Pankow Langeweile

A little way into the Simpson article, I stumbled upon this song and decided to give it a listen on youtube. The song overall is very slow compared to the punk music I had and I started getting bored of the Boredom song; I kept waiting for the song to really "kick in," but it never came. Even wannabe punk bands were faster than that (no offense). And since the song was about boredom, it reminded me of that Green Day song called "Longview." It was very mellow for a punk song, maybe they're considered more folk punk? Or maybe it just happen to be one of their slower songs, a lot of punk bands probably have one slower song. I did see a candy corn figure materialize and start dancing in the video... strange Guild Wars. I clicked on another song by Pankow and found a completely different song. The political implications were still there, but the music was electronic. I searched around a bit and couldn't find anything to indicate whether or not it was a different band, or they had simply changed their sound.

Radical Sista and Bally Sagoo

This is by far one of the best articles I have read up to date in Humanities Core Course. What I really enjoyed about it was how you could feel like you were in the room with these artists. it is very interesting to hear of two, somewhat modern, artists talk about their process as musicians. I felt that bally did a better interview because of the amount of background that was provided with every response. What Bally seems to be talking about is culture clash. A mixing or collision of western and eastern cultural influences. It was funny when bally talks about how his african-american freinds were really surprised when he started using asian or indian influences in his music.
Radical Sista's account of her first Bhangra concert struck interest in me because she talks of how she snuck out. The fact that so many boys were hitting on her shows how uncommon it was for a girl to go to a concert. I guess back then parents were way more strict on their children. I thought my parents were strict but not letting children go to concerts is pretty radical. As i am writing this, i'm listening to some bally sagoo. You can really see the indian influences in his music because of the indian vocals. Also, i noticed a modern beat and bass in the background. It was a pretty good song called "Aap Ki Nazron Ne Samjha".

Simpson Response

The issue raised in Simpson's article appears not to be of retronationalism but seems to be more of an issue about censorship and the government's right or ability to do so. Music has always been a form of expression whether one produces it or listens to it. It leads to an understanding and expression of your innermost thoughts and feelings. I am glad to hear that the SED had trouble controlling the rock music concern at the time. When Simpson notes the attempt at imposing the ballroom dancing as opposed to the twist, i find this humorous. I went to a private shcool and it really bothered me when they tried to stop us from "freaking." This was what it was called back then or "dirty dancing." It is still called this today. The style of dancing seriously only reflects the society that we are living in. Honestly, it cannot be helped that our society uses women as sex objects and focuses way too much on sex as an vector to sell things. In this conclusion, I just have to express that censorship can only be an attempt to halt creativity and expressionism.

Week Ten: Assignments

Extra Office Hours this week (and to return Working Drafts to those who want, also a good time to meet with me if you are feeling behind on Research Paper, or want to talk about your ideas, or analysis, or research; also if you want to talk about grades, missing assignments, or exam):

• Monday June 2, 1:30-4:00 at the Cyber-A Cafe
• Tuesday June 3, 11:00-12:00 in HIB 190 (and available 9:30-11:00 also)
• Thursday June 5, 11:00-12:00 in HIB 190 (and available after class also)

Tuesday June 3
Reading: "Re-Mixing Identities: 'Off' the Turntable" Humanities Course Reader, (268-286).
Writing: Blog Post on the week's readings; Peer Review due
**Group research project presentations in class (see peer review handout)

Thursday June 5
Reading: "The Asian Roots of Asian Massive" & "A Quick Guide to Asian Fusion, Part I, and lyrics to "Black and White," Free Satpal Ram," and "Operation Eagle Lie" in Humanities Course Reader, (287-298)
Writing: Evaluations in class

***all make up blog posts (see email about doing exam review posts instead) due by midnight Friday Week 10 (June 6)

Friday June 6: Research Papers due in HIB 185 by 4:00 pm (no later--office closes! & be sure to include all copies of drafts, proper MLA format, etc). See you at the Final: Thursday June 12, 10:30-12:30.

Simpson and German Philosophy

It's interesting to relate the GDR's suppression of rock music to Germany's philosophic history. From Nietzsche to Hegel to Kant, Germany has been known to be a breeding ground for philosophers, and the country of radical thinkers has resulted in either problems or solutions for the German nation. The second passage on page 238 talks about the GDR's "utopian goal of realizing socialism on German soil." Simpson explains that this goal was to be morally superior to the West, hard as it would be to overcome its history of fascism and its lack of material wealth; "the knowledge . . . of ideological dominance was to compensate for the material sacrifices, the lack of consumer goods, and the inability to travel without contstraint." It can be deduced from Simpson's claim that the GDR saw its fascist legacy as not only a horrible mistake in German history, but something the GDR can learn from to become not only as moral as they used to be, but moreso than other Western countries at the time. The banning of rock music would be explained by the German persuit of Bewufsteinbildung, or the cultivation of consciousness. Rock music was seen as as not only a detriment to the persuit of balance in life; "[Erich Honecker] . . . warned against a music that would inspire 'excesses' in its listeners." Here we see another allusion to a certain philosopher's thinking, except this one was Greek and lived about 2000 years ago.

pommes are also punk...

Anne Tanke, contemporary Pommes-punk Band <http://www.myspace.com/annetankeband>.

Passage for Analysis

"The performance of this song in the western media unleashed a debilitating debate within the SED and FDJ. As a result, the band was boycotted in the GDR media. In an attempt to break the silence, Pankow wrote an exculpatory letter to Erich Honecker (without response), and insisted that they were misquoted in the interview with Radio Bremen. But it was not the fine points of the dialog (regarding official GDR permissions, for example) that disturbed certain functionaries so mucht that the performance of that song was discussed at the meeting of the Central Committee in December 1988. The old men apparently knew who they were, even while the band foregrounded the polyvalence of its text." (245)

Simpson

In the article by Simpson, she focuses on the retronationalism that begins after the fall of the Berlin Wall and after the GDR dissolves. Punk music began to form and rock groups would look back at the GDR in n/ostalgia. Punk music was seen as an expression and the musical aspect was not so much an art form as the punk culture was. People who attend these concerts (either on underground or by permission of the government) would dress and dance a certain way. I found this interesting because that is a reflection of the punk/rock music scene of today. Most people who listen to the punk music of today know little about some of the early instances in East Germany. Punk music originated, according to Simpson, as a sort of "fantasy" or sense of belonging in a socialist society. While today, "punks" can still be seen moshing at concerts or jumping up and down, most of the music of today does not have the exact same meaning as that of the GDR punks. The punk culture still lives on, with other types of punk/rock music developing, and the idea of anarchy is still present in the minds of punk youth today.

Simpson Response

As everyone else has commented, the article was long and confusing. I feel like more explanation in lecture and discussion is needed. Nevertheless, I prominently remember Simpson's ideas of retro-nationalism where people longed for the GDR after it dissolved with the fall of the Berlin Wall. It seems like after dissent from punk and other such forms of resistance, there is a need for retro-ideals. The only reason I remember this is because it relates somewhat to my research topic and where I dealt with a form of retro-domesticity in the "Third Wave" feminism of today's women. After years of rejecting domestic roles and wanting other opportunities and identities outside this sphere, women are now yearning to regain these domestic skills. So possibly, this brings to light the question of whether this is a pattern in culture - for an amount of time people accept social views when there is stability in the government but then shift to countering these views when when there's instability only to return to them again and reclaim it as a "new culture". No wonder some people argue that today's  culture can be an amalgamation of passing fads that seem to rise and fall with the resurgence of yearning for a counter-public or an underground scene.

Simpson Article

I found this article pretty tough to read because of the mix of political identities ex.Capitalist west and Germa-German nationalism. It was too much to keep track of along with all the different groups like the FDJ and GDR. I thought it was interesting how something that is organized for a good cause, like the FDJ sponsored concerts for peace, can still be turned into something that deals with status. In this case it had to do with professional and amateur bands. I also found it notable that there was only one type of record lable (Amiga). It reminded me of when art was filtered and the government controled which kind of art or artists could be displayed, it was the same in this case with it being the only way artists could have their records distributed. This article clearly stated how music can be part of the political spectrum, which in the present day isn't seen as much with hip hop artists rapping mostly about fame, fortune, and girls and other genres speaking mainly of romance or heartbreak.

Opposing Insincerity

Sharing the same frustration with the previous posters, I thought it was hard to focus, since it seemed like every other sentence forced countless replays of glances from the book, and to the laptop’s Google search engine, just to define terms. However, I managed to find Simpson’s thesis: “GDR rock and punk rock’s critical relationship to German history reconstruct a positive identity based on a citizenship that was erased after unification. The emergence of a national identity only after the erasure of nation goes beyond a conventional, emotional N/Ostalgie” (240) interesting and relevant to the “art/action” theme. In discussion, we talked about the “N/Ostalgie” as being the longing for Germany, but a totally false emotion. An insincere sentiment can’t produce something that is genuine. To oppose this insincerity, the rock and punk rock musicians, with the motive of countering empty apathy, were able to change the views of the German public. Their lyrics either addressed important issues or at least went against the state, by stating their dissatisfaction with the current situation. By not simply going along with that fake unity, the musicians were able to draw up a “counter-public” by simply resisting that conformity. Also, there can also be an ironic connection between the content and the context of the article. To elaborate, the former consists of the author’s confusingly overwhelming terms and the latter consists of a time where the country’s “terms” or conditions and rules became too overwhelming for the German public. Although an extended comparison, I think that when ether government or author try too hard to incorporate sometimes superfluous details and terms, the outcome is often confusion and dissatisfaction.

Simpson article

Concerning the article, i will mostly talk about the three things that occurred after the fall of the Wall. Those three things are found on page 250.

The first one says that there was a dissolution of bands, whose members were just getting on with their lives. This is very interesting to me because it makes those band members, that have made such a great influence on the German public, seem like just regular people. They are just normal German human beings getting on with their life. People put musicians and artists on such a high pedestal, that it is so hard to even imagine them leading a normal, conventional life.
The second was the "retreat into a local scene.." We find that even though the wall did fall, people still had their pride and heart in trying to go against this new founded Germany. This is related to the people today who are still involved with organizations like the KKK. They carry around their confederate flags, hoping that one day America will go back to a divided and racist country. The third was the "Erasure of 'origin'.." It says that there was this transnational fame of bands that were not contigent to those of the GDR past, present, or future. This is interesting because after all the censorship and rules, one would not believe this to happen. The Erasure of origin and identity became commerical success, which is ironic in itself because that is what the rock and punk bands were trying to keep, their identity of what they considered their German country.

Simpson Article

In an agreement with Rachel, I do believe that music is very powerful to the point where it can move mountains and in this case has the ability to represent a national identity. While reading this section, I was particularly captivated by the phrase that describes censorship by “attempts to impose ballroom-like dance… to keep the young people from doing the twist failed” (239). I believe that this idea of censorship is not only ridiculous, but is an attempt to stop a society from culturally evolving, which it will inevitably do despite an outer force. This particular demonstration reminds me of an example of music censorship in the United States during the 1950s, dealing with race. I once watched a documentary on Little Richard, a rock and roll artist of the 50s. In this documentary it showed (if I am correct) whites on a particular radio station trying to sing Little Richards songs on the radio instead of him singing his own songs because they were prejudice against African Americans. In any case, when it comes to important issues such as social change I believe that if the views of an issue are strong enough censorship has no effect because there are many other ways to put a point across. Music, nonetheless, is a very powerful too because people can be easily persuaded by emotion along with the logic that the lyrics may bring.

Simpson Article Blog

I’m going to be responding to the passage on p. 246 that reads “The visible signs of punk in the East […] fantasy of anarchy voiced in music.” I thought it was very interesting to note that “GDR punk was criminalized for stating social facts, such as the existence of the Wall, the Stasi or Neo-fascism.” This fact seems to suggest the presence of a domineering government bent on censorship of the actual things that occur in German society. Also, the fact that it was taboo for German citizens to mention the existence of the “wall” that separated East Germany and West Germany when it was so clearly present just shows an attempt to “cover up” a national division and a need to portray perfection. I thought it would be important to mention the participation of punk rock in protests that preceded the fall of Berlin wall. It is evident that music has a certain power to unite and move people. Finally, I thought it was pretty remarkable that the bands, on top of rebelling against the state with the act of performing music, also were “named names in utterly unambiguous references to the institutions of state socialism.” To me, that is an act of silent rebellion.

GDR Rock Music

This article in the reader was particularly long and confusing. The only thing that I got out of it was a faint idea of how rock and punk rock music moved through the restrictions of the GDR and came out representing some sort of German nationalism. I really liked one particular quote though, "But when it came to sound waves, the border was permeable." I liked it because it is so true about music in general. Music transcends boundaries that are otherwise impermeable. Music is powerful. I guess I could take out of this confusion why it was confusing. I feel like every time I have to look up every other word in a sentence, the flow is broken up and I get involved in definition rather than the original meaning. That is what Simpson did. There were too many words that needed defining or had a few definitions and needed interpretation. Thats what made it so hard to read

Annotated Bibliography

My research paper will focus on the music that inspired the hippie movement and the civil rights movement.  One event that truly captures the mood and thinking of this generation through its musical performances and magical setting was Woodstock.  I will use the documentary Woodstock as a primary source and as the basis for my research into the peaceful nature of this movement.  There are many aspects of the 70's contained in the three hour documentary such as political protest against the Vietnam war, civil rights protests, and inspiring music.  The music fascinates me most, and it is shocking to see how the music truly captures the 400,000 person audience.  The messages behind many of the songs played at Woodstock are peaceful, and the message is clearly conveyed to the audience.  I'd like to research what exactly happened at this festival and what exactly is contained in the music that allows it to inspire a generation to successfully create a roadmap for change.  

Kluger

It is interesting to note the restrictions placed on Jewish children in Vienna at the time of the Nazi reign. Kluger describes the times when she went shopping for bread, and the impolite manner with which clerks met her. There would be signs on the door saying, "Don't say hello, don't say good day/Heil Hitler is the German way, (p. 25)" in reference to Jews. The restrictions and disdain facing Jewish children in Nazi Germany could be compared to the same type of racism against blacks in America as well as exhibited in Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye". Similar to Pecola, Kluger was trying to find her own identity, living in a society were her native culture was antagonized. Kluger notes, "Suddenly I had become a disadvantaged child who couldn't do the things that the children in our circle usually learned to do, like swim in the municipal pool, acquire a bike, go with girlfriends to children's movies, or skate." Although the challenges facing African Americans in United States existed for several hundreds of years, those faced by Jews in Nazi Germany were on a much smaller scale timewise, but far more severe in intensity. Even though there were no extermination camps for blacks in America, racial tensions had consistently existed for years upon years. For Kluger, this type of quick racial aggression against the Jewish people was new to her. She says that since she was the youngest in her family, by the time she was old enough to learn the things that most kids do at that age like swim, skate, or bike, restrictions on Jews became so severe that she couldn't even do just that. "Anyone who was just a few years older experienced a different Vienna than I, who at age seven wasn't permitted to sit on a park bench and instead could take comfort, if I so chose, in the thought that I belonged to the Chosen People, (p. 25)" writes Kluger. This was what kept the Jewish people together when all hope seemed to be lost. Their motivation did not come from the thought that they were each individual persons being punished, but rather that they were together one group of people connected by their Jewish faith, suppressed and persecuted by the overwhelming power of the Nazis. This same type of bond can be seen today in black communities living in Central and South America, especially in Brazil, where slaves were allowed to carry on their traditions throughout hundreds of years of bondage. In America, however, slaves were generally prohibited from retaining and practicing whatever African culture they had kept with them. Instead, African slaves in the US adapted to create their own new bond amongst each through a dialect known as Gullah.

Week Nine: Assignments

Tuesday May 27
Reading: finish Still Alive.
Writing: 2 sections of draft: 1) you might have turned in--the integration of secondary Joseph-like source--see previous blog assignments for instructions; 2) pick one detail from primary source and develop your analysis of this detail in a full paragraph or two, including secondary source material when necessary. (bring 1 hard copy)

Thursday May 29
Reading: Patricia Simpson, "“Retro-Nationalism? Rock Music in the Former German Democratic Republic (GDR)" (in HCC Reader, pp. 238-267)
Writing: Reading Response Blog to Simpson article; Working Draft (bring 3 copies)--see tips below

Instructions for Working Draft

• begin with primary source--present detail that illustrates interpretive question you are engaging with
• establish assumed or standard interpretation of primary source (using secondary source material). paraphrase claims of other arguments, and counterargue to present your own insightful, original interpretation of primary source (i.e. your thesis).
• from here, either mentally or on draft (or maybe you did it already on prospectus) sketch out the steps of your argument. Each step should develop the central interpretation/thesis/argument.
• start to write the full body paragraphs, which will flesh out the steps of the argument you envision.
• get as far as you can for today. we'll do a thing similar to the AB--you will review in groups before turning in the draft that will "really" be read by your peers. I will read and comment on this draft only--so it is important you have as full a draft today and also thursday as possible.

Tips & Troubleshootings...

• read all sources well, including primary source
• fully develop reading and analysis of primary source (of details of primary source). this is the largest part of the paper
• make sure to identify and treat your primary source as belonging to a specific genre (as so has (or breaks) certain conventions, expectations of audience, characteristics)
• consider your method--not only as an academic discipline but as a type of analysis (narrative, rhetorical, causal, etc... see prompt...)
• If you don't know where to start, pick a detail from the primary source that is most interesting to you--analyze.
• If you feel like you don't have an argument, find a provocative argument in a secondary source material and counter away...

Thesis Ideas Prewrite Draft

picture: Beatrice , a cat, moving so fast she is omitted except for her paw.

Instructions for Integrating Secondary Material via Counterargument, or, "lie by omission"

note: though the steps are spelled out in 6 steps, I would recommend trying to do it in the form of a paragraph or two--perhaps a potential introduction, or a solid body paragraph to your paper??

1. Quote detail (passage/lyric/graphic/scene/etc...) of primary source

2. Recopy passage from secondary, scholarly material that offers an interpretation of this detail (note: does not have to be direct interpretation, but could be simply a frame for thinking about the detail, concept, or passage).

3. Paraphrase secondary material claim: “X claims that ….”

4. challenge assumptions of claim: pick evidence (words) from original passage that are subject to double meaning, i.e. that you interpret differently from secondary source:

word----common meaning----expert def.----associations----your redef.

5. if you spell out these steps in your prose (i.e. your argument), you will have done analysis. again, like the idea here that argument is developed by omission and inclusion (and we can see this also in Kluger's own work, in terms of what she does and does not include), you will have to artfully decide what you need to include/exclue and spell out or not spell out.

6. since analysis is the act of "taking apart," you will now need to put together, to interpret--this means to fully develop your reading of the primary source detail by reconsidering the whole passage (or detail of primary material). you can do this by identifying a question--a large, puzzling, ambiguous, interpretive, unanswerable question--that is raised by looking at the detail in this way. perhaps there are now other parts of this detail (passage/lyric/art/scene/etc...) that become important and that you need to "read," or interpret.

... and so on... as you continue to work on your paper, continue to develop this method of approaching both primary and secondary material. keep in mind that the main assignment is to analyze your primary source, to be critical of secondary sources that engage in a similar discussion of the primary source and its genre, and from these things to develop your own, original interpretation (and thus interpretive argument) of the primary source.

Kluger and Death

When reading the first few pages of this book, my first impression of Kluger is that she is not afraid of death and the idea of dying. I was surprised and impressed at her thoughts as a young girl because she was curious to know about things that girls at that age are usually afraid of knowing.
One of the things that caught my attention was her vews on religion. On page 30, she says "the dead set us certain tasks, dont they? They want to be remembered and revered, they want to be resurrected and buried at the same time. I want to say kaddish becuase I live with the dead. If I can't do that, forget about religion. Poetry is more helpful." This passage shows the defiant nature that she has. She has strong opinions about certain issues and likes to do what she believes is right. To her, it is important to honor the dead regardless of your gender because they deserve that respect. This reminded me of Antigone, as she also defied the law in burying her brother in order to honor his death. She says that she lives with the dead because they are forever in her memory. She thinks about her father at random times in her daily life, so to pray for him and give him respect is something that she feels is necessary. She then says that if she can't pray for who the dead, then poetry is more helpful. In poetry, she is able to honor them by writing about their life and how she feels about them. There are no restrictions in poetry.

Kluger on Cowardice

I would have to say that this book is one of the most interesting Holocaust memoirs that I have ever come across. It seems to me that Kluger, instead of focusing only on her victimization, decided to learn from it. It is obvious that she has become very opinionated, but I truly value her discretion. My favorite part about her persona expressed through this narrative is her ability to see reality and act accordingly. She understands human nature on an extensive level and knows how to manipulate it or act so that the results are desirable. This understanding is a huge part of her statements about courage and cowardice on page 156. It is frustrating when people attempt to place themselves, theoretically, in a morally problematic situation and presume that they would act perfectly. Not only do I admire her "Tom Sawyer" with the wooden cross character's admittance of his true character, but I look up to Kluger's understanding that cowardice is not necessarily bad; its judgment is subject to the situation. The following is what I picked out of the passage as the most interesting parts:

COURAGE
normal behavior = self-preservation, foresight -> conscientious objector
COWARDICE
active participation in EVIL.

I think that it is a good question to ask ourselves, what can we expect of ourselves? For the sake of self or family preservation, would we participate in the evil that caused the Holocaust, of would we die for a higher cause? be courageous? Where is the line?

But I do believe that we can never truly answer those questions unless we are placed in that moral predicament and hopefully we will never have to make that decision...

But as I write this I realize that on a different plane, we are at that place where we must make a decision. To participate in the chosen American ignorance or to learn about what is going on in our world and even if it is only education we participate in, to do at least that.

Research headnote

As my primary source I will be looking deeper into actual pieces of graffiti. I have examples to compare to each other. My pieces include both graffiti from high profile gangs but also from smaller tagging crews whom are not directly involved with violence. The reason for the pieces from tagging crews is because they are more inclined to art rather than violence and territorial benefits. My photos include methods of reading certain tags and will let one understand the meaning of each piece of graffiti. Although it will not be used as my primary source I also will be having an interview in order to better understand these pieces of art and how they affect the lives of the young society. Having an understanding of why young adults risk themselves in order to tag their crew or gang will help my get a better understanding and more in depth research.

Interview Questions

How do you feel Graffiti has influenced gang violence?
How do you feel most people perceive graffiti, as a work of art or vandalism?
Why do you think many people fear the thought of graffiti?What starts conflicts between graffiti artists?
How has graffiti evolved within the last few years?
Do you feel graffiti has a direct correlation with gangs?
When there is graffiti does it usually mean there is a higher rate of violence within the area?
What are some different methods of graffiti art?
What is graffiti’s main purpose in your opinion?
How is graffiti used to mark territorial space?
Is their any way graffiti can have a positive influence on society?
What is the correct method to read and understand graffiti?
What is the difference between gang graffiti and tagging crews?
How does a graffiti artist make a name for himself?
Which gangs do you most often encounter?
Claim: Graffiti art has the ability to cause gang confrontation and rivalry and induce violence

still alive

I think that one of the most important themes in Still Alive is the double standard of being a Jewish immigrant in a society that is predominantly German as well as (in this case) a child who is trying to live the life of a normal girl. Both of these ideas collide, in that given this time period, being a Jewish girl was not considered normal. Consider the instance where the reader is introduced to Klugers’ life before the working camps, where she is given a basic elementary education, here the reader is able to see the satisfaction of the need to grow and be a child. As the novel progresses, the lessons that Kluger learned in the working camp were lessons necessary to survive for her life as a Jew. Here, the reader can see how when one world is evolving, sometimes personal beliefs that make an individual different become increasingly significant because of societies views upon the issue, that it creates another world that interferes with the primary world. Children in this era may forget that they’re children learning about the world and how it works because they are forced to grow up to early and defend for themselves, therefore this idea of double worlds may collide, or one world may overpower the other.

Kluger Blog

The passage I’m going to address is on p. 82 and it refers to Kluger’s conversations with fellow Jewish people about the deaths that had occurred during the Holocaust. They question, “why no panic broke out during executions, […] why there was no resistance” (Kluger 82). I found this passage to be interesting because Kluger and her colleagues attempt to justify the deaths of millions of people by suggesting that perhaps they had died as martyrs or had demonstrated “the heroic gestures of a senseless fight” (82). Another aspect of this passage that I found to be unusual was that Kluger was engaging in the somewhat odd act of perceiving the way the dead had acted and behaved in order to satisfy some innate desire to “un-victimize” the victims and to believe that they had resisted with all their ability. Finally, the last part of the passage, which includes a quote from Kluger’s historian colleague, states that there was evidence that the people had comforted one another during the whole ordeal and perhaps those actions were better than resistance. I thought this was interesting not only because the historian demonstrates the act of perceiving the way the dead had acted but also because it brings up the question of whether peaceful acceptance is better than resisting violence with more violence.

Also, I quickly wanted to address the idea of “sentimentality” which appears in the paragraph right before the passage above. She states that she did not want to talk to her mother about her brother’s death, because it would require “a phony demonstration of appropriate emotions” (82). I believe that her experiences at the concentration camp Therensienstadt had not only dehumanized her and rid her of emotions, but also destroyed any ability to make human connections. She herself confirms this belief later in the story (86).

Kluger Reading

When doing a close reading on Klugers ideas about memory and perception she uses an example of a kaleidoscope and an optical illusion involving a duck and a rabbit. She references these objects in order to prove that ones memory is unable to to remember and have two different perspectives at once. She begins speaking about the way she sees her father when she thinks about him. She goes into detail and explains what he is doing and how he is doing it. She has two distinct ideas of her father. One is when he is greeting and being kind the other is when he is being tortured and put to his death. These memories are cemented into her brain but will never appear simultaneously. This is why she references the optical illusion. within the optical illusion you either see a duck or a rabbit. It is impossible to see the two images at the same time. This refers back to her memory of her father because she will be unable to see both situations happening at the same time. She refers to the kaleidoscope because she states that memories will be changing patterns such as the mirrors and glass within a kaleidoscope.

Still Alive

I just wanted to start off by saying that this required my full attention when reading. Last week when we did a passage ananlysis, we read a part of the text and it made no sense. But after reading it from the beginning everything comes together.

I was reading through the reading questions and number 3 (How does she describe torture (18)? Does her definition differ from your own understanding?) seemed interesting, it was something I noted when I was reading. She describes torture not being so much about how much pain the person feels, but how the pain is being put upon the person that is more important. Kluger gives the experience of childbirth for an example. Childbirth is all about pain as is any other kind of torture, however childbirth can be a lot more tolerable because the mother is looking forward to time with her child, it is a "wanted" pain because it comes with a significant outcome.

The line that sums up Kluger's idea of torture is: "What matters is not just what we endure, but also what kind of misery it is, where it comes from." (18) This is a lot different than my understanding of torture because I never thought to compare childbirth to torture. She makes a good argument and her examples help me see her point of view. Kluger also states that the worse kind of torture is "the kind that's imposed by others with malicious intent" because it's the most traumatic.

Ruth Kluger

The passage that I will do a close reading on is chapter 11, page 50-51. This passage has to do with Kluger's feelings on Nazi propaganda. It is interesting to note why one reads books that are forbidden or band. Gandhi believed that people read banned or forbidden books in order to create a counterpublic. At first, Kluger tried to stay away from these forbidden pieces because she knew that sooner or later she would be forced to put it away. The one think that Kluger really wanted to read was Nazi publication and watch Nazi propaganda films. This is interesting because I am sure that Kluger was not the only Jewish person in this time period who wanted to know more about the Nazi propaganda. It is true that these propaganda publications were extremely anit-Jewish; however, Jewish people were still interested in seeing them because "it taught [them] the dominant ideology" which one could not simply ignore. Kluger describes the representations of the the Jewish actors in comparison to the Aryan actors. I believe that I too would want to read something that was banned or forbidden. Just the fact that one is not allowed to read sparks a great interest. Questions start racing to your head and you wonder why can't you read? what is so special about this book/movie that it is only for a certain group of people? etc. I also agree with Kluger when she says that they should watch Nazi publications and movies in order to know "what we were up against." Even if the answer is obvious, watching stuff like this makes one more educated and aware of your surroundings. Movies and publications have a bias and can manipulate the behavior and ideology of people. That is the point of propaganda. All in all, Kluger's interest in something banned or forbidden is not unseen of or abnormal.

Vinayak

The most interesting thing that I found in this paper by Professor Chaturvedi was that a name could be used in order to "promote" or celebrate a specific man or a specific movement. In our culture, people do name their children after children or family members of the prophet; however, naming someone after a political figure was somewhat bizarre me. At first, Professor Chaturvedi thought that the name, Vinayak, was a reference to a Hindu God Ganesh, who was known to be the remover of obstacles. This made sense to me and seemed something common that people may do. People in our culture do this in order to connect the child with religion thinking that if he/she had a religious name, then they will be stronger religious believers. I assume that the Hindu culture has the same beliefs. As the analysis continued, I saw that the naming was in order to promote the beliefs of a historical and political figure such as Savarkar. The question that I had was that when the parents of Savarkar named him, was it do to the Hindu god? or was it to represent another historical figure? Its interesting to notice the pattern of beliefs in the culture. For instance, by naming one after a religious entity, it is assumed that that person will grow up and be religious. On the other hand, if you name someone after a political figure, it does not mean that they will grow up having the same political beliefs as that figure. All in all, it is interesting to see where someone derives their name from; however, the name does not affect the beliefs of the person.

Kluger

After getting into Still Alive, the tone in which Kluger discusses the things about her past in regards to the Holocaust, is in a tone that is much much different from what I expected, or rather her tone/ demeanor comes across as being very complacent, which is startling considering some of her horrific encounters. The way she recalls and illustrates past events is in such a removed and numb tone that it, in my opinion, makes for a more dramatic read, and perhaps allows the reader to in a sense truly get an understanding for how tragic her childhood was that she can look back on it with almost little to no emotion. For example the way she describes relatives of hers being killed in gas chambers or at concentration camps, is stated in such a casual and almost nonchalant way that is makes one question how much Kluger really understood about death at such a young age, or why death, especially with loved ones did not seem to greatly effect her so. Or perhaps, it is because Kluger herself stated that such events of the Holocaust cannot be retold and one cannot truly be expected to comprehend and feel what it was like to endure it, and so she skips the emotional aspects of what she recalls and just merely states what happens. My other interpretation is that perhaps she was so greatly affected by it that she uses a complacent tone as a means of masking up her real feelings. For example, in the passage where she discusses her half brother, Schorschi, and his relationship with her mother compared to her, she recalls feeling like her brother was favored more and upon asking her mother is blatantly told that her mother does indeed love Schorschi more than her. Kluger's reaction to such a blow is to try and justify her mother's response as being rational and logical however, in the line "Sixty years later, however, I still hear her say it" (29), one can clearly see that Kluger, although she tries to make less of the situation, cannot easily shrug off such a remark, especially when the measure of her mother's love is not infinite for her children. That sense of rationed out love is what Kluger grew up with and so perhaps that is why she remarks to such family matters and their deaths in the Holocaust with such complacency.

Kluger

Before reading Still Alive, I expected the voice of the author to be somewhat similar to The Diary of Anne Frank because I didn't know the background of the author at that time. But instead I was confronted by a voice that unsentimental, blunt at times, and critical of people (especially people who make assumptions about Holocaust victims). Her way of thinking reminded me of Antigone, if that book had been written as a memoir, her voice most likely resemble Ruth Kluger's. Ruth has a certain way of thinking that goes against all conventions at the time. She certainly didn't side with the Nazis, but she didn't entirely agree with her family either. She seemed like an internal rebel for the most part, but some of her actions did reflect her resistance to the external world.

Passage from Page 107-108.

On page 107 and 108, Kluger explains the story of her being told to lie about her age to avoid the gas chamber. Her mother told her to lie about her age and she did not know why. Because she defied her mother, she was most likely going to go to the chamber because she was 12. However, a stranger saves her life by telling her to say she is 15. Then the guards say she looks healthy and good enough to work in the fields. I thought this passage was a good example of doing on both the part of Ruth and the stranger who told her to lie. The stranger told ruth to say she was 15 years old and it resulted in her life being saved. The stranger helped her even though it didnt benefit the stranger at all. This shows a level of altruistic behavior within the camps. The stranger was a clerk for the Nazis too, opposing the perception that all Nazis and people working for the Nazis are bad people. For Ruth, it shows how she was willing to put more trust in a stranger than her own mother.

Kluger

As I was reading Still Alive, a section in Part III seems to deviate from the whole feel of the book, and it stood out to me. In contrast to the title of “Still Alive” and the appearance of a Holocaust survivor, Kluger says “By virtue of survival, we belong with you, who weren’t exposed to the genocidal danger, and we know that there is a black river between us and the true victims. Therefore this is not the story of a Holocaust victim and becomes less and less so as it nears the end” (Kluger 138). Further on she ads, “yes, we laughed a lot, for humor thrives on danger, for whatever reason” (138). To me, I can never think of the Holocaust and humor in the as ever having any relation. In contrast to headings such as “Death Camp” and “Forced Labor Camps,” such passages don’t seem to enhance the impact of the survivor story, instead it kind of negates the reality of her story and her position within the Holocaust. Much of how Part III begins seems to feel more like a tale as if she had simply run away from home, rather than a flee for her life.

Kluger

Reading Kluger’s Still Alive, I grew to enjoy her style of writing. While it seemed random for some people, it felt like something I would write – a random assortment of thoughts of my past and the life behind me. Also, there were a lot of quotes that just struck me as comedic, like the time when she is talking about the “fat man” she encountered and that she “didn’t want to be friends with the fat man, [she] wanted his food” (125), or truly insightful – when Kluger was talking about her mother and how her delusions had finally caught up with her once the two were in Auschwitz, Kluger poses the question, “If you think that your mind Is the most precious thing you own, you are right, because what have we got that defines us other than reason and love?” (104). All these quotes, among others, along with Kluger’s story is what I truly enjoyed. But on to a literary connection I found one quote.

Here, Kluger is talking of her brother Schorschi, and how she has missed him from her life ever since he left her as a teen to return back to his blood father – “One of my brother’s nephews in my poem, my older son, has George for a middle name-but that didn’t help. People aren’t reborn. They live, or they don’t live, their one inalienable life. Schorschi’s had been taken, and there is no substitute such “living on in memory”. We don’t want to be pious thoughts in the mind of others; we want the robust substance of our own lives” (83). I thought this was interesting because as soon as I read this quote, I thought of Professor Chaturvedi and his writings on the name “Vinayak”. The doctor who had named Chaturvedi as Vinayak, hoped to instill the same revolutionary ways of the Vinayak Savarkar that he had known in his lifetime. However contrary to this lies Kluger’s take. Kluger does not believe in “living on in memory” and that naming someone the name of someone else you once loved would not bring them back. Kluger feels that those given the same name of those who passed before them, is not a way of bringing back the dead. Once they have passed and their bodies have perished, they are not “reborn”. For Kluger, there would never be another Schorschi.

Still Alive Response

Ruth Kluger’s memoir was a fascinating read, to say the least. She’s a witty, snide woman who “tells it like it is”. For me, her autobiography was the most fun to read this quarter. After reading the entire memoir, I wanted to revisit one of the passages we explored during class. My group tried to decipher the passage where Kluger states, “as Bertolt Brecht was fond of saying, the truth is concrete, meaning specific” (p. 66). Now, thinking about why she mentioned this line about truth. It was a quest, much like in Henreich von Kleist’s Michael Kohlhaas, for the truth. But for Kluger, the truth was enough specificity. In her half-brother’s death and especially her father’s, she was never able to know the details of their fates. She finds remnants and hears bits about what may have happened, but she will never know exactly what occurred or the product of the events (i.e. a burial ceremony). And this indefinite history of her brother and father is what haunts her with “what if” memories. For Kluger, the truth is something you can examine and pick apart, make sense of. It is also something devoid of sentimentality, because evoking the emotional part to memories makes it unreal and selfish saying, “It means looking into a mirror instead of reality” (p. 66). Thus, this outlook on life is appropriate to her character as being brutally honest.

My Thoughts on Still Alive

In Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered, Ruth Kluger unsentimentally yet provocatively recalls the events leading up to and during what she and her family endured during the Holocaust. She survived the concentration camps, Theresienstadt, Auschwitz, and Gross-Rosen. The way she chronicles her past experiences highlights her strong and feisty personality. Sometimes her unemotional and rather cutting tone or voice give me the impression that deep within her soul she is bitter and angry (and I think she really is...I wouldn't be surprised and I wouldn't blame her for it...). One thing she said shocked me, but made me really wonder if indeed it is true. Arguing with a German graduate student, she said, "Absolutely nothing good came out of the concentration camps...and he expects catharsis, purgation, the sort of thing you go to the theater for?" The way she writes is very thought-provoking and often philosophical.

Memories and Truth

One of the passages that stuck out to me was Kluger’s view on memories: “The most precise memories are thus the ones that seduce us into lies, because they won’t be budged by anything outside ourselves” (34). Following a passage we discussed in lecture about her father being a “divided person,” this quote describes how important it is understand the connection between memory and truth, (or at least that’s what I got out of it). Because her story is unlike other Holocaust biographies and does not play off of sentimentality to gain sympathy, she focuses more on elaborating on the truth, however blunt it may be. Her interest in exposing the truth rather than just emotion relates back to the quote. She states that the most accurate memories manipulate people into building up a false memory of “what should have been” or “could have been;” these memories cannot be affected by outside influence. These memories fester in the mind and the lure of creating “could be” memories or rationalizing why they happened haunt through the form of constant replay.
Also, Kluger elaborates on the kaddish (prayer for the dead). Because Judaism only allows men to say them, she dissociates herself with the religion: “I want to say kaddish because I live with the dead. If I can’t do that, forget about religion. Poetry is more helpful” (31). In a sense, Kluger’s entire novel is a “kaddish;” although not entirely a prayer for the dead, but more of a medium to document her memory of the dead, and her life's memories in general. She is aware of the religion’s constraints on females, and thus carries out her desire to expres the truth and say what she wants through that “poetry.”

Kluger and Her World

Throughout reading Kluger, I could not help but go back towards what we discussed about in class. The topic that we discussed about in my group's quote was about gender issues. As I go through the book, it has me thinking more and more about the roles of men and women. The interesting point that Kluger brought up was that wars seem to focus on the history of men. Unfortunately, this is very true. It is not necessarily the man's fault, but it is because History has always been male-dominant. The reason, from what i can remember, is that many households and upbringings were based on the paternal hierarchy. There were some civilizations where the mothers were the ones who determined who would get land. It is simply true that in history women are neglected. Kluger's book appears to be somewhat of a feminist book. Just reading through it, you get the sense that she is trying to empower women to grab a hold of their own futures. There are some parts, that i get the feeling that she is not entirely supporting them. The reason for this is because her choice of words lead to the impression that she is might be believing that change is impossible. I think as a go through the book some more, with closer reading, my understanding will change.

Kluger

In discussion, I remember talking about the sentiment that the novel Still Alive lacked. We compared it to the Diary of Anne Frank, and other works of art such as Schindler's List and The Pianist. What I would like to focus on is whether or not this is a good thing or a bad. I believe Kluger does state some realistic ideas such as "her family bonds became threadbare" even during the hardtimes of the concentration camps and etc...

I enjoy that this novel was very real. It didn't sugar coat anything for its readers. The author said it straight up and was forward about the troubles in her family, such as her parents situation. Before I read the novel, i thought the mood was going to be the same as in every other Holocaust story/novel. I thought that it would make us pity and sympathetic. However, this novel makes us look at the different aspect of the Holocaust. I now view those people not as victims, but as human beings who have the same emotions and troubles that i do. They are no different from us today, they were rather just born in a different era.

Savarkar... finally

In his introduction, Savarkar states the importance of history and knowing the truth about what happened. He states that in order to not make the same mistakes in the future, you have to know the past. He also talks about how it's okay to do something in the past because of certain situations that happened, but just because it happened in the past, doesn't mean it's okay to do now. For example, hate for a certain group of people. It's not fair to hate them just because it was okay to hate them in the past. People have to know the context of history so that they can understand the future. This passage reminds me of the phrase "if you don't know where youre from, you won't know where youre going." (something like that). This shows the importance of history because if you don't know your country's history, you will be lost in the future. I think this agrees with Gandhi in a way becuase they both do not want the negative aspects of their history to be repeated.

updated AB for research paper (hannah hoch)

German Dada artist Hannah Hoch’s photomontage entitled “German Girl” (1930) illustrates an image of a conventional young German girl. The collage is supposed to be a representation of the features that are considered to be normal according to the German public, however the mix-matched and distorted features of the figure elucidates a deeper meaning of Hoch’s, in which she questions how one can define what is normal? Such a message correlates with the ideals of Dadaist artists who sought to create “anti-art”, as a means of protesting the logical and traditional art aesthetics prior to World War I. Seen as a revolutionary artist for her development of the technique of photomontaging, Hannah Hoch’s crafty and chaotic work was an influential and inspirational product of the Dadaist art movement in Weimar, Germany. A homosexual and feminist advocate, Hoch’s artwork encompassed a recurring theme of the “New Woman” in which she constantly juxtaposed the conventions set up for women in regards to their sexuality, their roles in society, and the standards on which they are judged as beautiful.. Ultimately, Hoch’s work centered on redefining women and erasing the defined gender roles of the 1930’s.

Afterlife: death and fhe bureaucratic subject (sample Prospecuts)

In the film “Afterlife,” Kore’eda presents a stark, institutional setting
for the usually mystical representations of our life after death. This
paper will offer a close examination of the film in an effort to answer
the following questions: why did Kore’eda choose to use “real” people and
their memories to include in his otherwise “imaginary” or “staged” version
of the afterworld? What is the significance of choosing to represent those
in “limbo” as the employees of the institute? How does the institutional
setting relate to the Japanese bureaucratic culture? I plan on exploring the question of how the film Afterlife relates to bureaucracy in contemporary Japan. I am also interested in the artistic appeal of the film--Kore'eda is renowned as a lyrical, poetic director who has developed a simple everyday "realism" in his films. Research on the genre of contemporary filmic "realism" has turned up little on Kore'eda, but some of the qualities that are described I find useful. For example, Teresa de Lauretis, a professor of film and media studies at UC Santa Cruz, claims that contemporary cinema is marked by its "realistic" qualties. She argues that this counteracts the recent (and bad) popularized sentiment of most contemporary films. In his review of the film in a Tokyo newpaper, a man relates this lack of sentimentality to death. He writes, "the film very accurately portrays the calm, stoic relation that Japanese people have towards death." My essay will explore these ideas. In order to do this, my paper will: 1) describe Kore'eda's notion of the afterlife, as seen in key scenes from the film; 2) explore contemporary notions of death and afterlife in modern Japan; 3) analyze the bureaucratic personalities of the workers of the institute; 4) explore the relation between death and bureacracy in contemporary Japan. I hope to explore the concept of death and afterlife, to show how death comes to be defined as a rebirth through choice and how afterlife is a repeated experience, governed by affect or emotion.

Vinayak

Vinayak and Me: Hindutva and the Politics of Naming was so interesting to me, it made me think about naming as a whole. Throughout the paper, Vinayak described the process and the importance of naming, of how it was a “common practice in India for families to wait several years before giving formal names to children.” I think about this line and it makes me think of my name, and the names of Americans in comparison to the names of people living in India and other cultures. For some reason, names from other cultures, like Vinayak had a meaning behind it. As well as his last name, Chaturvedi, which he said could identify him as “an educated, middle-class, local, Hindi-speaking Brahmin.” This made me think about my own name: Scott Yoshimoto. I remember my dad joking saying Yoshimoto was the name of average middle class citizens who were farmers or something of that sort, and as for my mom’s maiden name, it referred to a prestigious samurai reference; which could be true but I am not sure. But this is similar to Vinayak’s last name Chaturvedi, which have associations with it and that people could identify you from your name. But as for my first name, I asked my parents what it really meant and why they gave me the name, the best response I could get from them was that my mom just really liked the name. There was no meaning behind it or specific reason I have the name. This made me think of the many other names associated with Americans, like Billy, Joe, Jason, John, Sarah, Christine (no offense to anybody who has these names); just what is the meaning behind our names? In other cultures it seems there is much meaning behind the name, or associated to some great God, but with our American culture, I’m not sure I can find quite the same meanings.

Week Eight: Assignments

Tuesday May 20
Reading: Ruth Kluger, Still Alive
Writing: Prospectus

Thursday May 22
Reading: Ruth Kluger, Still Alive
Writing: Blog Reading Response (Kluger)

Prospectus Directions (1-2 pages, double-spaced)
from the Writing Director: "In universities, scholars often write a prospectus when they are preparing to undertake a new research project, particularly if they want funding, support, or future publication of their work. Many colleges that ask students to write a senior thesis frequently assign a prospectus as well. The prospectus usually identifies at least one major research question, summarizes the relevant scholarship about the important issues in the field, and offers an initial hypothesis that will be tested in the subsequent research process."

Please include the following:

• title...
• research question (phrased as: "i will be examing the question of...")
• preliminary thesis (nothing more than an "angle")
• a "sketch" of your argument (structure/organization of essay--should be organized around details from primary source you will analyze)
• relevant, need-to-know details of primary source (re: "angle")
• a summary of your research findings. Must include at least two secondary sources: One should be a "primary-secondary" source, a commentary on the source that came out at the time of the primary source. The other should be a current, scholarly article or essay (or chapter from a book) that engages with the "angle" that you are taking on the primary source.
• In addition, please comment somewhere on your terminology (what concepts or ideas are important to your paper) and your methodology (i.e. academic discipline: art historical, social history, literary, historical, visual analysis, political theory...), keeping in mind that regardless of the discipline, interpreting and analyzing details, or close reading, of the primary source, is what your academic audience (a.k.a. me) is expecting and valuing.

Transformation in Andamans

I was interested in why Savarkar shifted his opinion on the issue of Indian-Muslim unity. In the introduction to Political Ideas in Modern India: Thematic Explorations (ed. Thomas Pantham and V.R. Mehta. New Dehli: Sage, 2006), Pantham and Mehta, summarizing Patham's later chapter, "Religious Diversity and National Unity: The Gandhian and Hindutva Visions," describe the political differences that account for the differences between Gandhi and Savarkar's religious views, implying that there religious ideas are often confused. It's helpful to also see how these scholars intervene in a scholarly discussion about "secular-liberal democracy." In order to make this argument, the notions of "self" in both Gandhi and Savarkar are interpreted and redefined. Pantham's essay is described as follows:

Thomas Pantham's essay, "Religious Diversity and National Unity: The Gandhian and Hindutva Visions," is meant to be a corrective to the tendency, discernible in the scholarly literature on secular-liberal democracy, to conflate the Gandhian and Hindutva views. He argues that "for Gandhi and Savarkar (the propounder of the Hindutva ideology), religion, be it Hinduism or any other religion, meant different things and that on that difference hinges the difference between their political philosophies."

....

Savarkar's view on the political relation between the Hindu religious majority and the Muslims went through a process of change in the 1920s. In that period, in reaction to certain political developments, he gave up his earlier commitment to Hindu-Muslim political unity in the "war" against colonial rule, and, in its place, he formulated his famos Hindutva conception of militant majoritarian nationalism, which, according to him, can only have either an assimilationist or an exclusionary relation to the Muslims of India. According to Pantham, this ideology of Hindutva rests on a traditional an rigidly hierarchic concept of the "self'." "It is," as he points out, "a 'self', which can relate to the 'non-self' or Other only by assimilating it (i.e. by bringing it into hierarchic subordination) or by excluding it as 'alien', 'enemy' or 'impure'"; it cannot relate to the Other "either on friendly terms of the freedom and equality of every person or in terms of the Gandhian ethics of love/non-violence!"

In the second part of Chapter 13, Gandhi's conception of Hind Swaraj, sarvodaya and satyagraha are shown to be resting on, or informed by, moral-political conceptions of the "self," religion, satya, swaraj, etc., which are radically different from Savarkar's political-ideological conceptions of them. For instance, Gandhi's conception of the moksha-seeking "self" is that of a "self" seeking unity, in this world itslf, with God-as-Love/Truth through love of, and service to, one's fellow-humans. (xlv-xlvi)

Vinayak and Me

To begin I was very thankful to be reading this selected work as it explains and essentially accounts for a lot of historical context by means of a sort of story, which makes learning and reading about this way more enjoyable. Regardless, I was very interested in a lot of the cultural customs that I had not been familiar with that occurred in the reading. For example I didn't know that in the Indian culture it is custom to wait a few years before giving a child a first name, and although naming a child is also a sacred act in the U.S., it seems to me to be an even bigger deal in India. One's name describes your political views, economic status as well as social status. I was taken aback by the flood of information that can be accounted for in a name, but then I was more understanding as to why the naming process is taken more seriously and more thought is put into it than would be accustomed for an American. Also the hunt for Vinayak to find out the meaning and more so the reason he was named Vinayak by Dr. Parchure was an intriguing mystery, and his adventure along the way also provided more insight into the Indian politics of the time. It was interesting in that upon being introduced to the character of Dr. Parchure, he was illustrated as a very noble and intelligent man, whom I became infatuated with when he named Vinayak and his reasons for doing so were still a mystery. However after learning of the violence he practiced I was kind of let down from once viewing him as this really admirable person, but learning of his later actions of brutality made me feel otherwise. Dr. Parchure was indeed, I would say an person worthy of admiration: he is a prestigious doctor and an intelligent man, however these characteristics for me were not redeemable enough to excuse his surprisingly violent demeanor.

Vinayak and Me Response

While reading Professor Chaturvedi's search for the meaning of his name in "Vinayak and Me", I couldn't help but wonder why he was doing this. It was interesting that his name was, in fact, the first name had origins with Savarkar or the god Ganesh and had an interesting story in its background. But what I really think Professor Chaturvedi was trying to accomplish with this article, is that we as readers need to personally relate to our texts. For him, it was the relation of his name's story that lead him to inquiring about Savarkar and his involvement in Gandhi's assassination. Likewise, we need to take personal interest in our writings, which relates directly to our upcoming research paper. We need to discover within our research, what the topic means to us and its significant to us.

Starbuck's and Its Logo(s)

Claim: Take a look to the left and what do you see? Two logos, they are only slightly different from each other. The importance between them is the fact that they both represent the same company. Starbucks has become a household name in America and has come to spread across the world as one of the leading businesses serving coffee. The current logo at Starbucks is usually hard to miss. The green mermaid or "siren," as it would be called in the store, originated as the brown one on the right. As starbucks grew and expanded into the 20th century, it changed the logo to a more moderate and less sensual image in green. The original siren in brown was based off of a Norse Woodcut of a siren.
Evidence: The primary source will be the starbuck's logo. Supporting or secondary sources will come from http://www.deadprogrammer.com/starbucks-logo-mermaid and other various sites.
Purpose: Starbucks is one of the leaders in coffee production and trade. The purpose of this is to find how the logo and other logos of major companies came to represent an idea or concept. It also aims to show how Starbucks has come to represent an age of good coffee and safe trade.
Audience: Peers and Coffeehouse customers and those Partners who work at starbuck's.

Vinayak and Me

Professor Chaturvedi’s name first just seemed like a unique coincidence, with his grandmother Bai’s encounter with Dr Parchure. However it was more than that, and in fact his name was attached to more past and present politics that took Professor Chaturvedi time to uncover. Taking on the name of Vinayak was more than just out of respect for the doctor – family tradition sometimes calls for a child to be given a name years after their birth. Oftentimes we are given names that really have no meaning at all, while other times the names given to us hold more meaning then most of us know. In the Filipino culture, it is customary for the parents to give their children a middle name that is the same as their mother’s maiden name. There is no specific reason why most Filipino’s do this, but it is mostly due to the fact that the wives lose their last names once they are married. The children’s names are meant to really carry on or at least hold a part of their mother’s name that was lost in wedlock. Somewhat similar to Professor Chaturvedi’s naming – he was to take on a name that would hold meaning in the future. Vinayak Savarkar may no longer be alive, but his name lives on even in Professor Chaturvedi’s name. This mere connection alone caused Professor Chaturvedi to investigate the origin of his name, thus uncovering more about the nationalist Savarkar. Dr Parchure’s involvement amongst “Hindu nationalist intellectuals” was what allured Professor Chaturvedi (215). However it was his works with and comparison to Savarkar are what probably caused him to ask Bai to name her grandson Vinayak in "honour of Savarkar" and to promote the "ideologies of his guru" (223).

Vinayak

Honestly, at first I thought that the idea of naming someone to carry on a legacy (even though most people would never realize the connection between Vinayak Savarkar and the name) was simply an extension of the ridiculous idea that violence was the only solution. Then as I reached the end of the article, I realized that naming really does continue a legacy. Though I do not agree with the legacy carried on through that name, I do believe that it is effective. I dont like that Dr. Parchure named children who might seriously object later to what they, without any say, represent because of their name.

Glorifying Godse

I thought the context in which Professor Chaturvedi ends his story about the origins of his name was really interesting. Rather than focusing on (not) identifying with Savarkar, he concludes with, “a large image of the assassin Nathuram Godse, who was being celebrated as an incarnation of Vinayak and the remover of obstacles [was above the door]” (227). More than a story about his name, his paper acknowledges the perpetuation of the sad support for violence as a means to an end. Godse thought it was necessary to save India by killing the man who he felt divided it – physically – with the creation of Pakistan. However, transcending mere geography, Godse and the fellow conspirators knowingly divided India even further, separating ideologies of violence vs. non-violence, and Hindu vs. non-Hindu. Even though Savarkar supported the necessity of separating Indian citizens using the above criteria, Godse’s assumed justified violence in saving “Mother India” is inconsistent with his claimed motives. He argues that as the son, he must protect the mother as “Gandhiji failed in his duty as the Father of the Nation” (221). By getting rid of Gandhi, he just perpetuates that alleged division and is guilty of the exact thing that he claims is wrong.
For some reason, the last sentence of Professor Chaturvedi’s paper really bothered me. I was surprised that Upendra agreed with his father, Godse and Savarkar’s ideologies, so much as to glorify Godse. But having a morally egoistic bias was only going to obfuscate my reasoning. I decided that it’s important to note that Upendra probably doesn’t honor Godse as a murderer, but as a righteous activist in furthering what he felt was just. My initial reaction hinged off of blind accusation, but in the end I felt that one of Chaturvedi’s motives for ending with this was to force readers to take into account the importance of remaining open and at least respect an individual’s ideals; having a more condemning stance would only further that perpetuation of violence.

America's Next Top Model: AB

This is going to be my final AB post. =] As I was watching America's Next Top Model, I realized that I should research the success of the winners from the show and why they have and have not found success. My primary source is the actual show.

claim: Tyra Banks can transform ordinary girls into "top models" through 13 weeks (?) of modeling challenges and lessons.

evidence: Winners from each cycle have gotten modeling contracts and CoverGirl contracts, as well as other advertising and modeling jobs. Even the "losers" on the shows have gotten modeling exposure and gained experience to book jobs.

purpose: The purpose of this show is to give young ladies the opportunity to become models through the challenges and lessons given to them by fashion experts and professional models themselves.

audience: Women of all ages, some men. People who are interested in fashion and the modeling industry.

Vinayak's name

I found this paper very interesting for many reasons. First, because Vinayak went through so much trouble just to find the meaning of his name and what not. It was also interesting because he was basically named by a stranger and his parents decided to keep the name. I also found it strange that Dr. Parchure would name boys after Savarkar as a strategy to promote the ideologies that Savarkar had andnationalism. Even though the boys that he named probably did not know the origin of their name, Dr. Parchure, in my opinion, placed a lot of unwanted responsibility (in a sense) on these boys to promote nationalism and carry out Savarkar's legacy.
Then I thought that Dr. Parchure's denial of having any involvment in the assissination of Gandhi was a little hypocritical. He was always down for Savarkar and his ideas, but he did not take any responsibility for carrying out part of Savarkar's ideas. (well that's what I got from it, I could be wrong.)

Vinayak and Me

I found this article written by Professor Chaturvedi to quite interesting because of the fact that despite the obvious cultural influences of his story, the idea of significance behind a name is in fact very universal. The idea of naming a child after his or her personality becomes apparent is an intriguing aspect of Indian culture; the grim fact that high infant mortality rates influenced this practice makes it all the more logical. In one sense, it seems reasonable to wait until a child develops to give him or her a befitting name; however, there may be psychological repercussions for a young child who goes through life without a true identity. On the other hand, Professor Chaturvedi wrote that the children were given "informal household name[s]" which might counter any fear of the child feeling anonymous. Cultural differences were also evident by the fact that one's surname divulged "caste, language, region and even class" (215) and an individual can be judged based entirely on his or her family name. Universality becomes apparent, however, if one thinks of popular culture and modern society. Many people believe that a name determines a child's future personality and potential. This belief is superstitious to a certain extent, much like the belief that one's astrological sign determines one's fortune, love interests, and personality. The prevalence of horoscopes in publications and baby naming books with tens of thousands of different names and meanings illustrates that the importance of naming is not limited to a specific culture. Professor Chaturvedi's interest in his name is not unique; I'm sure that most people have researched the history behind their name. (My name is of Middle English origin and is a Scottish flower.) The fact that the man who had named Professor Chaturvedi was a supporter of Vinayak Savarkar and a conspirator in the assassination of Gandhi might have been disheartening, seeing as Gandhi was a symbol of peace and goodness. However, I don't believe that even in Indian culture that Professor Chaturvedi should have been concerned about his naming because he was not named by his family, but rather by a stranger who was concerned with furthering his ideals.

Vinayak and Me...and Me.

"Vinayak and Me: Hindutva and the Politics of Naming" is probably the most intriguing reading assignment I have encountered so far for the Humanities Core Course. The story from Professor Chaturvedi's childhood at the very beginning had me hooked instantly.

This paper opened my eyes to various aspects of Indian culture and history. What's fascinating is it all stemmed from Professor Chaturvedi's curiosity about the origin of his name. Who knew that the man standing in front of me every Tuesday and Thursday morning at 9:30 (that is, whenever I actually attended lecture...) had some unique ties to such people as Gandhi and Savarkar?

Professor Chaturvedi's talks with Upendra Parchure, the son of Dr. Dattatrey Sadashiv Parchure, were interesting to read about. (It was frustrating to learn that Dr. Parchure had died only a few years before Professor Chaturvedi decided he wanted to speak with him!) I believe the emphasis Upendra Parchure placed on his father's masculinity is significant. The people who were against Gandhi criticized his tactics for being weak. They preferred violence and force to passive resistance and peaceful methods. What's ironic or interesting is that Gandhi in Hind Swaraj also wanted his passive resisters to show masculinity. Hmmmm...

Gandhi on Masculinity

•“They lack real physical strength or courage.” (37)

•“We have become emasculated and cowardly.” (44)

•“…render us effeminate…” (44)

•“I should prefer to be killed by the arrow of a Bhil than to seek unmanly protection.” (44)

•“Believe me that a man devoid of courage and manhood can never be a passive resister.” (93)

Savarkar

Savarkar talks about how the causes of the Indian revolutionary war in 1857 were misrepresented. This seems to be a common thing in wars; what appears to be a feeble cause often overshadows the real cause(s). Savarkar does not mention this in the excerpt we're reading, but I wonder what the result of the war of 1857 was. Did they succeed, was the war still going on when he was writing the book, or does the result not matter? Maybe he thought that the idea of thousands of Indians sacrificing their lives for love of their religion was a feat in itself. It also made me wonder what things we didn't learn in school about American history. There's a book called "Lies My Teacher Told Me" that explains the actual history and America, and didn't overlook the brutality of the origins of the country.

Vinayak Blog

I will focus on the passage on page 224 that starts out with "For, things to matter more than their names..."

I found this article very interesting soley on the fact that it had to do with names. When one things of their own name, nothing more but a mere "i wonder what that means" comes to mind. However, in the mind of Vinayak, he searched for not only the meaning, which he found, but he was able to discover the historical and political background of the name "Vinayak. On page 224 he even states, "the spirit of Savarkar' was now living through me and, by extension through the doesn hundreds of other Vinayaks." This caught my attention because i think back to how other King's and Queens named their boys the same name as their ancestors (ie: King Charles I,II,III..etc). Perhaps they wanted a legacy, but to Vinayak, his name was given more meaning. He even says in the beginning of the article that in the Indian culture it is imperative to name a child later on in their life so that it could match their personality. In the American culture, parents name their children even before they are born without any regard to how their child will "fit into" their name. I guess in a way the spirit of Savarkar can be living through Vinayak because of his name. However, i still believe a name is just a name unless you make something of it. If someone was to name a child Gandhi, it does not automatically mean that Gandhi lives through that child, unless the child were to carry on the teachings and beliefs of Gandhi. This article pretty much made me realize that maybe i should think more about the background and meaning behind the name of my child (i will LATER on have in the future) rather than naming him/her something that is just popular at that time.

Vinayak and Names

The origins of a name can be extremely important. After reading the article Vinayak Chaturvedi wrote, i came to the realization that names have so much significance behind them. Vinayak was able to write an entire article as to how he came to discover the history behind his name. "It is a common practice in India for families to wait several years before giving formal names to children..." (Chaturvedi 213) I believe this is almost a sad thing. The explanation given for this is the fact that children sometimes did not survive long enough, so the name would not be wasted on them? It appears that naming is somewhat of an important practice because it is meant to describe the person's personality in India. Later on in the article, it is mentioned that the family name usually describes the person's family history. I think this is a very interesting idea and i believe that this is true for some asian countries as well. The fact that a person can judge you and be correct based on your name solely, is somewhat eerie.
Perhaps the most startling point in the article is when the Parchure's personal family affairs are revealed. When i read the section about Upendra Parchure's abusive nature, it came as quite a shock to me. In the world we live today, such dealings are somewhat "hush hush" and not much is publicly claimed. The connection that is made in the article about how Dr. Parchure's violent nature in the home related to the violent nature towards the outside world was one of the most interesting parts of the article.

Missing Savarkar Blog

Although it is pretty evident that Gandhi favored protest in the form of passive resistance and Savarkar’s views differ from those of Gandhi, I don’t believe that Savarkar enjoys witnessing bloodshed or employing violence blindly. Savarkar strongly believes that the causes of revolutions and wars must be examined; he continues to state that “a revolutionary movement cannot be based on flimsy and momentary grievance,” which illustrates that Savarkar’s views on violent resistance aren’t black and white (205). Further evidence cementing this idea appears when Savarkar states that “people think lightly of shedding sacred human blood” (206). It is apparent that he values humanity and believes that violence and war should only be used as a last resort, after careful contemplation of the causes. According to Savarkar, these causes are often omitted by “partial and prejudiced historians” and make for an insignificant and incomplete historical account (206). Furthermore, his views on Swadharma (that we defined in class as love of one’s religion) and Swaraj (love of one’s country) are similar to those of Gandhi. He believes that they complement each other and each is necessary for the other’s existence. I personally believe that Swaraj, which I interpreted as patriotism, is the means by which people can protect their Swadharma, which I interpreted as religious devoutness. The passage that I believe supports this view starts when Savarkar deems Swaraj “the sword of material power [that] should always be ready drawn for our object. […] our safety is the other world, Swadharma” (209).

New Topic, New AB: Dorothea Lange

Topic (Roughly):
How the documentary photographs of Dorothea Lange influenced the federal government to take action during the Great Depression. I will be discussing a few specific photographs, including those taken of the Japanese American internment camps (probably). Relates to art and action.

Primary Source:
Photograph "Migrant Mother," taken in 1936.

Thesis/Main Claim of Source:
The photograph is an effective portrayal of a desperate family at a camp during the Great Depression. It sends a message of despondency, and calls for change.

Evidence:
The worried, desperate expression of the mother's face, composition of the photo, information about the actual family portrayed. The woman is Florence Owens Thompson.

Purpose of Source:
To document the plight of migrant worker families during the Great Depression. To evoke emotion in the viewer.

Audience/My Own Purposes:
The audience was the general public. The photo was circulated widely, especially through newspapers. I will use it to analyze its effect on the American public and its status as an iconic photo of American history. I will also talk about how it may have influenced government policy.

Annotated Bibliography of primary source

Judy Chicago's: "The Dinner Party"

Claim: Judy Chicago has been a feminist artist, author, and educator since the mid 1960's. She has been the founder of many art programs that focus on feminist art. Chicago's most famous work is "The Dinner Party" which was created with the help of hundreds of volunteers in an attempt to "[elevate] female achievement in Westernhistory to a heroic scale tradtionally reserved for men."(throughtheflower.org) By analyzing this work of art, I will examine the ways in which art has been affected and influenced by feminism.
Evidence: The primary source for my research paper will be Judy Chicago's "The Dinner Party". Secondary sources will come directly from the organizations website, throughtheflower.org, and from scholary articles and works byJudy Chicago.
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to expose how feminism has played a role in art beginning in the 1960's and the changes throughout the years into contemporary times, such as the recognition that women have gained in a male dominated art world.
Audience: This paper is for those who are looking to see the equality women have gained through public expression,in example Chicago's exhibition, students of humanities core, and feminists.

Week Seven: Assignments

Tuesday May 13
Reading: Vinyak Chaturvedi, "Vinyak and Me" (HCC Course Reader)
Writing: Reading Response Blog (to "Vinyak" or to Still Alive); Annotated Bibliographies due.

Thursday May 15
Reading: Ruth Kluger, Still Alive (begin)
Writing: Discovery Task #6

Requirements of Annotated Bibliographies (10% of essay grade):

• title (tentative title of research paper)
• include at least 8 sources with correct MLA citations and annotated bibliographies of 4 sentences: 1. thesis/claim of author + author credentials; 2. evidence used; 3. purpose; 4. audience/use for your paper.
• a headnote (200-250 words) which should be something close to the annotated bibliography of your primary source (blog)--but you might expand the 4 sentences to include more of the evidence (which should be details from the primary source that you want to analyze) OR to include the 6 C's-like things: content, context, citation, communication, connections, conclusions. This is not yet the prospectus (i.e. your paper proposal/plan, but it is an AB of the primary source (like the captions you did for the Weimar Germany essay last quarter). Your headnote should give the reader the necessary historical information about the primary source and also give the reader a framework for thinking about the primary source by pointing out what the significance of the object is, and what things about it are important for the particular angle you will be taking on it.
• 2-3 refined (but still preliminary) research questions.