In my opinion, the most valuable discussion we had this week was when we talked about Mr. Kurtz's death and part three of Heart of Darkness. The discussion about morality really struck me, especially when we talked about efficiency versus morality. In addition, it was really interesting when we talked about Marlow's thoughts about Kurtz's death. On page 70, there was so much irony, because of the way Mr. Kurtz did business immorally, and the treatment of the Africans. Yet, Marlow said that Kurtz had a moral victory. There was even more skepticism because people live morally to gain knowledge while Kurtz found knowledge even though he had extremely immoral actions. This also illustrates the modern ideas in the book, because verbal irony is the language of the modern world as we discussed.
This really made me think deeper in terms of what thoughts Marlow has, and how they can be interpreted to find deeper meaning. Why would he say that Kurtz had a moral victory? What does this say about society? I felt that this discussion really hit the nail on the head because I really understood Marlow's feelings about Kurtz. In addition, after this, in social studies we watched a movie clip from about 1939. It showed Henry Stanley and Livingston in Congo, and how though Livingston was kind to the natives, he treated them like children. On the other hand, Stanley hit the natives and was unbelievably rude and towards them. These discussions really made me think about the difference of morality and immorality, how society interprets them, and what can be gained by living a moral life. Heart of Darkness really illustrates the brutality caused by immorality. It reinforces the importance of morality by seeing the terrible things that happen if people aren't moral.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Connection: Post-Modernism and The Olympic Opening Ceremonies
Though one may not see it right away, there is definitely a connection between post-modernism and the opening ceremony of the Olympics. First of all, there is definitely a coexistence between voices, or what you might call pastiche. Between all of the nations coming out with their athletes and references to past athletes while lighting the cauldron, there is layering in time and space. This relationship matters because the past in the Olympics informs the future. By allowing the layers to overlap and nations to coexist, not only is there great entertainment, but there can be peace and coming together. Also, they time matters in terms of records in the Olympics and legends as well.
Another connection between post-modernism and the Olympic opening ceremonies is the post-modern idea that language is bureaucratic. Several times I'd hear English and French translations. This shows the structure in Canada with languages and how it organizes the people within geographic locations. The fact that they spoke in both languages, shows the efficiency, and they fact that this post-modern view is understood. This is important because they can inform each other. Had this view not existed, then there would be thousands of people speaking different French who wouldn't understand what went on (granted there were people from across the world without translation in their favor). This directly relates to multiple worlds and multiple points of view. People from across the world, from different cultures, different backgrounds all came together for the Olympics. This brings a lot to the table. One can see this as a case of strong nationalism and competition pushing the games forward, or one can see it as the coming together and people with different views putting them aside and coming together. Post modernism informs the ceremony by allowing people to see the coming together of people across the world. It's important for the IOC to recognize this because they can create better relations between people with different views and backgrounds through a common ground, sports.
Finally, the opening ceremony and post-modernism inform each other with a culture of images. With the dancing and fiddle playing, along with the Native American dances and polar bears, we were able to see Canadian culture through images. Spanning throughout different areas of the nation, we saw and learned a little about their culture through the visual representations. With the imagery and projections, there were many stories that were told. The clothes worn by people even told stories about their culture. The fact that the torch was carried and traveled in over 100 ways and by a variety of people, the connection between post-modernism and the ceremonies can be seen through the cultural imagery. There's so much out there that we can only learn about, and by the connection of ideas influenced by post-modernism and the Olympics, we can see how cultures and people in our modern world live and react. It's important to see how these ideas are played out so we can learn a bit about our society and how it's evolved over the Olympics.
Another connection between post-modernism and the Olympic opening ceremonies is the post-modern idea that language is bureaucratic. Several times I'd hear English and French translations. This shows the structure in Canada with languages and how it organizes the people within geographic locations. The fact that they spoke in both languages, shows the efficiency, and they fact that this post-modern view is understood. This is important because they can inform each other. Had this view not existed, then there would be thousands of people speaking different French who wouldn't understand what went on (granted there were people from across the world without translation in their favor). This directly relates to multiple worlds and multiple points of view. People from across the world, from different cultures, different backgrounds all came together for the Olympics. This brings a lot to the table. One can see this as a case of strong nationalism and competition pushing the games forward, or one can see it as the coming together and people with different views putting them aside and coming together. Post modernism informs the ceremony by allowing people to see the coming together of people across the world. It's important for the IOC to recognize this because they can create better relations between people with different views and backgrounds through a common ground, sports.
Finally, the opening ceremony and post-modernism inform each other with a culture of images. With the dancing and fiddle playing, along with the Native American dances and polar bears, we were able to see Canadian culture through images. Spanning throughout different areas of the nation, we saw and learned a little about their culture through the visual representations. With the imagery and projections, there were many stories that were told. The clothes worn by people even told stories about their culture. The fact that the torch was carried and traveled in over 100 ways and by a variety of people, the connection between post-modernism and the ceremonies can be seen through the cultural imagery. There's so much out there that we can only learn about, and by the connection of ideas influenced by post-modernism and the Olympics, we can see how cultures and people in our modern world live and react. It's important to see how these ideas are played out so we can learn a bit about our society and how it's evolved over the Olympics.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
