Before the start of this semester, I had already taken several literature classes. Each professor expects something different of their students. Many professors focus on the surface details of a text – the who, what, when, where and how’s. This is the lackluster material that one can gather from merely glancing at a text including the plot, the setting, the characters, and the climax. Not very interesting, much less thought-provoking. It is information that is easily and plainly accessible upon reading any text. However, the real fun in literature is being able to read a novel and make it your own by interpreting it as you wish. It is in this way that I have grown much more comfortable with deconstructing literature and developing my thoughts more fully.
Only six weeks into the semester, I have already seen a change in the development of my ideas. In one of my first blogs of the semester titled “Haroun and the Sea of Stories – Rushdie” I teetered on the edge of the Text-Other Texts category. I wrote first about my opinion of Haroun’s character from a very static perspective without delving too much into his significance. I also wrote of Rushdie’s past growing up in post-colonial India and how his life experiences shaped the author he became. This would most likely be reminiscent of the Text-Other Texts category, in that I utilized to information at hand to provide a kind of explanation for why this specific novel was written and what it may symbolize. Later in the blog, I wrote briefly about the political situation in post-colonial India and made the assumption that Haroun is symbolic of Rushdie as a boy and that Haroun’s experiences paralleled Rushdie’s. At the time this blog was written, I believe I was at the Text-Other Texts stage of reading development, yet moving towards the Text-World stage. Overall, the blog was not as insightful or impressive as it could or should have been.
In my post about Murakami’s work titled “A Wild Sheep Chase (part deux)” I wrote of Boku’s nature and his representation today as a kind of “generational touchstone.” I related Boku’s attitude and air to be a direct replica of the young, ineffective generation that plagues our society. With this blog, I confirm that I am to make the connection between a fictional work of literature to a real, tangible issue that is crucial in today’s society. This shows that I have begun the transformation in taking a piece of fictional literature and making a connection to its relevance in the real world. I feel that this blog, is again, an illustration of the Text-Other Texts category of reading development.
The following week I posted a blog titled, “Orientalism – Said” in which I wrote about the idea of Orientalism as it appears in other aspects of our culture and literature. I specifically expanded on Coleridge’s poem Kubla Khan including a passage as explicit evidence of Orientalism. I deconstructed the stanza of Coleridge’s poem in order to prove why it demonstrates the theory of Orientalism. After discussing the negative impact of Orientalism, I talked about the “political biases and [the] horrifying opinion many Americans harbor that the East is subordinate to the West.” In doing so, I demonstrate the ability to relate a literary term (Orientalism) to the issue of politics. I explicate the effect of colonialism and Orientalism on our foreign policy tactics in the current world of politics. This blog characterizes a transition for me in which I develop my ideas more fully and move in limbo between the Text-Other Texts and Text-World category of reading comprehension and development.
My most recent blog, titled “Roy – The God of Small Things” furthers my conversion into a more sophisticated reader. I related the text to a more political standpoint facing the areas of the world. I wrote about the destruction of a culture, specifically due to the spread of the English language. By teaching English in newly westernized Eastern European nations, I would be contributing to the destructive forces of homogeny in language. It is scary to think that I may directly contribute to this. In this blog entry, I prove my ability to make the connection from words on a page, to find the deeper meaning in how it affects my personal real life experiences. I feel like this blog, above all others, illustrates a beginning to my transformation in becoming Text-World interpreter of texts.
I find that my transformation into become more comfortable with the Text-World stage of reading development has been unconscious. Therefore, it is difficult to pinpoint just how to go about furthering my intellectual pursuits. The main thing I find to be helpful is actually having a blog in general. By writing my thoughts down, they become more concrete and less abstract. I can return to the blog for future reference in developing ideas. When I first began this paper, I didn’t feel I had progressed very much. Yet, after reviewing my blogs, the transformation is ever apparent. I can see a marked difference in the maturity of my ideas.
Since having a written blog of my thoughts is quite helpful, I plan to make a conscious effort in keeping a sort of journal for my own sake about everyday occurrences, news articles, pop-culture references, etc., that pertain to novels I read in this particular class and others. I find that keeping a journal filled with newspaper clippings or significant lines from a poem or book that I read would encourage me to make the connection between classroom activities to the world around me. I often discover myself reading a newspaper article and thinking of a certain work of literature I have read before. In this way, the Text-World category flip-flops creating an entirely new category: World-Text! For example, I recently read an article in The Shepherd Express regarding the upcoming election and the opposing parties varying views on foreign policy. The article talked extensively about the United States Army implementing a better school system for the Iraqi’s. I immediately thought of Roy’s novel The God of Small Things and the influence of the British in colonizing India. It is essentially colonization that is occurring now in Iraq. It is interesting that no longer do I only relate fiction to real life, but real life to fiction.
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