find Central Asia super interesting and love hearing local opinions) Thanks!
Hi! it’s really cool to hear that you have an interests in Central Asia! For me, as someone who lived almost their whole life in Canada, I don’t think I can really answer your question, but I can give you a bit more insight to the situation that I’ve heard from people that do. It does hold a certain symbolic weight, as it is/was their primary export item and generated a large sum of national income. But the social practice of cotton farming is deep, as they’ve had times during the school year when students and teachers would go out into the cotton farms to pick cotton for a few days as a form of school activity. And when I’ve asked about this, it seems to be the general consensus that this was just normal. I’ve come to think of it as a by product of Soviet influence on society that still extends to this day. I think it does link to a form of nation building, because it represents certain identities and ideals. But on the other hand, current developments from the country seem to be pointing at different ways of production and that seems to be a shift away from this political weight that cotton has, but only time can tell.
I’d encourage you to do some digging yourself as I’m in no ways a primary source for this! But the country is opening up to more international influences and it would be interesting to see how the situation develops over time!