That's TMI: Time, Memory, and Interpretation

       Time and memory studies are a new addition to my sociological knowledge this semester. I say this with the acknowledgement that many of the themes and difficult questions that I have proposed in my previous blog posts are ones that I have given deep thought outside of the course. At the beginning of the semester, Professor Villegas remarked that time and memory studies are actually more interrelated into our existences than we might believe. To a certain extent, I think he may have even suggested that time, memory and commemoration are central organizing factors of our modern societies (don’t take my word for it!). Frankly, it did not take too long for me to be convinced that time and memory studies are tremendously important for our individual and societal understandings of identity formation.       The aspect of trauma which lies amidst memory and commemoration is one that I am all too familiar with given my family’s history of surviving ...

       Is time the greatest healer of all? This cliche is useful to consider not only when one is individually heart broken or harmed, but it is particularly important when examining the trauma processes of diverse groups of people (Alexander 2011: 308). You might be familiar with this Alexanderian concept from my first blog when I referenced it in the context of the mass kidnappings of the Ayotzinapa 43 and the cultural trauma that was intentionally constructed by the loved ones of the kidnapped scholars. Here, we will utilize the concept of the trauma process in an expanded sense with the aid of Christina Simko’s addition of temporality as a “twin pillar” of the trauma process (Simko 2020: 51). Indeed, the way time passes or finding oneself inside of or outside of an event can affect the trauma process , and we can find traces of this temporal effect on trauma in the case of the Sumpul Massacre Memorial Park at Las Aradas, Chalatenango, El Salvador (Wagner-Pacif...

  One can imagine that the tools of time and memory across societies of the world vary a great deal as each particular group chooses their approach in an effort to unite over their shared historical existence. For some groups, action-oriented mnemonic practices like oral tradition in song and storytelling suffice to bring the community together while for other groups, it is instead symbolic structures that are centered to create a type of memory culture that is collectively formed to preserve the group's memory. There is no one correct way to preserve a groups’ history, but it is true that certain tools of time and memory can lend themselves to problematic outcomes especially in colonized societies.  On the night of September 2nd, 2018, José Urutau Guajajara, a member of the Tenetehára-Guajajara tribe and researcher of his people’s heritage in the archives of Brazil’s National Museum, witnessed the Museum burn down. The loss caused by this fire was immeasurable for the Ind...

     I enjoyed writing the blog posts. I think I chose to write the blog posts because I thought I would utilize the materials of the class better through this medium rather than in a regular essay.       The first blog post I wrote was the one on the anime Attack on Titan. I love the anime because of its plot, and also I have been following the series since I was in middle school. The ending of the anime is near, and the manga is already finished. But the anime might change the ending, which I am looking forward to. Before reading the book by Hashimoto, I already knew that there was discourse online about Attack on Titan and the subtext it had regarding WWII and Imperial Japan. Some people argue that Isayama supports nationalism and imperialism, while others say that Isayama is simply portraying the story of how rhetoric and different beliefs can divide humans and lead to destruction and hatred. I’m leaning towards the latter, but I am skeptical at so...

     Unfortunately, memory relies on the economy and politics. People see memory as something individual, but when it comes to culture and identity, there is an emphasis on the collective memory of groups. Marginalized groups struggle with keeping collective memory, and they rely on money. This year the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage received a gift of 1,700 objects from Wells Fargo after they shut down another museum (Small 2022).  Wells Fargo closed down the museum due to the coronavirus pandemic (Small 2022). The massive donation of artifacts allowed the center Alaska Native Heritage Center to expand its programming and work with the community (Small 2022).      Before we dive deeper into the story, I will introduce a concept from Robin Autry that will help us understand how the political economy shapes memory. In her article “The Political Economy of Memory'', Autry highlights how money determines the outcome of museums and memory. Alth...

     We rarely think about how a changed diet can be considered violent, or even trauma. But that is what happened to Mexico with the NAFTA trade agreement that went into effect in 1994 (Jenkins 2018). The Nafta trade agreement was beneficial to consumers in the United States and Canada as it allowed them to buy produce that would only be able in the warmer fields of Mexico (Jenkins 2018). However, the improved access to produce and the new trade relations made it so that the three countries involved (United States, Canada, and Mexico) became codependent on each other (Jenkins 2018).       The Nafta trade agreement dramatically changed the society of Mexico. One of the primary effects is that it forced rural farmers to leave their agriculture and farms due to the introduction of subsidized corn, soy, and meat products (Jenkins 2018). About 2 million Mexican farmers had to relocate since cheap products overtook the market (Jenkins 2018). This not only a...

     How individuals deal with cultural trauma can be seen through the media, and that is the case with Japanese people and the anime Attack on Titan. The manga series Attack on Titan was created and illustrated by Hajime Isayama ("Attack on Titan" 2022). The anime adaptation follows the manga closely, and that is what will be referenced throughout the rest of the post.       The anime is set in a world where humanity is forced to live in cities enclosed by three giant walls ("Attack on Titan" 2022). The walls protect humans from giant titans that eat them ("Attack on Titan" 2022). The main protagonist Eren vows to kill all titans after his mother was eaten by one of them ("Attack on Titan" 2022). The reasons why the titans exist, or why humanity lives enclosed in walls remains unknown to all ("Attack on Titan" 2022).      Later seasons of Attack on Titan revealed everything, and that is where the WW2 imagery and symbolism are seen in t...

  Reflecting on my previous three blog posts, I found it valuable to examine the same event from three perspectives. Writing my first draft, I tried to cram all three posts into one and felt that I had to sacrifice clarity and relevant evidence as a result. In the process of combing through previous readings, in a similar way to the midterm, I found myself gaining a greater understanding of readings than I had on my first pass over. Obviously, I hope that I faithfully and accurately interpreted and applied the theories from class to this case. Even if my interpretations are incorrect, I think the process of revisiting the readings certainly improved and deepened them.  I think the Jan. 6th commemoration case was interesting to explore because of how observable and contested the narrative constructions are. Both sides’ narratives and motivations are clear and understandable. Additionally, I think the implications of narrative success for both Republicans and Democrats are i...

  Over three blog posts, I have considered how some of the concepts we discussed this semester help us understand the historical and current labor movements in the United States, and the commemoration that has been built around them. I explicitly connected the repression of education about the Battle at Blair Mountain to Eviatar Zerubavel’s piece “Social Memories: Steps towards a Sociology of the Past,” a modern recreation of the march on Blair Mountain to Christina Simko’s conception of “working through” and “acting out” traumatic events, and the modern surge of unionization attempts to Elizabeth A. Armstrong and Suzanna M. Crage’s notion of commemorability and mnemonic capacity in their article “Marking Time in Memorials and Museums of Terror: Temporality and Cultural Trauma” as the two factors that are necessary to successfully create a lasting commemorative vessel. Common themes that emerged throughout this series of posts include the ongoing struggle between the interests of t...

This course truly challenged me to understand Israel and its ongoing attempt to expel Palestinians from their homeland. As I discussed in my first blog post, I spent a good chunk of my childhood engaging in Jewish institutions like the JCC and my synagogue or celebrating Jewish holidays with family. Collectively, they heavily influenced my idea of what Israel is.  The non-religious sleep-away camp I went to for nine summers was not only disproportionately Jewish, but it hosted a sizable group of Israeli campers. While many of us continued to go to camp as counselors past our 18th birthdays, only a few of our friends from Israel ever came back to camp after joining the Israel Defense Forces. Maintaining connections made at camp during the school year proved hard enough, but staying in touch with Israelis was impossible. Occasionally I am reminded of their existence when one of them posts a picture to Instagram of themselves and their friends clad in army-issued camouflage. Donal...

In the words of Japanese politicians, the United States has a “history problem”. The contents of U.S. history courses do not accurately reflect the country’s actions as an imperialist power and its history of global violence. The fervent nationalism interwoven throughout the American population is built on a foundation of half truths and misconstrued representations of the country as the world’s sole beacon for freedom and liberty for all. While imposing a true reckoning of the nation’s past on itself may not be politically feasible under today’s institutions, Akiko Hashimoto’s findings in The Long Defeat suggest that teaching students about their country’s wrongdoings cannot solve a country’s issues on the geo-political level or domestically. She finds that Japanese children have an idea that something went terribly wrong in Japanese history, but lack a firm grasp on the true extent of Japan’s war crimes. Hashimoto explains Japan’s tense political climate surrounding history and how ...

The other day in class we all brought in a sample of our work to share with a few of our peers in exchange for feedback. I read my classmate Phoebe's research in which she compared the commemoration of the My Lai Massacre in her home country of Vietnam to its commemoration in the United States, the country that committed the mass killings. Phoebe did not learn about the Massacre in Vietnam. Instead, she learned about it in American media. In her early findings she found that the government had tried to create a Memory Museum for the victims. However, the museum received intense criticism as being geared towards American tourists, since few people in Vietnam actually talk (or even care according to Phoebe) about My Lai. The villagers who survived commemorate the Massacre by inviting family and friends over for dinner and spending quality time together. Phoebe’s work fascinated me, and so did the actions of the villagers. The study of collective memory extends beyond the individu...