{"id":1970,"date":"2019-02-19T13:17:15","date_gmt":"2019-02-19T19:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/?p=1970"},"modified":"2019-04-02T21:31:57","modified_gmt":"2019-04-03T02:31:57","slug":"a-city-of-memory-and-forgetting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/2019\/02\/19\/a-city-of-memory-and-forgetting\/","title":{"rendered":"A City of Memory and Forgetting"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHU T’ien-hsin, “The Old Capital”<\/span><\/p>\n

From our teenage years, we get exposure to a variety of music, and now more than ever do we have access to sounds which transcend our starting culture. Likewise in “The Old Capital”, our protagonist at seventeen, it was common of her (a Taiwanese) and her friends to have the British boy band, the Beatles playing in the background as they socialized. As well in the teenage years, there is a bond between those loved ones you hold dear. This bond was tied so strong for Chu Tien-hsin, that she is could sacrifice herself that dear one. However, this feeling becomes but a memory as an adult. And in the reality of an adult, a new sacrificial ritual takes place, on the basis of politics. Its sacrifice is of the individual self for the party affiliation. Much like how \u65bd\u8001\u5e08 took upon a <\/span>colored<\/span><\/i> identity, to support other minority identities on campus.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this theme of temporal change, Chu also contrasts the tradition and the new, by highlighting her memories of the rainforests, to a now more commercialized and automated nation. Clearly, there is a conflict of the tradition versus the modern, these memories recollected are the agents by which we see such conflict that affects Chu, and 20 years from now, us too.<\/span><\/p>\n

The types of flowers obtained are symbols that communicate more than aesthetic preference, rather they are agents to express historical and cultural background and experiences. In the context of use, chrysanthemums and osmanthus are found in the homes of those where the father has returned from a province in China, back to Taiwan. Whilst wisterias and arhat pines, contextualize Japanese rule and colonization, this would be commonly found in the houses of those with Japanese descendants. Hibiscuses and tree orchids, express your father has his roots in Taiwan. But the Eucalyptuses and breadfruit trees retell the experiences of Taiwanese men used as Japanese soldiers against Australia. <\/span><\/p>\n

We explored the singular nature of fathers in this role in class, and we discovered that by the Mainland government dividing the father from his family, it was a way to control the movement and return of the soldiers. Memories and histories have been kept and retold by giving out these flowers. Chu T’ien-hsin<\/span>\u00a0is half and half, so she is in conflict to which political side to support. However, there is pressure for her to join a side or leave, but is she able to go back? We discover that she can\u2019t as the Mainland is also taken over by the ruling party. The only place she is able to live neutrally is in these memories of love in her seventeenth year.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bookstore of My Dreams<\/span><\/p>\n

Using a series of juxtapositions, Luo Zhicheng creates a jungle that is yet a bookstore. This is powerful imagery because we are faced with conflicting connotations in our normative setting. Bookstores or libraries are places that have been meticulously arranged, with books on shelves being arranged to the letter. Whilst a jungle has escaped the conscientious and hardworking librarian. Normally depicting places without order. However, as we discovered in class these two terms <\/span>jungle<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>bookstore<\/span><\/i> are inextricable. A bookstore is amassed of a variety of knowledge and disciplines. And in the same vein jungles are largely overlooked, or put under the blanket of nature. We do not pay specific attention to the components of a jungle. Just as well, this jungle bookstore goes overlooked. The information within the bookstore has not yet been digitized, a sense of its information being antediluvian or archaic, but just like knowledge, the information in the bookstore would still be very relevant. We used the legend of Koxinga, who bravely led the resistance of the Dutch empire in the 17th century. This past memory of Koxinga is still used till this day as a metaphor for strength. We find that the author is a collector of memories, whereby the collections that are amassed is so great that \u201cthird-generation-shopkeepers\u201d don\u2019t know it\u2019s true \u201cdimensions\u201d. He objects the memories to a bookstore to express to us, there is something valuable to be learned from the past. In class, we explored yet another juxtaposition in the context of the jungle being \u201coverlooked\u201d and yet characterized as containing \u201cenergy\u201d with \u201cunimaginable possibilities\u201d, as students we can draw inspiration, believing this is us the <\/span>youth <\/span><\/i>that has not been recognized, but with time \u201cwe will become superstars\u201d (in \u65bd\u8001\u5e08 words). <\/span><\/p>\n

The Hidden Queen <\/span><\/p>\n

Following the topic theme of memory and forgetting, we are cast upon the memories of a Queen and the tales of her city which is not visible and appears to be lost to her as well. The narrator of the poem shifts focus from statues to lost umbrellas, insinuating that the Queen\u2019s kingdom is in disarray. On the point of \u201cfugitive statues\u201d, it appears that her kingdom has been taken away from her with its conquerors idolized in statues, and that is why it is now an invisible city, to her and to us. As exceptionally noted by Siya in class, we can understand the <\/span>dotted lines<\/span><\/i> as an attempt by the Queen, towards a connection to find the hidden place. Maybe as a place of refuge from the conquerors. There is a portion of this which seems to overlap with The Old Capital and The Bookstore of My Dreams. Fate and history have provided a guided itinerary, to which the next steps we should take in moments of crisis and perplexion. Here the story of Koxinga will come in handy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Caroline Herbert, Post Colonial Cities<\/span><\/p>\n

One way to resist the influence of those in power is to spread contrasting ideas or beliefs. \u00a0To demonstrate this idea, \u65bd\u8001\u5e08 drew a picture of great-tall building in a theoretical city, telling us that on the highest floor lives a person of great authority. This individual, in order to gain more control, collects land and resources. Often, these figures forget to consider the needs and livelihood of those within their control. Through the collection of a population\u2019s stories and experiences, writers are able to create a voice for those that are not otherwise heard. It\u2019s important to understand the concepts that go along with Postcolonialism. After living in a location for a long period of time, one\u2019s sense of belonging to that place is tremendous. When a new government takes control, one’s sense of identity and citizenship change. Policies and laws may be changed, which can impact the population significantly. As we discussed in class, postcolonial colonies are well represented by what\u2019s called a palimset. A palimset is a small manuscript or piece of writing material where the original writing can be removed to make room for new writing. However, traces of the original writing always remain. Similarly, a postcolonial society will always contain aspects of the former.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHU T’ien-hsin, “The Old Capital” From our teenage years, we get exposure to a variety of music, and now more than ever do we have access to sounds which transcend our starting culture. Likewise in “The Old Capital”, our protagonist at seventeen, it was common of her (a Taiwanese) and her friends to have the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2957,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pair-scribes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2957"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1970"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2281,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1970\/revisions\/2281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/mtoc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}