How Can We Remember – Lecture
February 1, 2010
Thursday, February 4th, 2010 – 6pm – 20 Cooper Square, 5th Floor, New York, NY
Recently Re-read: Country of My Skull
January 30, 2010
While I was preparing for my specialization exams last summer, I read a ton of books. For the two exams, I had about 100 books to read in a very short period of time. I got good at skimming the material and pulling out relevant quotes, but because of the pressure to read quickly, I lost out on some of the nuances and beauty of the texts. Luckily, I recently had the chance to re-read one of these books and found that without the looming exam, I was able to appreciate the text much more.
In Country of My Skull: Guilt, Sorrow and the Limits of Forgiveness in the New South Africa, journalist Antjie Krog tells the story of the South African truth commission. It is a highly personal reflection on the process of national reconciliation after the fall of apartheid. When I first read it, I was looking for two sorts of information: 1) What were the basic facts of the commission? Who were the commissioners? Who testified? What was the public response? And 2) What were some of the theoretical issues with which the commission wrestled? How did it conceptualize truth? How did the concept of reconciliation change during the process? What did it mean to different sets of people within the country?
But on my second reading, I was able to focus far more on Krog’s personal experience of the commission and her struggle as a white Afrikaner dealing with the conflicting emotions of guilt, shame, pride, love and hope. It is a beautifully written, complex story that blends personal narrative with historical context and social commentary.
As I continue to follow the TRC in Canada, I wonder: How does one tell the story of a truth commission?With all its complexities and contestations, how does one weave together some sort of narrative that can speak to its inherent contradictions? Antjie Krog shows us that a layered text produced through a mixture of prose, poetry and journalism may be the answer.
The Limits of Memory – Conference
January 26, 2010
Canada’s Colonialism – Article at TheMarkNews.com
January 21, 2010
A short piece on Canada’s colonial history, and Prime Minister Harper’s denial of it, is available at The Mark.
Alana Lajoie O’Malley writes:
“At the G20 Summit last September, our prime minister boasted that we “have no history of colonialism.” That the leader of our country can stand in front of dignitaries from around the world and speak these words is a testament to just how far we have to go in really understanding our national history.”
Read the full piece here.
Photo by axiepics available under a Creative Commons License
Happy 2010: Part 2
January 18, 2010
Above is an image from New Year’s Eve Day on Galiano Island off the coast of Vancouver. Despite the grey weather, it was a beautiful day.
The winter holidays are coming to an end and I’m gearing up for another semester. But before officially shifting gears, one last note of new year reflection before the semester moves into full swing: A friend of mine told me that instead of making a new year’s resolution, she decided instead to choose a single word as the year’s theme. I’m doing the same. My word this year is “joy.” It makes me happy just thinking about it. I’m looking forward to a joyful year, and wish you the same.
On the horizon this semester are two great conferences:
1) The Limits of Memory - an interdisciplinary conference organized by the New School for Social Research in New York. This is the third year of the annual conference and I’m fortunate enough to be on the organizing committee this year. March 4 – 6, 2010.
Every act of remembering also implies some form of selective forgetting and a reconstruction of the past, often according to present political or cultural needs. This conference aims to address some of the limits in theories and practices of memory, focusing on how the uses of memory are often intimately tied up with its abuses. We also hope to explore the ways in which the growing field of memory studies can continue to push the boundaries of inquiry and the boundaries between disciplines.
2) Truth, Reconciliation, and the Residential Schools – This conference is organized by Nipissing University, in North Bay, Ontario in the territory of the Nipissing First Nation. March 5 – 7, 2010.
Since the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples expressed the need for sustained testimonials, apologies and compensation in the service of reconciliation, truth and justice, the survivors, leaders and scholars of the residential school system have gathered. Some have gathered to work through the possibilities of truth and reconciliation. Others have gathered to strategize and discuss the potential to realize justice, responsibility and healing. There remains much more to debate. Over one year has passed since Prime Minister Harper’s apology and the initiation of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). As the TRC resumes full operation, the pressing question lingers: are the goals of justice, truth and reconciliation being served?
Unfortunately, the two conferences are being held at the same time. I’ll be presenting a paper in the latter one, so will have to miss the Limits of Memory Conference.
Happy 2010: Part 1
January 5, 2010
To start off the new year, I thought I’d link to some recent coverage of, or related to, the Indian Residential School Truth and Reconciliation Commission (IRS TRC). I’ve also added new “Resources” pages that I will continue to update as the commission progresses, and add new and relevant articles, books and films as they come out. (Thanks, Viola, for suggesting some of these resources!)
“Addressing the residential schools legacy: Parishes find inspired ways to ‘live out’ church’s apology” by Marites N. Sison, Anglican Journal, – December 8, 2009.
“The future of the residential school commission” by Joe Friesen, Globe and Mail, December 20, 2009.
“At reconciliation commission, key positions remain unfilled” by Bill Curry, Globe and Mail, December 23, 2009.
“Litigation in as recognition, reconciliation out” by Justine Hunter, Globe and Mail, January 5th, 2009.
All the best in 2010.
Naomi
“They Came for the Children” – IRS TRC Talk
December 17, 2009
On Friday, December 11th, Justice Murray Sinclair, Chair of the Indian Residential School Truth and Reconciliation Commission (IRS TRC) gave a talk about the commission and its recent progress. In his talk, hosted by the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto, Justice Sinclair outlined the history that helped to create the Indian Residential School (IRS) system and the legislation that systematically disempowered Aboriginal Canadians. He went on to discuss the challenges facing the commission as it addresses the legacies of this system.
The commission’s offices are currently being set up in Winnipeg, having originally been established in Ottawa. Along with the bricks and mortar needed to establish a physical home for the TRC, the commission is also working on the symbolic foundations of the task at hand: reconciliation. Referencing Canada’s violent colonial past, Justice Sinclair asked, “What can we do to make it right?” It was clear from his talk that the commission itself is uncertain about how to answer to this question, and is weighing the potential options carefully. What is clear, however, is that the commission is open to this unfolding process, of creating dialogue among survivors, communities and the nation to bring awareness to the IRS history.
Justice Sinclair also announced that the first national event will take place from June 15 – 19, 2010 in Winnipeg. For more information, click here.
For more information and photos of the event see the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto website.
Photo credit: Diana Balogh-Tyszko
Truth and Reconciliation Event (Dec. 11) in Toronto
December 4, 2009
I’m excited to be attending this upcoming event in Toronto:
“They Came for the Children”
December 11, 5:00-7:00 pm
Bennett Lecture Hall
Flavelle House
78 Queens Park
University of Toronto Faculty of Law
The Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair, Chair of Truth and Reconciliation Canada, will speak on the Indian Residential School experience and its legacy.
Justice Sinclair’s presentation will be followed by a question and answer session.
The event is open to the public and admission is free.
To register for this event, please send an email to:conferences.law@utoronto.ca. Please put TRC in the subject line.
This event will also be webcast live at:http://www.law.utoronto.ca/conferences/sinclair.html
Conference Number 5: Washington, D.C.
November 21, 2009
The American Studies Association (ASA) Conference was held this year in Washington, D.C. (Nov. 5th – 8th, 2009), and I had the pleasure of presenting on a panel entitled, “The Courts of Public Memory: Trauma, Nation, and Reconciliation.”
The panel was chaired by scholar Lisa Yoneyama, and the papers were:
Robert Eap, University of Southern California (CA)
Rethinking Impunity: A Critique of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal
Naomi Angel, New York University (NY)
Memory, Nation, and Social Transformation in the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Zenia Kish, New York University (NY)
Remembering Ukraine’s Famine-Terror of 1932–1933: Post-Soviet Memory as National Politics
Julie Thi Underhill, University of California, Berkeley (CA)
Elusive Justice: Democratic Kampuchea’s Cultural Genocide of the Muslim Cham
Before attending the conference, I was worried that I was suffering from ‘conference-burnout,’ so instead of rushing around and trying to take in too much, I decided to attend only a few panels and focus on learning from my fellow-panelists. It was great to draw connections between questions of social and criminal justice and the politics of memory across diverse geographical and temporal sites, and to continue this conversation after the panel. I was inspired by the work of my fellow panelists, and thrilled to meet Professor Yoneyama.
2009 has been a ridiculous year for conferences. I presented at five this year, and although each provided a unique and valuable experience, I’ve decided that maybe one or two would be far more manageable in the future! For now, it’s time to focus on my dissertation proposal…
For a brief recap of the other conferences:
Conference #1: American Comparative Literature Association, Cambridge.
Conference #2: Canadian Communication Association, Ottawa.
Conference #3: Encuentro (Hemispheric Institute Conference), Bogota.
Conference #4: Eleventh Berlin Roundtables: The Politics of Memory, Berlin.
Above image (from left to right): Julie, Naomi, Robert and Zenia
Berlin! (Part 2)
November 9, 2009
As part of the Eleventh Berlin Roundtables on Transnationality, the Irmgard Coninx Foundation organized a city tour for participants. We traveled through the grey streets of Berlin to the Jewish Museum, the Stasi Prison, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and the nearby Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted under Nazism. Given that the Roundtables focused on “The Politics of Memory,” the sites sparked a lot of discussion between participants. For example, the Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted under Nazism was set away from the street, so it could not be seen unless you turned and walked away from the street in order to see it. The large block (pictured above and below) had a small hole cut out with a looped film running. The film showed two men kissing. (Apparently, this film alternates with two women kissing.) But you have to peer through the hole to see it. Again, there has to be effort on the part of the visitor to 1) see the monument at all, and 2) to see the film.
The memorial was striking in several ways. On the one hand, it used a similar form to many memorials. For example, the grey concrete structure was similar to the stelae in the memorial across the street, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (a memorial that I found very moving). On the other hand, certain techniques, particularly the use of film, set it apart from most memorials I’ve visited. I’m not sure what the memorial is communicating through the use of this looped film – Is it a gesture towards inclusion? A reminder of ongoing persecution? A provocation to understand the past and present in a new way? It remains unclear, but it’s stayed with me – perhaps this lack of clarity and the unanswered questions are the point.
Note: Berlin is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. The New York Times has a cool interactive feature focusing on images submitted by readers. Check out The View from the Wall for more.
