When Jim asked us to rethink the previous session and where Chakrabarty might open up new conversations, I suggested the archive. The archive, or more specifically the postcolonial archive, is an institution that forces us to conform to Western European ideas of progress, time, space, and how it is categorized and documented–maybe the “colonial” archiveContinue reading “Reversing the Archive”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Race, Place, and Space.
Our discussion on how space and place are constructed and how these spaces and places are given meaning and an identity has me questioning the extent to which capitalism shapes our conception of the environment. Reflect back to three weeks ago to when we discussed W. E. B. DuBois’s photograph album. Within the album thereContinue reading “Race, Place, and Space.”
The performing body on and off the screen.
This week on performing history and the performativity that is involved in historical films, both low-budget and hollywood, made me think about how bodies take centre stage in history and how we view bodies in historical narratives. In the first chapter of Rosenstone’s book, I felt it was interesting that he discusses the ways inContinue reading “The performing body on and off the screen.”
Narratives and identities.
This week on narratives and the performance of narratives made me think about the discrepancies—often in the form of competing stories/voices—found in narratives. There exists a grey zone, as one may argue, that is established from competing discourses on the accuracy of historical narratives. Thomas King writes, “Do stories we tell reflect the world asContinue reading “Narratives and identities.”
Rise of the pink dollar.
The readings this week (specifically Warner’s “Publics and Counterpublics” and Matt Houlbrook’s book) got me thinking about a question that has loomed in the field of gender history and the history of sexuality: Did the rise in disposable income among LGBT peoples (predominantly gay men) consequentially increase both their visibility and society’s acceptance of them?Continue reading “Rise of the pink dollar.”
Metis knowledge and Power
In Seeing Like A State, Scott looks at a form of tacit knowledge which he describes as Metis. He uses this concept to demonstrate that the sole reliance on empirical thinking is the largest limit to high modernists, and that decision-makers and scientists incorporate practical knowledge or “mētis” to enhance the success of their plans.Continue reading “Metis knowledge and Power”
Bodily resistance and the role of culture
November 4, 2013 In class we discussed the body as a site of power, albeit briefly. Beginning with public execution, where the body is horrifically displayed, Foucault charts the transition to a situation where the body is no longer immediately affected. The body will always be affected by punishment—because we cannot imagine a non-corporal punishment—butContinue reading “Bodily resistance and the role of culture”
Memory, Language and the Archive
Memory, October 21, 2013. Over the past few days I have been thinking about how memory is constructed by language. This comes out of our discussion on they ways memory and Les Lieux de Memoires are understood differently by the state and by both citizens and non-citizens. Kerwin Lee Klein quotes Amos Funkenstein’s analogy ofContinue reading “Memory, Language and the Archive”
Weekly Writing Challenge: Living History
I though it was appropriate considering we are looking at memory next week.
The Archive: October 7, 2013.
Our discussion on what constitutes an archive and how we may conceive of oral history as an “archive” was extremely fascinating for me. I feel like there is a great deal of discussion around oral histories as archives that we can continue to discuss in this forum. Having reflected of Derrida’s notion that the archiveContinue reading “The Archive: October 7, 2013.”
Nick Hrynyk, Ph.D. 