Discover Top Posts Tagged with #topic 7

Theme: Trauma

In multicultural literature, the Holocaust period and survivors would likely be one of the first places someone would look if searching for themes of trauma, the behavior, and the physical and emotional effects that come from it. In this week’s readings we a few different perspectives on what it was like to be a victim of the Holocaust ideology and concentration camps. The protagonists in these stories speak of sadness and rage that helps us understand their feelings of hopelessness during that time.

For writers:

If your characters must undergo trauma and suffering during your story, consider what effect will come of it for them. Two people might react to the same adverse event in different ways. For example, the speaker in “This Way to the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen” holds different feelings about the victims of the gas chambers than his friend, Henri, though they seem to have the same lived experience in the camps.

For teachers:

Many secondary students are familiar with the effects of trauma (whether it be purposeful or accidental) because of how many comic book characters were created. Generally, the formula for a character with powers goes: trauma plus magic or a chemical reaction equals a person magical or supernatural powers. Students might relate the theme of trauma shaping someone’s worldview, particularly as linked to the Holocaust, to the X-Men character Magneto. He appears to be an extremely powerful villain because of his abilities, his actions that result in the death of others, and his stance on mutants not coexisting with humans because he believes they are superior, but he was written as a Holocaust survivor who has experienced the extreme effects of prejudice and the trauma that comes with it, and he does not want mutants to suffer the same effects since they are already feared by humans. Students can explore Magneto’s motivations, as well as those of his super-powered/mutant children, to see how the effects of trauma lead them to do both good and bad things with their powers.

#topic 7 #multicultural literature

Bibliography

Benjamin, W. and Eiland, H., 2003. The Arcades Project. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Pr. of Harvard Univ. Pr.

Bourdieu, P., 1970. The Berper house or the world reversed. Social Science Information, 9(2), pp.151-170.

Buchli, V., 2002. Architecture and the domestic sphere. In: V. Buchli, ed., The Material Culture Reader. Oxford: Berg, pp.207-213.

Garvey, P., 2001. Organized Disorder: Moving Furniture in Norwegian Homes. In: D. Miller, ed., Home possessions: material culture behind closed doors. Oxford: Berg, pp.47-68.

All photos, videos and maps are my own.

#topic 7 #built environment #the home #bibliography

Reflection and theory

Garvey (2001) describes the importance of reorganisation in the creation of the home and as a way to crystallise the relationships present in the domestic sphere. In the case of the living room I studied the large objects rarely moved but each resident brought many items into and out of the room. Each member of the household exerts their identity onto the room through the items they place within in it. Garvey also focuses on routine as purposeful and as a representation of identity. This family uses the living room as the space in which to carry out many routines one of which is eating meals. By breaking the common etiquette and rules surrounding eating at a table in a formal way this family shows their rejection of formal living.

Bourdieu explores habitus, the ways in which our social practices are constrained and influenced (Barnard and Spencer, 2002), in the context of architecture. He explores the space through oppositions of light and dark, male and female, inside and outside (Bourdieu, 1970). My living room holds only female permanent residents. As I have already mentioned many routines of the living room are rejections of common practice; in this way the living room is organised to create its own habitus separate from society. The space is organised to encourage you to face the others in the room, the mess helps to reduce visitors anxiety about their belongings and both the residents and the blankets encourage you to relax.

One thing that must be considered about the family home I visited is that it has a stability that is not reflected in some of the temporary student homes that were discussed in my tutorial. Buchli mentions the effect of capitalism on our ability to dwell in places. This contrasts with the soviet ideal of the home reorganised to remove class and gender discrimination (2002). Increasingly the places we live in are not homes but instead simply a place to stay. Students in particular rarely have the time or ability to enact Garvey’s routines and create substantial identities in our houses (2001).

#topic 7 #the home #built environment #theory

Furniture and decorations

Inventory

This is not an exhaustive inventory of all the items in the room because every surface, shelf and drawer was completely filled with stuff. I have tried to give an idea of the room by categorising the standout objects by the person they belong to. This room is used as a communal space and most objects are everyone's. The living room is a space that is open to everyone. The items listed under no ones are those that belong to visitors. The living room is a shared space that is welcome to anyone. The ideal is that the room will feel like a home to anyone who visits.

Nearly every part of the walls are covered with photos, drawings, shelves or plants. These objects appear to be arranged by accumulation, with items grouped due to similarity. Objects are sometimes chosen for display due to their significance to one of the residents (plants, pictures, souvenirs from places the mother has lived). Other objects were simply their to be stored or had some forgotten shared significance like wooden animals that had fallen over and only found when I asked.

This room is in constant use. It is a place of rest, play, eating and interacting. The oldest daughter is in the room all the time when she is not at school, with the mum and younger daughter joining her in the evenings. The room is filled with pillows and blankets as well as snacks and plates that held meals. Benjamin describes dwelling as a “shell [which] bears the impression of its occupant” (Benjamin, 1999:pp 220) I feel that this is the best way to understand this living room. This room has not been designed for a viewer but a user, it is not neat and tidy but meets the needs of the family that live there.

The main lights in the room are rarely used instead side lights create a softer and more intimate light. As a space this room is at the front of the house off of a short corridor. High ceilings provide more shelving space and thus more areas to display items. What was noticeable for me about the walls was how hidden they were. The only space on the wall was the subject of discussion and speculation over what decoration to put there with different members of the family suggesting their ideas.

Different parts of the room are cleaned with different frequencies; the floor and tables are cleaned everyday but behind the sofa is only cleaned twice a year. While this room was originally the bedroom of the two daughters, before the extension was built creating extra space, it has apparently been in its current state for about 7 years. I was told that the room is not rearranged because this is the only way to fit the large sofa in. While the general organisation of the room is constant the items in it change. Plates and bowls are used and removed, snacks and drinks are eaten and just before I had arrived the room had been filled with mattresses for a sleepover.

#topic 7 #the home #inventory #built environment #photos

Floor Plan

PDF: https://liveuclac-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/zcsadwa_ucl_ac_uk/ERXtqFdaaqlIj4u-Y4xDGMEBzUKsE0wfkHPQAtdsLJ6AuQ?e=CElBiN

#the home #built environment #topic 7 #maps

The home

In order to explore the concepts of the home and the built environment I visited the house I will be living in next year and interviewed the people that live their as well as observing the use of the space.

The house I visited is in Finchley and was built in the early 1900′s. It is currently occupied by a family consisting of a mum and two daughters. They live on the ground floor of the building with the upstairs occupied by other people. While the family comprise the permanent residence there are often also visitors who may stay for several nights (friends and partners).

I visited on a Saturday around midday and hung out with the mother, older daughter and her partner in the living room for two hours.

The mother is in her 50s and works part time doing home improvement and the two daughters are 17 and 19 and both in their last year of college. The older daughter also volunteers at a vet clinic. They have lived in this house since the daughters were very young.

#introduction #topic 7 #built environment #the home

Social Lives Online: Are We More Alone Or More Connected?

We live in a world where everybody you know is connected in one way or another. We have the comfort of knowing that social media lets us communicate with people on the other side of the globe, build support groups, and give voices to those who have none. However, social media is often cited as the reason why we feel more alone. In his article “Social Networking Is Making Us Less Social”, author Atanu Roy explains that “we are forgetting the value of face-to-face interactions to create more important and sustainable relationships. If we continue to be constantly plugged into the virtual world, then we will miss out all the wonderful things happening right before our eyes.” https://www.todayonline.com/voices/social-networking-making-us-less-social

Once there was a time, long, long ago...called the 70′s. According to my mother, this was a time where social interactions for kids were calling people on the phone, meeting up, hanging out, talking and comparing roller skates. People understood the need for good conversation skills, eye contact, turn-taking and negotiations. People had REAL social interactions. Sure they experienced periods of time “alone” but with that time they could read, draw, listen to music and just do whatever. These same activities are deemed as “mindfulness exercises” and need to be carefully planned for and scheduled. What was once a way to pass the time is now promoted as “self care” in an age where our minds are constantly going because they are connected to some device or another.

Fast forward to 2020. People are never alone “online”. With a swipe or a tap they can immediately contact people for a chat. The depth and social benefit of that chat is questionable at best. Most of these communications are superficial, quick and easy. They require minimal effort and not a lot of time. Take those communications off line and watch to see how people fare. Social skills are weak, eye contact is poor, and true interactions are rare. And don’t even mention their lack of attention span. Everyone is more comfortable being alone in a physical sense but connected in a digital bubble.

So if it’s easy to always be connected, why do people feel alone?

According to Marshall McLuhan, all media constructs reality. You may chat online with your friend, but the words you exchange are often less meaningful and more difficult to interpret true meaning in comparison to face to face, spoken word interactions. In a tragic case of irony, that excessive use of a platform designed for social interaction is causing some people to feel more isolated than ever. There are many reasons for this.The online presence of others and the belief that people gain more social interaction by chatting to each other through social media is what reinforces people to spend more time interacting online than in the real world. As a result, it becomes impossible to connect on deeper levels with the people we talk to, which in turn leads to some of us not feeling seen or heard.

Using social media is actually the opposite of a cure for loneliness. However, most people cannot grasp this unless they make the choice to unplug and understand what they truly enjoy, which takes time and effort.

I don’t have any social media accounts, aside from the one I’m currently using for school. (I created this blog two years ago for another media project, and afterwards I almost never posted anything on it.) I have 11 followers, none of whom I know or care about. People think I’m alone because I’m not connected in the hypersensitive world of social media. I don’t want to gain a false sense of joy when my fourth grade teacher likes my photo of fireworks. I prefer talking to my friends face-to-face instead of showing a photo that waters down what happened. I won’t lie—my lack of accounts is somewhat hindering the interactions I have. At lunch, when my friends are bored, they’ll “talk” to each other on social media. Their fingers will speak for them, and they’ll fully engage in a conversation about memes or a photo they took of themselves . This is treated like a conversation because they feel as if they have just connected. I feel a twinge of loneliness inside.

So, am I left with no other choice then to join the masses on social media in order to feel connected? Or will taking this step result in me feeling like I’m now part of this new, exclusive network where the quality of the connections is measured in likes, comments and shared messages rather than the face to face interactions I value most?

#media log 1 #social lives online #topic 7 #media log assignment

The relationship between economic and social rights, and civil and political rights

‘The two sets of rights are ‘universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated’; they ‘can neither logically nor practically be separated in watertight compartments’ (Alston and Goodman, ‘Economic and Social Rights’).

#Topic 7