Hello, dear reader, and welcome back. The final blog post (for the first semester) will be a recap of the experience of visiting the Joy Kogawa Fond. As a class, we went to the Irving K. Barber Library in UBC to take a look at the Joy Kogawa Fond, which is essentially a collection of artifacts and primary items related to her historical novel Obasan.

But before we were even able toenter the Joy Kogawa Fond, we had to go through a series of security requirements. We entered what seemed like a decontamination room, where we had to leave all of our belongings in a locker provided within the room. After being cleansed of our personal belongings (including coats and jackets – no pockets allowed!), our class was escorted to a meeting room containing the Joy Kogawa Fond.

Folders containing papers of all ages were found on top of tables, awaiting for someone to open the folder and examine its contents. Inside the folders contained all sorts of papers – old newspaper articles about Obasan, appreciation or rejection letters to Kogawa from editors and publishers, fan mail from the young and old, Kogawa’s many drafts with editorial notes and edits, and many more. This is the Joy Kogawa fond, a collection of artifacts (primary sources) from different time periods.

What I found very appealing was that anyone can contribute to the Joy Kogawa fond! Seeing the stacked folders felt very uplifting, because it confirms how controversial Kogawa’s work regarding the struggle of Japanese-Canadians really is, and we are also able to see Kogawa’s work process throughout the years. Having experienced these artifacts first-hand made me want to learn more about the struggle of Japanese-Canadians during the unfortunate events of WWII, and really made me wonder why the Canadian school system doesn’t cover this topic in more detail.

It’s almost reminds me of a term I learned not too long ago called ‘forgetting as humiliated silence,’  which essentially means to forget something (usually traumatic) by drawing the public’s attention to other things. I think that Canadian school systems are conditioning the next generation to forget about Canada’s dark history, which only makes studying and analyzing Kogawa’s work that much more important.

I’m going to make a bold statement that Obasan is an extremely important piece of literature that should be read by all Canadians, because it is important to remember the mistakes of the past so that we can prevent it from happening again in the future. Much like procrastinating, ignoring the problem isn’t going to fix anything. It’s important that the efforts of Kogawa and many other Japanese-Canadians in their struggle for equality should not be forgotten, and the Fond serves as the perfect place where we can experience their struggles first-hand.

Hello, and welcome back, dear readers! Its been awhile since the last update, so allow me to do a quick recap on what we’ve been learning in ASTU class before jumping in to the core part of this blog post. After looking at Satrapi’s Persepolis and a few scholarly articles, our class picked up Joe Sacco’s Safe Area Gorazde (which is going to be the main focus for this blog post) and Joy Kogawa’s Obasan. Okay! End of recap! On to the core part of this blog!

Sacco’s Safe Area Gorazde takes a look into the war in Eastern Bosnia during the 1990’s. The graphic narrative is a recount of the events that happened during the war from two perspectives: From our protagonist and journalist, Joe Sacco, and a third person perspective from the different survivors that Sacco interviews for their stories and perspectives on the war. What makes the book more compelling is that one could tell when the story is being told by Sacco or by one of the survivors, depending if the page boarders were white (Sacco) or black (survivors).

But the aspect of this book which I find the most inspiring is how Sacco is not like any other journalist that is portrayed in this book. Despite what seems like a desolate enclave, Sacco has the sac to live in difficult conditions for the sake of finding out the Real Truth of what happened during the Eastern Bosnian War.

On the day the U.N. relief convoys entered Gorazde, many of the journalists were in and out of Gorazde in less than a day after they had gotten their 15 minute scoop (Sacco 6).  But Sacco decides to stay, because he believes that by integrating himself into the culture, only then will he be able to fully understand what happened during the war, and how the citizens will continue to carry forward.

This really speaks to me because it is only by walking in someone else’s shoes can we truly understand the story one bears. 15 minute generalizations can only tell so much, and could possibly even be harmful by not fully understanding ones situation. This reminds me of the Ahmed Mohamed, the muslim teenager that got arrested by bringing a clock to school. Because of how muslim’s are being shown in the media, some people get false impressions and forget that there are also good people in the world, regardless of cultural background.

Sacco’s Safe Area Gorazde really expresses the importance of how important it is to walk in ones shoes, before making any quick judgements. It shows the reader that those living in Gorazde, despite having less-than ideal living conditions, are humans just like you and me. They want peace, they want to travel around the world, and some of them also want to buy a new pair of jeans.

With how many of today’s societies are becoming melting pots full of diverse cultures, it is very important to remember that at the end of the day we are all human beings, all wanting something out of life. This is the element of Sacco’s work that really inspires me to become a better person, and I hope that you too, dear reader, remember that life is more than just our own little bubble.