10-9-2008 Killer Bunny Reflection Paper

Jeremy J. Armstrong
Dr. Paul Gleason
EN 303—Studies in Non-Western Literature
http://jj-killerbunnyblog.blogspot.com/
9 October 2008

Killer Bunny Reflections

I start all text reading experiences on the text-self level of reading development. Though I am an English major, have read extensively and been exposed to many theories of critical analysis, meaning starts to form in my first reactions to text—not in the connections and analysis which eventually result from those reactions though they may hold more academic significance. This has been true this semester and throughout most of my academic experiences. If I like what I am reading or the professor teaching, I tend to try harder in class and reading to move beyond the surface to the next level of understanding and analysis. If I do not like text, I just go through the motions to satisfy my responsibilities as a student and hope for something better in the next exchange.

An example of this text-self reading came from my blog entry of 29 September 2008: “Watching this movie as a kid, I remember just being transported by the action.” This was a reaction I had recorded after watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I clearly remember watching this as a kid and just being mesmerized by the fast-paced action, rich scenery and exotic places. I never stopped to reflect on how demeaning those depictions were to the native people or how paternalistic the need for a great white savior could be. I moved through the stages of reading development as I watched the movie this semester—switching from purely entertainment to a more critical look at what was behind the story and imagery. This happens with most text that I encounter in school versus what I choose to read and watch and listen to for enjoyment. If a piece of work elicited some kind of emotional response then I will look at it more critically. This has held true in classroom discussions as well as in the reading I do for enjoyment.

As a text progresses, I begin to notice its connection to other texts through the references and images presented. In Senior Seminar, we read a novel by Marisha Pessl called Special Topics in Calamity Physics which had a “Required Reading/Core Curriculum” prerequisite. Each chapter alluded to some great work in Western literature, so the intertextuality of the novel was integral to the very structure of her novel. This novel highlights how literary theory and innovation require the inclusion of other texts. On 10 September 2008 I wrote about how the Beatles’s “White Album” helped inform Marukami’s development as a writer and how that directly influenced his narrator, Boku. The overlaps of pop culture are direct in this instance. I think I often just assume the influence of pop culture in recent novels and often forget those same forces were at work in literature before the intervention of instant information. This class has helped me focus on how powerful world influences are in creating the meaning behind texts.

Oftentimes intertextuality and text-world connections are more subtle as in The God of Small Things when Velutha says, “That’s only in English! … In Malayam my teacher always said that ‘Smiling means it wasn’t me’” (169). This is an example where intertextuality makes an open invitation to reflect on how works of art depict or comment on our world. Good writing naturally leads the reader to apply the created world of the novel to the world the reader inhabits. In my blog on 6 October 2008, I wrote about how the power of language often differs from the language of power when dealing with oppressed people. By using the dominant language, an author can effect change from within the existing structures of power. Roy uses Chacko’s Oxford education to illustrate how the oppressed can get the language of power without understanding the power of language by characterizing him as an overweight, incompetent businessman. Velutha, on the other hand, is ignored as an Untouchable, though he understands the power of language and actively works towards political power through his involvement with the Marxist marches.

This semester has forced me to focus more on the text-world application of reading. While I understood how most writing had political implications, this is the first time where I have spent a considerable amount of time studying how deeply involved in politics most writing is. This is most obvious in Roy where she is writing of colonization (in English) and how most of the characters are Anglophiles. The culture and circumstances of society influence all writing, but in the texts we have studied there is an awareness of the political power denied to those who are colonized. I am starting to incorporate that question of who holds the power into more of the reading I am doing this semester in all of my classes.

As I reflect on the characters we have met in the novels thus far, I address them as if they were real people. I look to see how Haroun and Indiana Jones and Boku represent a part of myself as well as those I meet in my daily life. I know this starts in how I react to them on a gut level. I also try to extend this reaction to how it works with other texts and what implications it has for my world and my role in it. I do not believe reading is a static process of moving from my reaction to relationships with other texts to social discourses. It flows back and forth depending on my reading, other texts involvement and world influence.

As a reader, I constantly flow between these various levels of reading. I have made a constant effort to question who holds the power in the dynamics of the stories we have read to incorporate the text-world level as a relevant way of reading text. I also look for allusions to other texts as a way to gauge what is influencing the author. In the end, I still believe I create the meaning of the print as a reader and that my reaction will inform my lasting opinion of the text.