We will devote the month of November to your research papers (alongside reading Disgrace).
Here are some guide questions to help you complete this blog:
1. What text or texts (including films) are you planning to focus on and what is the main reason you are interested in this text or film? What issue or theme really speaks to you?
2. State your thesis or working hypothesis.
3. What particular scenes or moments in the text (describe at least 3) will help you with a close reading and discussion of your chosen theme?
4. What specific areas of research do you know will be important to pursue--do you need historical information, cultural information? Explain. Do an initial search for at least one kind of information and note in the blog what you have found (include link to source).
5. Ask your classmates (and professor) one specific question about your topic that, if we can answer, will help you!
NOTE: All stages of the research essay, including this blog, count toward your grade for the project :)
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ReplyDeleteFor centuries, Haiti has been a nation in which an enormous amount of atrocities have occurred. Whether these atrocities are economical or political, one cannot deny the magnitude of corruption that exists. In Edwidge Danticat’s debut novel “Breathe, Eyes, Memory” Danticat depicts a certain type of corruption that is often overshadowed by other forms of exploitations that takes place within Haiti. In the novel, the protagonist, Sophie, becomes a victim of sexual abuse and learns that women aren’t always in control of their own bodies. The idea that women do not own themselves is shown through the political corruption that exists within Haiti, the trauma of testing and through the re-telling of the folklore that are reinforced by the women themselves. While being interviewed by Opal Palmer Adisa Danticat stated that, “It’s still happening- the actual rape of girls and women by people in position of power and authority in Haiti…”(349). The interview, haven taken place in 2009, shows that political corruption in Haiti still lingers after decades of its initial start.
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ReplyDeleteFor my research paper, I will be focusing on question number two (In breath, eyes, memory, women’s bodies become the site of male domination and violence is justified by the power or law of the land. What is the ideology that makes this so and how do women speak back to power?) Ideology is passed on from generation to generation that is derived from culture, tradition, laws, customs, and religion; it structures the way people think. In the novel, women do not own their body; it belongs to men. Men love power and they don’t simply want to have control over land, but they want to control life. They are the authority and their request should be obeyed; it is the folklore that the Haitian community believes. Fear forces women to submit to their demands and women should teach women how to do that efficiently; making sure they’re future husbands or any male figure are satisfied. If they are not pleased, as the righteous authority they have the right to punish them however they want even if it leads to a fatal consequence. There is no justice because laws are mad by men and they know which one would work conveniently for them. Martine’s body is violated and nothing is done against that crime. Sophie’s body is violated and nothing is done against that either. These violations are all due to ideologies created by men. Men can rape and get away with it and traditions are made to satisfy men.
ReplyDeleteSources:
“Silence Too Horrific to Disturb” by Donette A. Francis
Film: Water
http://dukespace.lib.duke.edu//dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/3738/The%20Hidden%20Epidemic%20-%20violence%20against%20women%20in%20Haiti.pdf?sequence=1
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953604006422
These sources offer information regarding my focus question. In Silence Too Horrific to Disturb, Francis explains how the American Military had power and authority in Haiti and raped women whenever they pleased. Nothing was done against these acts because men were in control; “Women were made particularly vulnerable under this administration because American service men and officers in Haiti systematically raped and sexually harassed local women. But these acts of violence went unrecognized, unnamed, and unpunished by the US government (116).” In the film Water, there is a scene where the middle aged widow is having a conversation with the priest, and she is surprised to know that men use laws and Holy Scriptures that only benefit them. They don’t want women to surpass them because they love power. Men use religion, laws, and folklores that work for their own convenience. Women try to stand up for themselves but are often violated when doing so. If they try to speak up or fight back, they’ll simply get abused physically or sexually. Men want to dominate not the other way around. Although I don’t have a firm thesis statement at the moment, I would like to use the following resources to help me develop it (along with my focus question)
My plan is to write an essay describing religious dogmas and how it constructs authority in different colonial cultures . I will investigate religious folk lore and folklore traditions that relate to imperialistic methods to suppress, control, manipulate society for its own agenda. Both movies water and rabbit proof fence depict issues that connect to religion. In the movie "rabbit proof fence"it bothered me when Molly and her sisters is forced into a Christian camp to convert their native ideology in exchange of Eurocentric beliefs of postcolonial Australia. Another scene in the movie "water" where the man breaks down explaining the purpose of the widows position in society mathematically, stating "religion is a disguise, and it is all about money." I want to find out who is affected by these religions? What hierarchy is gaining the benefits and how does it work? Why is religion the main consensus of society in certain cultures? I believe religion is the wall that holds society back to progress when pertaining to education, information, rational and logic consensus. I want to find the truth of the discrepancies of religious dogmas. There are certain stories that we covered in class that has some sense of religious beliefs that shape and manipulate the characters position in society. I will connect the dots and explain my thesis and conclusion to the best of my abilities.
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to add the scenes from the movie water of the part when the widow asked the holy man questions of their purpose in life, and the symbology of kulani's self-righteous suicide.I will use the movie water and research the Hindu religion and there caste structure as an example to represent my conclusion of my research paper.
DeleteFor my research paper, I am planning to make a research about the movie "Water". Although a lot of countries' social and cultural structure are based on the patriarchy, this subject seems so different and intense in India culture. I also believe that religion has a key role in this difference. Being born puts people at a level in the caste system, and it is the status of people in India. So, although I already knew some basic things about the caste system, I saw the status of widows in Indian culture much better in the movie. I wanted to learn more about the culture, and religious norms in India after I saw the horrible treatment and a kind of human rights violation in the movie. I want to make a research on the psychological problems of widows because of their status and the isolation from the rest of the people, women role in Indian culture, and the evolution of their status with Gandhi. In the movie, the little girl Chuyia becomes widow at the age of 8, which is the age of playing with toys. She goes the widows' home, and is isolated like the other widows. This scene is helpful to understand how those women become widows, and what the other stages of being a widow. Another scene is the suicide of Kalyani. It shows the hard conditions, and psychological problems of widows, and the consequences of the situation. Religion also has an important role. So, in the movie, one of the widows begin to questions the statements of religion about the widows. People who are against the current situation find Gandhi as a deliverance. This scenes have significant moments to see the importance of religion in the society, and the evolution of those thoughts by Gandhi. I need to find some sources about historical, cultural, and religious changes through the time because there are a lot of differences before and after Gandhi. Behaviors of other people toward the widows also important to shape their minds, and affects them psychologically. One of the articles that I found is "The Impact of Cultural Evolution on the Ego Ideal,
ReplyDeleteDepression, Psychosis, and Suicide: A South India
Community Study of the Widow" by Helen E. Ullrich. Although I did not read the whole article yet, I believe that it will help me to see the psychological problems and consequences through the time (http://ehis.ebscohost.com.rpa.laguardia.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=99ec6d10-c663-47c2-89d8-7f17cce81f1b%40sessionmgr10&vid=2&hid=3).
1) Water (film) and 1937 (short story, optional)
ReplyDelete2) how monstrous portrayal is used to justify colonization and suppress the victims.
3a) Water - how widows are ostracized, blamed for "bad karma," and pollution. General prejudices against the widows; like that scene where Kalyani bumps into a woman of higher caste and the woman says "You've polluted me" and that she has to wash again.
3b) Water - the oppressive ideologies, like the one aforementioned, are like water - ideologies are dichotomous like water, they have the ability to nourish/consecrate AND the ability to suppress (douse) and drown different social groups. The scene where the priest gives the last rites as they float Kalyani's ashes to the river: "Weapons cannot cleave it, fire cannot burn it, imperishable is this soul."
3c) 1937 - how the survivors of the Parsley Massacre are portrayed as malevolent beings with wings of flame in order to justify abuse and imprisonment of the women.
4) First, I intend to do some background research on Hinduism and its offspring traditions (cultural). I'm also interested in how Hinduism operated in India before British rule to see if colonization has somehow warped the religious interpretations (historical). Also some research on the portrayal of monstra or "the other" in justifying subjugation (to weave the literary and the real together).
I intend to use Jeffrey Jerome Cohen's book, Monster Theory: Reading Culture
I cannot provide a link but I found it using the library's eBrary.
The first chapter in his book has "Monster Culture (Seven Theses).
I believe his "Thesis IV: The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference" is perfect in analyzing the other-ing and abuse that society inflicts upon the women.
No questions come to mind for now, I still need to narrow my scope down. I might end up with just Water to analyze but I'm afraid it won't be enough.
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ReplyDeleteFor this research paper I chose the topic on Women’s bodies and why patriarchy rewards men for their horrific behavior while women are left traumatize without a voice. This falls under the same construct as colonialism. My main source for this paper will be the Edwidge Dandicat novel, Breath, Eyes, Memory. Set in Haiti, the main protagonist Sophie is the subject of sexual abuse past down from the women of her family and is deeply affected by the abuse such as “testing” in order to secure purity among their family, which clearly demonstrates patriarchy and the tactics that were imposed upon the women. Therefore it illustrates “the alpha-males” power over women, thus reaping off their pain and suffering. Furthermore I want to dissect the historical context on why men are looked upon as an apex figure and why does this ideology have to suppress women in order to “progress” society as a whole.
ReplyDeleteFor my research paper I want to focus on Patriarchy and colonization. I plan to use two stories by "Edwidge Danticat's" Breath, Eyes, Memory and 1937. I want to shed light on how Patriarchy and colonization and how its formed though cultural conditioning. One part in 1937 when the narrator is describing the jail it says, "The American's thought us how to build the prison." I think that line is symbolic because that is exactly what Patriarchy does it builds prison with bricks made of ideologies. Once we set the standards on how things should be we start to police each to conform to ideologies. It can be dangerous as we have seen in both these stories, things such as rape, and testing. It is really sick how something like rape can be a standards in patriarchy. I just want to show how post-colonialism is a culture that is brainwashed. We need to look at all these ideologies we passed down, and when you look at most them its mostly propaganda.
ReplyDeleteAlso in "Breath, eyes, Memory" the testing part. I want to use that to show how patriarchy thinks it is doing a good thing. Testing was something designed to protect your daughter. When a mother was testing as stated in the story "everything a mother does is for her daughters own good." That is what patriarchy is doing for its culture it thinks it is helping, but in reality it is damaging on the individual and culture as a whole. As I mentioned in my last blog patriarchy it does things out of love, but its a blind love. In my research I really want to understand how such ignorance can be passed down and set as standards of how we should be.
My essay topic is about the significance of the Ganges River in the lives of the Indian people, or more specifically how it ‘touched’ the lives of the people in the movie “Water” by Deepa Mehta. it’s such an important part of the daily life of the Indian people that it holds influences on Tradition, Culture, and Religion. I will be researching articles discussing the significance of these three in order to properly convey their importance. I might even uses articles about the Laws of Manu, I haven’t hashed everything out yet but this is a extremely underdeveloped version of the rough draft.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea what I want to write about or even research. However, I am leaning towards Disgrace.
ReplyDeleteI am planning to focus my research assignment on the film “Rabbit Proof Fence.” The main topic of this film that I am interested in discussing is the theory of eugenics.
ReplyDeleteNot really sure about thesis, but it would concentrate on the issues that are caused by it and how “helping” became an obsession of perfecting a race.
Scene 1- When Mr. Neville talks about breeding out their Aboriginal race as each generation is born. Stating that by the 4th generation, their roots would practically be obsolete.
Scene 2- After Molly and her sisters escape and are hard to find, Mr. Neville’s Assistant tells him, “Just because they use neolithic tools, doesn't mean they have neolithic minds.” This Angers him, knowing it is true, and further motivates him to find them.
Scene 3- When the lighter skin children are chosen to be moved to a “privileged” camp. The lighter skinned children are seen to be less Aboriginal.
I believe further research within The Moore River Native Settlement may provide further information that the film has not captured. I also believe that researching World War II and Hitler’s obsession with the Aryan Race, superior “pure race” of Northern Europe, may relate to the occurrence within Australia.
Sources:
Film: “Rabbit Proof Fence”
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007457
While trying to do some research for this blog, I completely decided to change my topic. I am going to research Erzulie and what she represents to Haitian women. I am going to focus on two of Danticat's works we have read in class, Breath, Eyes, Memory, and 1937. In BEM, we see how the goddess Erzulie is used in the healing process for Sophie, and in 1937, she is more like a guide. In both works, she is looked up to by Haitian women; she is prayed upon and she is idolized. Women of Haiti have had to deal with abuse for so many years; Erzulie gives them hope. In researching her origin and Haitian religion, I came across an article that discusses how powerful she is. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4618262 She is to be loved and feared. She marries men and women. Erzulie is the embodiment of everything. The author, Joan Dayan states that Erzulie was "always empowered by an ideational battle between masculinity and femininity."
ReplyDeleteI don't have enough research, but I want to work my thesis something around that; the battle between masculinity and femininity. I don't have any questions, but I am open to any ideas from my classmates or suggestions for what else I may want to research.
I would like to write my research paper on, perhaps the impact that postcolonialism has had on generational figures in the ethnic families. I would like to focus on the women in families. I will be using Breath, Eyes, Memory as my primary source and using the characters to illustrate the very real influence Western influence has had on the way the women in black familial structures function. I believe that Aunt Atie is one of the most important figures to focus on, because there is a very large emphasis placed on the care of a parent in their later life in, black culture, specifically.
ReplyDeleteSomething I would like from my classmates in helping to develop my thesis is perhaps ways that this is relevant to their own culture. Also, from you Professor, maybe a way to really refine this idea. I do not know exactly where my research will begin, but I know I have my own background to draw upon.
Hi Kierra,
DeleteI'm not sure if this would help, but yes colonization has greatly influenced how women operate within society. I can only tell you some stuff about my culture through some literature and my own observations - and this is by no means authoritative information.
During the Spanish occupation of the Philippines (and in a way this so-called "ideal" has endured up to today, though it's not that prominent anymore) there was this imposed ideal of the humble, chaste, religious, and delicate woman. There is a literary figure that, in a period past that, has become the epitome of the "ideal" Filipina: Maria Clara. I guess you could say this stereotype is similar to that of the Puritan woman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Clara
This is very similar to the Christian "ideal" of the submissive wife. This is not to lump all Christians in a single category, but I say Christian because the Spanish brought Christianity during their occupation of the Philippines - and people who would perpetuate and justify this oppressive ideology would draw their "justifications" from their interpretations of the Bible.
In contrast with the Caco women in Danticat's novel, Filipina women are not institutionally sexually objectified - instead they are put in a figurative glass prison, within very narrow and "safe" boundaries. Rape happens, but it is not institutionally or ideologically enabled. In deeply stringent and narrow-minded parts of Philippine society (not as a whole), women who dare to break free from these prisons are decided and if they decide to be more sexually liberal they are chided and said to be "Americanized".
Edit:
Delete"...colonization has greatly influenced how women operate within Philippine society."
In reference to Christianity, the Spanish brought Catholicism specifically.
What interests me the most is the role that both superstition and folktales play in the lives of the characters of Danticat's -Breath, Eyes, Memory- and "1937." These folktales and superstitious beliefs have a positive effect on the lives of the females, but result in negative actions on the part of the males. A working thesis could be that women use folktales as a source of strength, to build community, and to transcend their suffering, whereas the men use them to amplify their fears of female power, knowledge, and sexuality. I don't believe that I should be using the words "superstition" and "folktales" interchangeably, so I will have to find out the complete definitions of each, compare those definitions to the examples that I'll be using from the primary texts, and see which term is better suited for my thesis. While it may not be true that superstitions are always born from folktales, it seems that for many of the characters in these stories, this may be the case. Doing some research on both superstitions and folktales, particularly Haitian and Caribbean folktales, will help me determine what terminology I should use for the most precise thesis.
ReplyDeleteBreath, Eyes, Memory has many folktales sprinkled throughout, and the first that comes to mind is the story of the woman who would leave her skin to fly around outside during the night until her husband put salt on her skin so that she wouldn't be able to put it back on. This is a story that describes a woman who, from one perspective, wants to leave the confines of her home and enjoy the night, while from another [male-centric] perspective, it describes a woman who is deceiving her husband, may be having wanton sexual encounters, and deserves and receives punishment for her transgressions.
The beliefs surrounding the goddess Erzulie is something else that could be explored, since she is described by Sophie as being a role-model for women as well as their protector. The role of the Madonna in "1937," a Christianized incarnation of Erzulie, is just as important to the characters in that story also. Interestingly, no man ever touches or attempts to invade the space surrounding these two religious icons in either story. Fear perhaps? Maybe reverence?
The mystical code that is created to build a community by the female survivors and descendants of the massacre in "1937" may also be something that I should examine. The responses to the questions asked may be tied to folklore surrounding the escape of that massacre. The belief that these women jumped from the river with wings of fire is a story that gives these women a strong connection with one another but instills fear in men, namely the superstitious prison guards.
The many questions I have all concern the meaning and purpose of folktales themselves. What effect do they have on cultures in general? Not every group of people gains strength from folktales as the women do in Danticat's work. Is this something inherent to only Haitian or Caribbean folktales? Or maybe a group so desperate for escape, as the women of Haiti are, feels compelled to transform anything around them into a tool to be used to free them from the horrors of their everyday existence?
Some references so far:
Delete-“A World Destroyed, a Nation Imposed: The 1937 Haitian Massacre in the Dominican Republic” by Richard Lee Turits in
The Hispanic American Historical Review published by Duke University Press
-“The Sociopsychological Analysis of Folktales”
by J. L. Fischer in Current Anthropolgy published by Chicago University Press
For this project I am thinking about using the film "Water". I want to work on the theme of patriarchy but in terms of how, not religion itself but how societies' practice of religion influence and strength patriarchal behavior. I will cover how some interpreters of the Holy Scriptures encourage certain attitudes to the followers, which only benefit themselves. These suggested attitudes are supposed to keep people from wrongly acting which in overall ends making things worse since these behaviors support the idea of oppressed freedom where we all are supposed to be free but at the same time have so many limits primary imposed by the practice of religion and government. As a result we all are subjects of objectification. The system becomes corrupted and whoever is in a high social position has the change to oppress minorities by keeping them ignorant and weak. It can be done in many ways. Social isolation, political or religious discrimination and fear imposed by violence.
ReplyDeleteI will use the part where the widow who seems to take care of Chuyia talks with the priest. Even when we see she is really faithful, she keeps questioning her faith and how things seem not fair for widows. It will help me explaining how patriarchy actions and wrong religious interpretation affect minorities in a low social status. I also want to use the part where Narayan argues with his father for using religious events on his favor to justify his own actions. It will be helpful at exposing how interpreters take another meaning to support their real purposes. Another part I would use is when people talk about Gandhi's new ideology which favors widows and demands a change for the good of society. With him I can support my idea of how ideologies and religion are positive when people are honest at spreading them.
I need to do historical research about the structure of society and see how it was before and after colonialism. I also need to get information about Holy Scriptures, especially those that talk about women and the laws of Manu. I was searching information about the Brahman code and I found the Brahman traditions where it talks about four veda which are divide in at least three parts: the mantras or sacred words; the brahmana or explanation which tells how to follow the mantras; and the sutras or practical rules of prosedure. It also talks how it was a learning process that would take 8 years and Brahman people would starts at the age of 8. The source where I found it was in LaGuardia library, in the Jstore source. "The Brahman Traditions" by Daniel Ingalls. http://www.jstor.org.rpa.laguardia.edu:2048/stable/538556?seq=2&Search=yes&searchText=Brahman&searchText=code&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DBrahman%2Bcode%2B%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26fc%3Doff&prevSearch=&item=2&ttl=1032&returnArticleService=showFullText&resultsServiceName=null
Finally I would like to ask for the class opinion about my ideas for the research paper and I am open to any suggestion. I decided to work in "water" in the last minute since it has a lot of information that took my attention but I am still putting together so I would like to know of what I have so far makes sense.