Yanzhou Long

 Yanzhou Long

Weekly Discussion Questions 

After the in-class screening of last week, I was reminded of the Laval Decree in France, from 1934 to 1960, which banned any filming and photographing in French African colonies. I was thinking of the question of how to grasp the history when the ways of preserving the obtaining historical evidence are restricted and forbidden by the government. In Marita Sturken’s paper, she argues that “while the memories of survivors can become part of the texts of history, historical narratives can often reshape personal memories.” (688) That is, existing historical narratives and untold personal stories have mutual influence on each other in making history. As she also points out later in her paper, this kind of history/memory belongs to the realm of fluidity (702). From there, my question is if forbidden and forgotten history/memory is always under debate and dismissal and how do we reach consensus. 

 

Later in the essay, Martina Sturken points out that “The most powerful kinds of memorials demand forms of reenactment in the sense that they force viewers to participate rather than to find a comfortable distance.” (703) Sturken pivots from the ocular centric paradigm of remembering and instead urges people to remember with bodily and haptic experience by providing instances from other museums. I would like to discuss more on how to produce a historical account that reinscribes memory of the incarceration in this approach.