The Burden of the Humanities

I really enjoyed reading Wilfred M. McClay’s article The Burden of the Humanities. There were a few ideas in particular I really found interesting. I really enjoyed McClay’s comparison of humanities and sciences. Science is concrete. There are right answers in science. However, humanities are broad and indeterminate. “The humanities are imprecise by their very nature. But that does not mean they are a form of intellectual finger-painting” (pg. 36). Although imprecise, humanities deal with the world around us, how we see it. Sciences explain the world in a robotic manner, without reference to human meaning. I also really enjoyed the joking story McClay used to explain the American attitude towards the past. The man in the story did not want to pay for the story, but only pay for the bronze statue. Even after all the rats followed him and he saw the power of the statue, he still did not want to know the story behind it. He just asked to be sold, “a bronze statue of a lawyer?” (pg. 39). As a reader of this story, I too did not really care about the story behind the statue. I was too entertained by the punch line. My telling this story, McClay effectively motivates the reader to learn about our culture’s past. In order to appreciate our country, one must learn and have a general knowledge of our past. You can’t appreciate what one has today, “unless you pay the price of learning the stories” (pg. 39). The third idea that I really enjoyed was McClay’s analysis of humanities in the past in order to predict the definition of humanities in the future. In the past, humanities have been understood as humans opposed to animals, the divine, or the rational mechanical. Humanities have been defined as opposition to what humans are not. McClay then argues that, “what we call ‘the humanities’ will survive and thrive, however we choose to define them” (pg. 41). Whatever the humanities is used to oppose next, it will thrive since it has thrived to oppose many different ideas in the past. McClay then goes on to explain that he thinks that humanities will be defined to oppose the recent problems and prospects of biotechnology and medicine. Cloning, artificial wombs, species melding, etc. will force us to call into question our limitations and what it means to be human. I think McClay is right on his prediction of the future. It will be interesting to see how people use humanities to support or oppose new advances in biotechnology and medicine in the future.

The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid wants many different things in this story. I cannot choose a single thing she longs for because it changes throughout the story. The Little Mermaid is the youngest of six sisters. When a mermaid turns fifteen, she is allowed to swim to the water’s surface to watch the world above. Each year, an older sister swims to the surface and then tells the Little Mermaid what she has seen. At this point in the story, the Little Mermaid is longing for her turn to swim to the surface. She wants to see the world above her and wants to see humans.

Once the Little Mermaid turns fifteen, she ventures to the water’s surface. She sees the ship with the handsome prince and falls in love with him. At this point in the story, the Little Mermaid wants love. As a result, she saves the prince from the storm. However, she is not seen by the prince and has to leave him to the young girl from the temple. The interaction with the prince leads the Little Mermaid to ask her grandmother about humans. She learns that humans have eternal souls. At this point, the Little Mermaid wants to be human and have an eternal soul.

In order to get an eternal soul, the Little Mermaid exchanges her tongue and goes through much pain. She is also risking dying brokenhearted and being turned into sea foam if the prince does not love her. The Little Mermaid is unsuccessful in her mission to obtain the prince’s love as the prince marries the girl from the temple.

Despite how many things the Little Mermaid longs for throughout the story, she is never selfish. This is proven in the Little Mermaid’s final decision not to slay the prince. The Little Mermaid cannot bring herself to kill the prince, even though it would allow her to live out her full life as a mermaid. As a result of her selflessness, she turns into some kind of spirit. She will earn her own soul by doing good deeds for others.

There are some life lessons that one can learn from this story. First lesson is to recognize what you want, and do as much as you possibly can to obtain it. However, you cannot try to reach your goals at the expense of others. This idea leads to the lesson of selflessness. Look out for others as well as yourself.

Wrapped in Tradition

“Wow,” is what I said when entering the museum. “What cool photos, blankets, and glass work!” I think anyone can appreciate the photos, trade blankets, and glass works of Dale Chihuly that can be found in the Wrapped in Tradition: The Chihuly Collection of Native American Trade Blankets exhibit. I was amazed at the eighty vintage Native American trade blankets, the large black and white photos, and the numerous pieces of original artwork from Chihuly’s Blanket Cylinder series. I was particularly interested in the trade blankets. The multicolored blankets with breathtaking designs can be universally appreciated for the craftsmanship and overall appearance. Each blanket had unusual, complex designs. It seems like each blanket probably took a year to make. For these reasons alone, I really enjoyed viewing and analyzing each blanket. However, I further appreciated the trade blankets after learning the importance of the trade blankets in Native American culture. The Native Americans found inspiration in the natural and spiritual world around them. They incorporated their surroundings in these multi-colored blankets. Most of them have a lot of red in them. I’m not sure what that meant, but I am interested if someone could tell me. In the 1800s, these blankets were objects of power, prestige, and potential for Native Americans. The blankets could also be used as symbols for peace. “…Handling of a blanket became a signal for peace,” Meriwether Lewis (an American settler) wrote in his expedition journal in 1805. American trade blanket companies began using Native American design elements in new combinations and colors, and their blankets became part of Native American ceremonial life. It is interesting that commercial enterprises began recreating and changing the Native American blankets for profit. I think the contingent factors of the blankets are necessary to fully appreciate the importance of these trade blankets. The blown glass collection was also spectacular. Chihuly crafted these pieces of art from 1975-1995. The blankets on the glasses portray the unique colors, patterns, and textures found in the Native American trade blankets. Putting the blankets and the blown glass in the same room creates and interesting dialogue between Native American traditions and contemporary art.

Francisco Goya's The Colossus (1808-1812)

(I searched everywhere for information on the Bird Walker, but was unsuccessful. I even emailed Doug Cockell, but did not receive a response. Without this information, I feel I could not give a full explanation of the painting. I have found another painting and will share my analysis.)

Francisco Goya’s The Colossus (1808-1812) is an exceedingly interesting painting. The painting is occupied by a colossal sized man who is among the mountains. His legs are hidden up to his thighs so it cannot be determined if the giant is walking or standing. Clouds surround him which gives an estimate of how tall he is. His fists are raised in a boxing stance and his eyes are closed. The giant occupies the upper two thirds of the painting. The final, lower third is occupied by a valley where people and cattle run in all different directions. What was Goya trying to say when he painted this? The answer to this question is the reason for my appreciation of this painting.

Goya painted The Colossus some time from 1808-1812. The Peninsular War was being fought during this time. The French invaded Spain in 1808 and the war continued until 1814. Goya used this painting to voice, as a Spaniard, his view of the war. The giant is in an aggressive, fighting stance, and represents the Spanish population emerging to confront the Napoleonic invasion. Why is the giant’s eyes closed? The closed eyes represent blind violence. The giant looks almost inhuman with his eyes closed. He will attack anyone and harm anything with the goal of spreading death and destruction. The scattering people and animals in the valley help emphasize the giant’s power. They are all fearful which proves to the viewer that this giant means business. This idea is exactly what Goya was trying to emphasize when painting this. In painting this image, Goya was basically saying, “Watch out Napoleon! Spain is like this colossal giant. We will destroy and kill anyone who opposes us and act with blind violence. Beware!”

My interest in this painting is grounded in the ‘universal’ idea of using a painting or image to illustrate an idea. Goya used this painting to explain his view on The Peninsular War. He wanted to show his Spanish people what he thought of his country, and how they could rise up against the French. One must research the contingent factors in order to fully appreciation this painting. Without knowing that this painting was completed during The Peninsular War, the viewer would not recognize that Goya used his art to illustrate his view of the time.

(On an unrelated note, art experts have recently questioned whether The Colossus was actually painted by Goya. It may have been painted by one of his assistants. Please read this article if you are interested: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/is-goya-masterp.html-just-a-colossal-mistake-808645.html .)

Doug Cockell's Bird Walker

I have searched everywhere for the year of this painting and the media of the painting. I do know it was painted within the last couple decades and it is most likely acrylic as most of Cockell's paintings are. Let me know if you would like me to find a different image where this information can be found. However, I do feel like I can analyze this painting effectively and even connect it to Laterna Magica.

Eirik's Saga

Eirik’s Saga contains a lot of information on the Nordic expeditions to North America. How much of it is actually true? This question kept popping into my mind while reading these adventures. However, I feel this question is not important when analyzing the literary style and history of this saga.

One conclusion I immediately came to was the importance of family lineage in Norse culture. The first two chapters set up the characters and explained who is whose son and who is married to whom. These family lineage breakdowns were extremely confusing to me, “Eirik was supported by Styr Thorgrims- son, Eyjolf of Svin Island, Thorborn Vifilsson, and the sons of Thorbrand of Alptafjord….” (77). Who? What? Come again? It makes sense that I do not understand these first chapters as I was not alive during this time. This saga was not written for people today to read. The literary style shows that these adventures were written for people of the fourteenth century. They explain the characters as if the reader already knows them. The importance of family lineage is a universal idea that can be seen in cultures today. However, the specific characters and lineage in the saga are hard to identify with.

There was a lack of character development in these stories. Each story focused on the specific action or event instead of the depth of the characters. Character descriptions were often brief with few adjectives used, “Karlsefni was a sea-going merchant and was considered a trader of great distinction” (91). The character development consisted of the character’s family, occupation, and how the character was perceived by society. Much of recent literature uses a good amount of dialogue to develop characters. This saga has little dialogue and is mainly used to drive the action. It is not used to reveal the inner quality of a character. I argue that the character development in this saga is a polar opposite to Jane Austin’s character development in Pride and Prejudice. I felt no connection with the characters in this saga.

No matter how hard I tried I could not help but doubting the accuracy of these tails. The accounts in this saga are historical fiction. They are based off some historical fact, but have been embellished and altered. I still think it is important to examine this saga to reveal some history of these early European explorations of the New World.

Frost

Frost’s poem “Mending Wall” is about two neighbors and one stone wall. Every spring the two meet and make repairs on the wall. However, the speaker does not understand why there is a need for the wall. There are no cows to contain, it is simply there to separate the neighbors. The old neighbor responds to this by saying, “Good fences make good neighbors.” The speaker is still not convinced and continues to press his neighbor to look beyond this old-fashioned tradition. His neighbor cannot be swayed. The speaker thinks his neighbor is from an outmoded era. In the last line of the poem, the neighbor repeats his initial proverb. Like most of Frost’s poems, this one seems simple at first glance, but is actually filled with complex ambiguity. Frost uses his ‘artistic vocabulary’ to propose many ideas in this poem. The worth of boundaries and keeping the status quo are a couple of the main ideas that can be discussed after reading Frost’s poem.

This poem allows readers to question the worth of boundaries. Boundaries are made to confine things. In this poem, the wall was not necessary, but the two continue to build it every year. The specific example within the context of this poem leads to the universal question of why concrete boundaries are necessary. To me, people have walls to mark their property and they are used as a means of safety. Would a household be safe without a wall and without locks to protect them? Would there be violent behavior if everyone trusted everyone else? Or is it because nobody trusts anyone else and puts up walls that spark violence? I believe walls are seen as an object of distrust. However, people feel obligated to have walls because of violent behavior they have heard about. I also think walls and boundaries are used for privacy, and discourage communal feeling. Developed countries contain people who crave privacy, more so then less developed villages where everything is shared. So does the want for privacy and economic background correlate? I believe so.

In this poem, there is no need for the wall. The speaker explains that walls are needed to contain cows, but “here there are no cows.” He tries to question his neighbor, but continues to help mend the wall. This specific story brings up the universal idea of “changing the status quo.” People act in ways similar to how people have acted in the past. I saw this idea when we read about “Stubborn Stina” in Laterna Magica. She continued to wait for her seamen because the pattern she had grown accustomed to was comfortable for her. Should people continue to do something just because it is comfortable? Or should actions be changed if they are not applicable? I argue that if something is no longer necessary, change it. However, there are those who believe tradition is very important. I think the idea of tradition bleeds in to discussions about religion. Some rituals in religions do not apply to the twenty-first century like they applied when the religion was formed. I believe rituals and actions should be altered to fit the specific time and situation. However, it is very hard to change the status quo and alter what has been done in the past.