Based on the Introduction from Unclaimed Experience by Cathy Caruth, Hiroshima mon Amour seemed a story telling of an understanding of trauma: only one who has been through a trauma can understand another's trauma. While reading the more in-depth analysis of Hiroshima mon Amour, this idea still stands but the idea of interacting with another's trauma to understand your own is added. It can certainly be true in life that someone who has undergone a similar experience can more often than not be the only person to help another understand a trauma. For example, when someone close to a person dies another person who has had someone close to them die is a better person to talk to about this occurrence than someone who has never had someone close to them die. If one has not felt the included emotions or had the same (or similar) experience it is very hard to know what to say or how to act. This was what came about in my mind upon reading the introduction and the preliminary references to Hiroshima mon Amour.
The complete and total opposite reactions to the bombing of Hiroshima from the French and Japanese perspective was rather astounding to me, though not surprising. It always seems that to a completely outside observer everybody has some fault in a situation and they can clearly see what's going on. But if you're on the inside, you can only ever see one side. The Japanese saw the bombing of Hiroshima (at least through the lense of Hiroshima mon Amour) as an end to tranquility and a beginninng of pain and suffering while the French perspective was quite the opposite: the end of a war, the beginning of peace and prosperity for the world. It could be said that the Japanese deserved it, they attacked Pearl Harbor and killed shit tons of Americans. They were allied with Germany and Italy and were therefore party to the genocide of the European Jewish population. They were bad guys! But the civilian casualties in war, those who are not explicitly involved in the reasoning behind the war/conflict/issue/etc. are those that are cried over in the history of the world. Soldiers are seen as a natural byproduct and in the words of Kurt Vonnegut, so it goes. Soldiers die in war, it happens, no one really blinks an eye except those who cared about the people that actually kicked the bucket. But civilians are a worldwide loss, as if they are so different from the soldiers that died. The loss of women and children are bemoaned significantly more than the soldiers in the trenches or boats or what have you. Are they any more special? Are they weaker? Are they different?
**CRAIG AND EGAN - - LITERATURE AND CRISIS**
The kind of writing that I generally like to read include drama, trauma, and overcoming a history and an identity formed by the trauma. Ironically, that's what this class centers on. My favorite stories include detailed descriptions of the emotions related to the trauma but not necessarily detailed descriptions of the trauma. "Young Adult Fiction" doesn't generally include the detailed descriptions of the difficulties of high school (finding a place, what happens when you can't find a place, etc.) and all of the social and romantic arenas therein but instead have very captivating stories of people overcoming these things and then being a better person for it. I prefer the stories with fewer details of the trauma itself and more details of the emotions, situations, and confrontations surrounding it. Emotions are such a large part of my own life, and as a writer myself narratives that include intense emotion are a bigger draw than scenes of destruction and trauma. In my own writing the idea for a story or poem or song more often than not comes from an emotion whether it is identified and catalogued or not. Emotions are the basis for most if not all great literature, I would say, because everyone feels. Everyone can find someone in the story that they can relate to and root for (or hate). All of my best work comes out of times when I am feeling emotion intensely be it happy, sad, furious, or comical.
The two youtube videos that directly follow are clips from the most recent movie of Pride and Prejudice, originally a book by Jane Austen. The love story of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy is amazing, beautiful, and fraught with distractions, disruptions, and evil old women being snobs. In any case, this is the kind of emotion that can make you feel alive, the kind of emotion that great writing comes from (or is from)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrbG7v6WIAQ
I really enjoyed the selection from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. The story, though somewhat disjointed in its telling, is full of emotion and wonder. The character wonders why he feels the way he does, why the song evokes such a strong reaction. It is through emotions that we do not understand that we can investigate and remember our history. If we were platonic about everything it wouldn't be possible to have great works of art, great literature, or even great conversation. The passion required to remember, to feel, to investigate, and to incorporate others' stories into our own is something that can't be found in something that lacks emotion.
**AMERICAN MILITARY MUSEUM**
My grandfather fought in the second World War, in Guadalcanal. The most striking moment while going through the American Military Museum was during the last portion of it, when there was a small exhibition on the South Pacific. A large tank was situated next to a sign that had the words "Guadalcanal" on it, right in front of the entrance to a small alcove with South Pacific memorabilia. I stopped for a second and had to catch my breath when I saw the word Guadalcanal, my grandfather died in December. To think that I was seeing things that he might've seen, things that he would've had over there. Gramps never really talked about what happened in the South Pacific, but he talked a lot about what he did with his fellow soldiers in their off-time. They played poker and cribbage. I remember once he talked about a village that he'd gone into. Everyone in the village was dead. Gramps was a Medic (corpsman?) in the U.S. Military. It was really quite strange to look at an example of what would have been his uniform, his gun, his equipment. Rather scary, extremely disconcerting, and sad. It's sad that this stuff has to happen, sad that people have to endure seeing entire villages destroyed. It's upsetting and scary that people can enjoy destruction so much as to create wars, and fight wars, and create such horrible propoganda to continue the wars. The whole thing is quite sickening and amazing. But what's more amazing are the people that can come out of that horrible environment, that can come out of the absolute dredges of humanity, and still be as gentle and caring and wholesome as they were when they went in.
There was actually a happy portion of the museum for me, despite the atrocities represented in the museum. Rosie's Bar. Most people of college age that I talk to don't understand what Rosie's Bar means or is from. I saw the outline of the diarama that made up the replica of Rosie's Bar and saw a bit of the sign. As I made out the words I started to get really excited. I absolutely never thought that I'd be able to stand in ROSIE'S BAR!, next to ROSIE (although t
he manican looked absolutely nothing like any of the actresses that played Rosie) and get my picture taken. Of course it was a small replica, not complete, and there was no Marine getting thrown out the back window, but there was a soldier and Rosie, drinks on the back wall, and that godforsaken red curtain. Rosie's Bar was situated across from the Mash 4077th diarama (both references are made to the book/movie/tv show M*A*S*H. Starring Alan Alda, Loretta Swit, William Christopher, McClean Stevenson, Mike Ferrell, Jamie Farr, Larry Linville and more, the t.v. show M*A*S*H ran for 11 seasons and won the hearts of millions. In the seventies, anyway. If I hadn't just been in the South Pacific alcove, I would've been running around screaming like a chicken with its head cut off (but out of excitement, not because of a lack of head or anything).Throughout the museum, the uniforms included in the various exhibits seemed to be primarily of Officers. This was interesting to me because despite the obvious importance of those giving the commands, it was the foot soldiers like Hawkeye Pierce and Robert Niles Costine (my grandfather) who fought and tried to help and persevered through it all. Something else that struck me was the appearance of the display cases of the American and German soldiers in the first hallway after the massive weapons exhibit. The cases with American items were filled with delousing powder, canned poundcake, medkits, clothing, binoculars and the like. The one case with German items was primarily guns and weapons. The vast difference in the amount of weapons included with the German uniform as compared to the American uniform was a stark contrast for me in the perception of the War and the general ideas behind it. Of course Americans are biased, as are the French, the British, the Germans, the Japanese, everyone. We all see things from our own perspective, from the perspective that we were taught in school or that we gained for living through certain experiences. That makes sense. But I was still interested in the fact that the one German case was primarily filled with weapons while the American cases were filled with items required for survival. On the most basic level, the items included in the cases represent our interpretation of the different sides. By no means am I agreeing with the German cause for war, but Germans are people too. The soldiers that fought and died over there were of no less consequence in the grand scheme of things. People die (so it goes...) but no one life should be valued over another. The ideal represented by the weapon filled German case and the basic needs filled American case is a troubling ideal for me to contend with.
Pictures from the museum to come, have to get them from a flash drive from a friend.
**ROBERT NILES COSTINE (slightly older than when he went to war)**
**OUTSIDE by Staind**
The lyrics to this song are a perfect example of being on the outside and being able to see everything that's going on, despite the fact that people on the inside can't see any other perspective than their own, and maybe not even that very clearly.
No comments:
Post a Comment