Through the readings, listenings, and especially our class conversations, my understanding of the relatively niche topic that is Paris in the 1920’s and the themes present at the time grew from having almost no knowledge to a quite holistic comprehension. Through our assignments – most notably our papers – the themes of gender and sexuality, nationalism, class, and race in Paris became very familiar to me. However, the theme that seemed to be the most prevalent to me is the nationalistic aspect of French compositions at the time. In nearly every dialogue, the term nationalism was mentioned and discussed. In many readings, French identity was at the core of an argument. In all three of my papers, no matter whether I was discussing a composer, an institution, or a composition, the theme of pride in being French and making uniquely French music was abundant throughout. Things such as anti-Wagnerism and purity of sound were central to the motivation behind most people involved.
The readings and discussions we had for class often left me with a “there’s no right answer” feeling. But that’s a great feeling to have because being able to look at one situation from multiple angles and perspectives shows critical thinking skills, empathy, and open mindedness. One of the best resources I’ve had this semester has been my classmates. In order to get a different perspective on any topic we discussed in class, I relied on them. Through in-class discussion my understanding of the themes and my ability to take different perspectives into account grew considerably. All the other class resources such as readings, listenings, gave me a foundation of understanding, but only by talking with classmates was I able to build a fuller interpretation of the material presented.
Sometimes it can be difficult to see the progress day to day, but by taking a look back at the beginning of the semester and comparing the knowledge I had then to the knowledge I have now I can see how much growth the entire class has learned and gone through.