The CAP Conference gave me an opportunity to reflect on the academic journey we have embarked since the beginning of the school year.

First off, I must mention the awesome presentation delivered by Vinson, Tara, Yael, Jeff. As we were already familiar their website in class, I was particularly curious in how their product would stand in connection with others in the same panel. The connections made were clear but surprisingly enough, that common pattern I observed was not on a thematic level. The papers’ presentation were what caught my attention.

We had a website, a conventional oral presentation aided virtually with powerpoint (Joey Chan with “But I Have Nothing to Hide! A Look Into Internet Surveillance”) and a video (“Starbucks: More than just Coffee” by Rohina Dsass, Anna Zharkova, Eunice Choi, Carissa Kirk, Cynthia Dobroszek).

I notice a multimedia approach in delivering knowledge that is closely supported by technology. The prefix “multi-” is obvious here in my opinion. Each works is equipped with multiple convenient tools: Weebly for setting up websites, Powerpoint for visualizing presentations and (possibly) Adobe After Effects for video editing. Of course, multiple forms of information are employed. The prevalent form is still text, then pictures that including photographs and maps. The audiovisual landscape is further enhanced with video (motion picture + music/sound + voiceover).

Not only their presentations are somehow connected. I find that the papers pretty much use sources from interdisciplinary subjects. For instance, “Remembering the Street Newspaper” requires knowledge from archival studies, history, and geography (notice the use of Google Maps). In “But I Have Nothing to Hide!” I would say the author had to look closely at media studies, journalism (Greenwald a very influential journalist in internet privacy was referenced) and even a bit of research law to declassify those invasive privacy Acts. For the Starbucks video, their approach needs to draw information from human geography, political economics, etc. so as to question the unfair coffee trades. I now notice the prefix “inter-“

It is interesting to see how the multi’s and the inter’s have created for first-year students a study environment, which in my opinion is the future of pedagogy/education.

This is the moment I feel so glad being a part of CAP.

Time capsule (n.): a container storing a selection of objects chosen as being typical of the present time, buried for discovery in the future.

I have always been fascinated encountering those Hollywood movies, with scenes of young pupils carefully draft letters for themselves in the future, sometimes simply as an assignment, sometimes more profound, as a memorial act for their school’s anniversary. According to the definition above from the Oxford Dictionary of English, such narratives produced through lettering, are aimed for a (re)discovery.

Indeed, the final stage of the process gives the narratives a chance to be told again, to be reinterpreted one more time by their own authors. In popular media, the hype around this uncovering stage is prevalent in cases such as Bruce Farrer—a teacher who has been tracking down his students, all over the world, to send them letters they wrote 20 years before. In the linked video, delivered letters are recited aloud, usually accompanied with an unexpected “emotional roller coaster.” These (re)discoveries of narrative create a platform for audience, in which they self-reflect on their own former lives, and then reinterpret them through the eyes of the present.

The act of (re)discovery, however, does not just include school assignment as student letters from years ago. Time capsule also has included landmark memorial acts in human history. On July 11, 1969, Apollo 11 took flight to the moon. “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” But Armstrong’s very first step was not the only thing left behind on the moon, a small silicone disc, containing goodwill messages of leaders from 73 countries around the world, is also there. My inner archivist takes over when I find out Prime Minister Trudeau’s words in NASA document of the disc:

Even though the messages were disclosed immediately, the process of (re)discovery still had an important role of self-reflection, as it expressed “hope for peace to all nations of the world.” Narratives in this case, are collected as official voices from countries to celebrate a milestone achievement of mankind. “The Silicon disc represents a historic time when many nations looked beyond their differences to come together to achieve this historic first.” Charlie Duke, Apollo 16 moonwalker commented.

Narratives in the above instances are fragmented through temporal space (20 years or so) or geographical boundaries (73 countries, planet Earth and the moon). But at end through different approaches, the stories united to be (re)discovered.

I just wish that Sarah, as marginalized as she was, when being re-membered (from the dismembered state) would receive the same compassion as if she were sitting there, reading out loud her dust-covered letters to Maggie, giggling.

“Out of your smiles will bloom a flower

 and those who love you 

will behold you across 

ten thousand worlds of birth and dying.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

Engraved in a Catholic cemetery located in Pattaya, Thailand, there are words in memory of a tragic accident occurred during the Operation Babylift. At the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, the operation was employed by the US government in order to evacuate orphanage children from South Vietnam to the States and its allies (Canada, Australia, etc.). Even though the act was considered as “an heroic humanitarian effort” (Bergquist 622) that brought 2500-3000 children out of the war-torn country in 23 days, many criticisms arose due to the fact that not all of the rescued children are orphans, or abandoned by their parents. Not totally for the sake of the children’s, rather the evacuation was the States’ last political move to “give Americans a positive spin on its role in the war”, or as Gloria Emerson characterized it as a “successful propaganda effort”. A Yale psychologist, Edward Zigler (1976), investigated even further, ‘We’ve been ripping [the children] right out of their culture, their community.’

While reading about the operation, my mind immediately drew a connection between the “lifted babies” and Sarah from “Missing Sarah” (Maggie de Vries). Both were displaced children, somehow “ripped out” of their culture roots. In the case of Sarah, she grew up surrounded with an aching awareness that she is different, at the same time facing racism in the outside world. Nevertheless, at home she encountered a vague but yet haunting feeling of not “fitting in” right in her own adoptee family, among her loving brothers and sister. At least Sarah’s childhood experience was well documented through journals, letters and drawings. Such narratives were produced not only to exchange information as it was meant to originally, they now also provide readers with a whole new perspective into those lives on the margins. Sarah had her chance to speak with us, even though late, still it has an impactful meaning to transcend the untold.

How about the lifted babies and their untold stories? How were they then and how are they now? Were their narratives even recorded not to mention published? Do they have a chance to speak at all? Many questions and controversies emerged from Operation Babylift still echo up to now. While the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War is coming soon (1975-2015), I observe that the (mostly state-controlled) press has not been mentioning Operation Babylift with the same attention and direction as they should. They frame (Couser) the babies, as silent, not grieveable even? (Jiwani & Young).

But put all the negativity discussed aside, I still believe that those who love them will behold them across ten thousand worlds of birth and dying.

On April 4th 1975, “A major U.S. airlift of South Vietnamese orphans begins with disaster when an Air Force cargo jet crashes shortly after departing from Tan Son Nhut airbase in Saigon. More than 138 passengers, mostly children, were killed.”

The 20th century global diaspora has brought along with it a discourse of hybridity in life narratives as mentioned in the afterword of Diamond Grill. The “compounded composition” of the book that Fred Wah put forward, consists of many cultural aspects such as languages, how the chefs shout out hybridized swear words: “You mucka high! Thloong you”; or even the cuisine in the cafe itself: from the colonial “mixed grill” in Hong Kong to the down-to-earth “mixee grill” of Nelson. Those entanglements, whether the mixture of Chinook/English language or the masterful improvisation of the chefs, are all necessary counteractions resisting against the archival silencing according to Carter.

In Carter’s article “Of Things Said and Unsaid: Power, Archival Silences, and Power in Silence”, two forms of silencing are introduced: natural silencing and unnatural silencing. Natural silencing occurs by choice, while in unnatural silencing the marginal is forced to be silent “through the use of power.” Keep that in mind, Fred Wah writes “Hybridize or disappear; family in place” (20). Possibly, the portrayal of such character’s hyphenated identity is an effort to contest natural silencing, which could occur as a result of the fragmented diaspora he has to endure. The dislocation promotes a spacial and cultural distance between the characters and the locale. For instance, there is a subtle discrepancy within Wah Sr. as Fred notices “he silently talks to himself (in English?)… and he says to himself (in Chinese?)” (3-4). Hybridized and hyphenated, the silence observed could be an early form of archival natural silence.

Even though the above precautions against silencing are employed, there are traces in the book where silence prevails, or at least becomes more apparent. Particularly it is the case of Aunty Ethel who refuses to talk about her experience in China. The hyphenated identity of her clearly does not allow for a disclosure thus create natural silence.

As a reader, I am curious about the role of silence in global diaspora literature. Is this silence all natural by choice, probably not.

In CAP, we have generally discussed a lot about how the media plays a role in amplifying particular events (and the attached life narratives) to a certain level where their authenticity becomes questionable. That is, life narratives through the media could be falsified and distorted to suit certain private agendas. As Riverbend observes that:

“…the leaders don’t make history. Populations don’t make history. Historians don’t write history. News networks do. The Foxes, and CNNs, and BBCs, and Jazeeras of the world make history.”

I wonder if the above observation is keeping up with the ever-changing cyberspace we are living in; Where the audience are introduced to recent peer-to-peer media hubs (such as Instagram, YouTube,..) where people actually witness a piece of history first-handedly. For instance, this post will be a revisit of what happened in Hong Kong in the past few months with various evidence I recorded.

On September 28th, 2014, the pro-democratic Umbrella Movement reached its boiling point when several violent clashes occurred between the student protestors and the police. Even though the occupational movement was peaceful, the police was reported to use tear gas to disperse the crowd. However, as the telecommunication technology has developed over the past years, all the wrongdoings were recorded and broadcasted live on YouTube (still on air as of today):

Then the interface of YouTube on the left had transformed into a live broadcast transmitting first-hand account of what was going on at the scene. On the right side, there was a chat box flooded with comments from the audience around the world. Some comments such as Nom’s: “Made it to BBC front page! Keep reporting tip to CNN!” wished to gain public awareness of incident through traditional media outlets. Some comments like from Bang Trinh: “… 4/6/1989” drew parallel between the movement and the Tiananmen Square incident. Pessimistic audience tended to call for less radical actions, Lindy Lam pleaded: “…GO HOME! PLEASE! HK PEOPLE”

Sometimes the observers used dark humour and sarcasm to ease the tension:

I concluded that the position of media consumers nowadays have changed dramatic. People are now accessible to social networking/media sites that allow peer-to-peer reportage. Those information received, despite being still questionable, are going through fewer media filters that may ultimately distort their authenticity: from the journalists to the editors and then to the final polished articles on the newspapers. New mediums of media have given the audience the chance to be active, to participate instantly in the ongoing global conversation (the comments on YouTube), to be online journalists/witnesses themselves just by looking at live videos on their computer screens. However, my observation could be argued the other way as the uploader of the broadcast was HK Apple Daily, a local television station rather than an individual. Possibly it was pro-democratic, perhaps it was pro-Beijing. Nevertheless, I kept myself critical receiving those motion images, and hoped the best for Hong Kong, as the very least thing I could do.

Shame on me. I occasionally covered my eyes upon seeing some heartbreaking images of the Lost Boys’ bitter journey away from the turmoils in Sudan, while watching the film God Grew Tired of Us. To my surprise, Nicole Kidman’s velvety narration couldn’t ease the trauma presented by the raw footages of children starvation, extreme violence and prolonged despair. However, in the midst of my own denial there is this striking detail that I find interesting and relieving at the same time: the use of music, or more correctly African inspired music in the film.

Guramayle by Gigi

The film makers carefully select several recordings that suit the ambiance as well as the cultural settings of Eastern Africa.

Traces of music as a cultural form mobilized by forces of turmoil (Schaffer and Smith) then become evident in God Grew Tired of Us, specifically in the farewell scene of the Lost Boys before they leave for America. The moment they have to say goodbye to their peers, they express it not solely by words, but also through a song.

’“I will sing this song to remind you that we have had hardship together. [sings]. If you guys forget, we will not be happy. Make sure your letters reach us in the camp. You guys go with this song, sing this wherever you are and we will sing it here in Africa.”

Notice that the idea of “not forgetting” (Chute) is mentioned here, music surely has an impact in this process of dislocation (Schaffer and Smith): the farewell song represents both the cultural identity and the personal emotions the boys have for their company. Wherever this song is sung, the meaning remains the same. The remembrance for the past through the hardship they faced, the presence of singing the song now in Africa, and the future of the song wherever the Boys go, possibly America.

Being a bus commuter to UBC for the past two months, I have always had that moment of staring at a pixelated LCD screen half-consciously, while listening to a monotonous voice repeats every few minutes the same formatted announcement: “Next stop … Street.” The bus then stops as promised, empties out some lucky passengers, at the same time gets filled up with also half-awake commuters like me. But the worse part of this journey has yet to come, “Please move to the rear of the bus.” If this bus ride were a roller coaster, hearing that phrase would be an unexpected adrenaline rush. People without any choice, embrace even more the limited personal space they have left, and all start a new cycle of staring at the LCD screen.

The above lengthy description of a typical commuting process is now, through the scope of auto/tweetography (McNeill 2014) can be condensed as “Please move to the rear of the bus.”

As a part of the therapeutic culture (Furedi), the act of releasing that haunting announcement has become more accessible thanks to various online platforms such as PostSecret or Six Word Memoir. Due to the increasing popularity of such environment, I would like to mention once again the idea of the “non-places” (Auge 1995) from my first blog entry, to somehow illuminate my observation.

The concept of the “non-places” describes a certain sort of places that evokes a sense of thin or abstract identity (Kolb 2008); particularly places formed in relation to certain ends (transport, transit, commerce, leisure) (Auge 1995). In this case, I recognize a parallel between the “non-places” of Auge: the full bus ride, and a more contemporary online “non-places” of PostSecret and Six Word Memoir,… Both environments are in excess, which means they are filled with “an abundance of events” that is essential to the supermodern age. The latter platform prevails as it fits to the development of the Internet in the 21st century.

However, the “abundance of events” does not necessarily signal an abundance in how information/interactions, or specifically autobiographies are presented. For instance, the “thin or abstract identity” of commuters prevents them from interacting with each other. Whereas the rise of microblog encourages instant, short wordings rather than longer proses as discussed above.

As the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong unravels, it is hard for me not to draw parallel between this event and the 1989 Tiananmen protests. Many aspects have been put forward for compare and contrast, but this process of characterizing would not be uniformly comprehended, if the associated contexts were not mentioned. The context in which both incidents occur, is an appropriate kairos (Miller & Shepherd) for life narratives in transit (Whitlock) to flourish. The contextual discrepancy between Beijing 1989 and Hong Kong 2014 is obviously wide, but I would concentrate on the aesthetic context of various symbolisms presented throughout; so as to emphasize the mobility of narratives attached to these symbols.

The symbol of the struggle in 1989 is the Goddess of Democracy. The statue built by students from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, is declared by its creators as: “the symbol of every student in the Square, of the hearts of millions of people…” (Han). However, it is interesting to note that the arts students tried to not model this sculpture after the American Statue of Liberty, as the public assumes through its visuals. They actually borrows inspiration from the Soviet Worker and Kolkhoz Woman by Vera Mukhinahan. As already being carefully designed with consideration of different set of arts (Western Roman classical art vs. propaganda socialist realism art), the Goddess of Democracy is even implemented with local identity. Specifically through her purely Asian facial complexion while wearing a stola – the traditional gourmet of Roman women; the image that is considered standard in Western classical art. The fluidity of aesthetics around the world within a singular work exposes a lot about contemporary China in 1989. For instance, it was the longing for global knowledge of university students (or the intellectuals as a whole) post-Cultural-Revolution era that led to the exigence of political/social reform. And eventually resulted in the “watershed” – June 4 incident: “the turning point that ended the idealism and experimentation of the 1980s.”

Stories have been told through some artistic aspects of this symbolic statue. Indeed, the Goddess of Democracy in transit moves across cultures and strata of aesthetics, to express the Chinese people’s ultimate spirit for freedom and justice. She also travels across physical boundaries to prove the interdependencies that foster global awareness, as well as a sense of understanding among people (Whitlock). Not to mention the inspiration being forwarded, once again, across the timeline to Hong Kong 2014.

            “…On the day when real democracy and freedom come to China, we must erect another Goddess of Democracy here in the Square, monumental, towering, and permanent. We have strong faith that that day will come at last. We have still another hope: Chinese people, arise! Erect the statue of the Goddess of Democracy in your millions of hearts! Long live the people! Long live freedom! Long live democracy!”

– Declaration of the creators.

Further reading on Hong Kong 2014’s symbol

Meanwhile, at UBC:

Studying literature in high school, I was always fascinated with the idea of feminism. Particularly in how the female characters illuminate their personalities, regardless of the social expectation embroiled in their gender identity; while maintaining the grace of… simply being females (for the lack of my vocabulary, am I being sexist now?). The trait pattern much resembles two contradicting flows of yin-yang, but are actually complimentary as a whole.

Embedded with pride and bravery, Holden Caulfield’s sister – Phoebe in Catcher in the Rye matures in the very last moment of the novel when she tightly holds on her suitcase, ready for a getaway. “Can’t I go with you? Holden? Can’t I? Please?”, she says, holding everything she has, “all I have in it is two dresses …and some other things. Feel it. It isn’t heavy. Feel it once…” Phoebe is, probably just like any other teenager, confused with her identity so much that every time Holden sees her, she has got a new middle name. The opposite sets of values exist within the character: from the silliness of the adolescence years to the determination of a young lady in her moment (when everything she has isn’t heavy at all); exposes questions about identity in life narrative: Who is Phoebe after all?

The answer for the above question should be inspected through various existing social conditions of the 1950s (Felski 1989), but I would like to interpret this idea from a more contemporary perspective of Emma Watson – Actor & UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador.

In her recent speech for the HeForShe campaign, she addresses gender equality as a problem for both men and women. That is, men are also trapped in the norm framework of what society expects in males/masculinity. “If we stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by what we just are – we can all be freer…It’s about freedom.” She says, and then calls for a total co-operation from the other half of the world.

Emma Watson points out the fluidity of identity within oneself (more specifically, gender identity) should be way more transparent and mobile than traditional thought as defined strictly, male and female. This idea coordinates well with my observation about Phoebe and her tendency to be a feminist figure in literature. However, no country in the world has achieved gender equality (The Global Gender Gap Report 2013), which means no persons in the world possesses total freedom to define themselves as who they are on the gender spectrum (G. Bolich 2007).

The current social settings do not recognize such idealistic concept of equality in identity (both internally and externally). I am wondering when and where will the kairos of this prevail? Will it come inevitably as a social evolution? Or is a revolution with more activism in need? (more speeches from Ms. Watson. Yes!)

(source)

Occupying myself with the much productive app Instagram. I scroll and scroll through those perfectly square boxes, double tap (sometimes subconsciously) on them to “like”, desperately find bits of inspiration for my blog. With observations, I realized the fact that we are living in a scarcity of human interactions, but at the same time in an excess of information. The contradiction, which arises due to the popularity of social networks/media, illuminates a collection of non-places (Augé 1995) – spaces that “inculcate a new sense of thin or abstract identity” (Kolb 2008).

In this case, the non-place is Instagram. The idea not only challenges Augé’s original concept of supermodernity in the mid 1990s (when such digital space was far from mainstream); it also exposes questions, regarding this non-place’s legitimacy as a channel for contemporary life narratives.

Evolving from the orthodox life narratives, contemporary life narratives transcend beyond what was once considered (somehow eurocentric) worth-telling “white, male, bourgeois, Western”. The content is now multidimensional, with different slices of life in unique settings around the globe. Furthermore, the means in which life narratives are delivered, now include the non-places as an inevitable transformation in this digital age.

Written much about the theoretical aspect linking Instagram and contemporary life narratives. Here are some vivid examples of stories being told visually on this platform, that I find interesting:

Ai Weiwei, a famous dissident Chinese artist started his own internet meme with a rather funny pose. The act involved “taking a selfie while holding your leg up as though aiming it like a rifle.” – as described by William Wan on The Washington Post. This playful imagery created a trend that many young netizens follow:

Upon being asked the meaning behind his thought-provoking pose, he answered: “”It is a pure use of social media. To pick up public notions on mixed issues — the power to control individuals…terror, arms, many issues… to use the body as weapon. You cannot do this with a novel or movie or in theatre. It’s more like poetry… Some are so empty; some are so profound. To grab your own leg as a foreign object and to ponder and to photograph. I think it is very profound.”

Ai Weiwei’s visual approach to life narratives inspires many people. It simultaneously reveals his retrospective view into the Cultural Revolution period in which he grew up and certainly got affected by. (The gun of the young Red Guards?)

Many questions emerge around this new form of life narratives. Do the non-places (Instagram, etc.) make stories more accessible and are the ultimate ways of doing it? Or are they just like other means of telling stories back then, will be replaced by other avant-garde methods? The answer is in #future.

For the students of Tiananmen.

TRIVIA: Surprisingly enough, UBC’s Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery is currently running an exhibition featuring Ai Weiwei’s work “NEW YORK PHOTOGRAPHS 1983-1993”. I visited it today and it was worth it. Don’t forget to read/watch his interview about Cultural Revolution and his life in New York City (once again as a perfect example for “Life Narratives”)

Links:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/06/16/ai-weiweis-fake-leg-guns-become-chinese-internet-meme/
http://www.belkin.ubc.ca/current/ai-weiwei-new-york-photographs
http://www.dkolb.org/sprawlingplaces/generalo/placesto/augonnon.html