On Farhat Shahzad’s “The Role of Interpretative Communities in Remembering and Learning”

Hello all!

 

As stated in the About page of this particular blog, posts here will be connected to the ASTU 100A course, and will speak about material and discussions from class.

 

To begin, my class has recently read through Farhat Shahzad’s essay, The Role of Interpretative Communities in Remembering and Learning. The essay focuses on the significance that “interpretative communities” (ex. families, teachers) play in the remembrance and learning of the War on Terror. These students are specifically Canadian university level students, and coming from a diverse range of backgrounds.

 

I found that the essay interesting, as it put into words certain facts that I was aware of, but had not previously considered on the same level as this essay did. For instance, the way important individuals in our lives influence our intake of knowledge on events our issues. Such figures are typically able to impact our interests in issues they take interest in. For example, the first-generation Chinese immigrant quoted in the essay (pg. 307) had stated that she was largely uninterested in the War on Terror but, mainly due to her father and grandfather’s interest in it, learned some information pertaining to the war.

 

It was similarly interesting to see the ways in which students with such different backgrounds saw the War on Terror. Some, who were not as closely affected by it than others, were understandably less interested and thus knew less information than others. Most of the time, much of this information seemed to come from authority figures who were interested in the war, and managed to influence these people to have some awareness of the issue. The first-generation immigrant from China is a good example of this, as she had little interest in the war but learned of it through her father and grandfather (pg 307).

 

On the other hand, those who are more affected by the war are more aware and attentive to any information that comes up. Of course, since these people have connections that the War on Terror affects them through, it is unsurprising to see such behaviour.

 

To see such different perspectives side by side though, was an interesting experience. Being able to read and see the reasonings and experiences of these people was intriguing, and allowed me to gain a better understanding of the driving forces behind the learnings of such topics.

 

In regards to this though, I come to wonder how much authority figures influence how we view these issues.

 

As Shahzad had also made note of, interpretative communities have a role in what we select as our sources of information (pg 307). Most of these interpretative communities are authority figures with their own views and opinions, and as such they influence what information we absorb. Thus, it is entirely within reason that we could end up with bias or outdated information, but not think to look for less bias or more recent information because of these influences.

 

And so, is there any measurable margin as to the amount we are influenced by such authority? It would depend on the person alone, I think.

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