I found these microlectures very insightful and interesting. They introduced me to a lot of material that I'm largely unfamiliar with given my cultural background. I feel that it helps me understand There There better by providing me with some context of the characters' cultural backgrounds. In general, the microlectures have also helps me understand the histories of Native American peoples. As I watched the first microlecture, I thought about our trip to the Archives and Special Collections in the library. I recall the librarian, Ms. Baughman-McDowell, introducing us to the many physical mediums used by people from all geographic areas of the world. It was interesting to see the physical mediums that Native Americans used in the microlectures. I was particularly interested to see the Pawnee star map and the Buffalo robe. I was surprised to see that there were colors used other than black in the pictographs illustrated on the Buffalo robe. It was very aesthetically pleasing to me to see the history of tribal events drawn out and put in order. The order couldn't be perfectly linear because there wasn't enough room on the Buffalo robe, so the order started in the middle and went in circles until the chain of tribal events reached the outer parts of the robe. I'm impressed that historians were able to figure out that the pictographs on the Buffalo robe were showing a story. To the naked eye, the circular chain of pictographs just seems like an aesthetically pleasing design, not an intentional way of illustrating tribal events.
I am a Catholic, but I haven't gone to Church in many years. I wouldn't be able to tell you about anyone in the Bible! However, after some research, I notice many similarities between Isak in Pachinko and Isaac in the Bible. I chose to examine Isak's similarities to Isaac because I admire Isak for his refusal to conform to societal expectations. In the Old Testament of the Bible, Isaac is the only son of Abraham. Abraham nearly sacrificed his only son due to God's command. In Lee's Pachinko , Isak is not sacrificed against his will, but sacrifices himself for what he believes is right. He sacrifices his honor by marrying Sunja, a woman pregnant outside of wedlock. He also sacrifices himself for his religion when he chooses not to recant his Christian religion in favor of the dominant Shinto religion.
I am also fascinated by historians ability to establish a hypothesized context around historical items. You're right, to the average person the robe looks like an aesthetically pleasing design, but in reality it has so much more depth than that. It's impressive what historians are able to do.
ReplyDeleteHey James! I would agree with you that the microlectures have helped me understand the cultural context that I am unfamiliar with and gave me a better understanding of the novel. In the future I wonder if the Archives and Special Collections has some native american mediums. I would love to see medicine bundles or some other medium in person.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think of order of the pictographs at first. That's quite interesting how the organization of the pictographs is actually intentional. I probably wouldn't have noticed that myself! I hope we can see indigenous literature mediums in real life in the future!
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