Is Kenyon College Conspiring Against You?! Survey Says:...No. Not Intentionally At Least

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      To begin, this last week's readings, we read a mix of Sociologists who came to the general consensus that neither a traditionalist nor presentist approach to memory is effective when answering the questions, "How does this help us as a whole?" or "How can we use the knowledge and experiences of the past to aid us in our current state?" One particular opinion that stood out to me was Barry Schwartz's "mirror-lamp" approach, which details that memory serves as both an illumination and reflection of a society's past. Schwartz's line of thinking states that memory serves as a tool for collective members to gaze upon their community and see what goals, movements, or beliefs they had once taken on. In a sense, this "mirror" serves the same purpose a "looking glass" (as Charles Hooley describes) does, allowing for self-awareness, critique, and analysis. Further, this same lens into the past allows for the "light" or structure of current society, allowing change to happen and shared beliefs to strengthen and develop. This fuels societal change through collective efforts as individuals reflect and then come together. 

    Further, Schwartz makes it a point to directly mention Eric Hobswams argument, which argues that "...invented tradition is taken to mean a set of practices normally governed by overtly or tacitly accepted rules and of a ritual or symbolic nature that seek to inculcate specific values of norms of behavior by repetition, which automatically implies continuity with the past." Schwartz calls this reasoning particularly damaging to collective memory's strengths as an outlet for change. Establishing a line of reasoning that declares tradition is controlled by those in power higher than a particular member also gives it a new dimension of conspiracy (maybe even almost nefarious) activity intentionally meant to prevent and suppress.

    These reflections were remembered as our class excursion down to L1 led my group to view folders and archival boxes that sparked an interesting conversation on intersection, exclusion, and the like. I was personally tasked with viewing and curating the MESA (Middle Eastern Student Association) folder. As I flipped through the folder, the objects that stood out the most were two copies of MESA's own journals, bright and with an assortment of different shades of blue; Volume II, Number I for the Fall 2010 edition featured an array of opinions pieces, poetry and general articles relating to Middle Eastern students' experiences. The most interesting piece inside the journal itself was a student poem (whose name I, unfortunately, do not remember) that detailed the struggles of identifying as Middle Eastern, seeing as cultural, geographical, and historical contexts make the ability to have one concrete, accurate label impossible.

    Within the context of this last week's readings, the poem in the MESA journal started to take on a new meaning. Presumably, as most student organizations do, MESA (and subsequently, their journal) was started to highlight and project Middle Eastern Students' voices and establish them as equally valid among other Kenyon College students. From Hobswams' perspective, there is further nuance within this organization. The collective can gain insight into their struggles and triumphs by reflecting on their experiences as Middle Eastern students and recording these musings. Past experiences serve as a guideline for members of this student organization to highlight, either as moments of joy and unification that they wish to continue or as areas for change and collective improvement. In this same act of internal contemplation, outsiders such as myself are allowed to see a new dimension of a culture different from mine that aids in further change or support for their causes. All this while acknowledging that, although unintentional, previous sufferings were a product of shortcomings in our own society, which we must take just as seriously when looking for improvement.


REFERENCES

Schwartz, Barry. 2003. "Abraham Lincoln and the Forge of American Memory". Pp. 242-247 in The Collective Memory Reader. Edited by J. Olick, V. Vinitzky-Seroussi, and D. Levy. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hobsbawm, Eric. 1978. "Introduction: Inventing Traditions." Pp. 271-274 in The Collective Memory Reader. Edited by J. Olick, V. Vinitzky-Seroussi, and D. Levy. New York: Oxford University Press.

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