Month: November 2017

Walter Benjamin focuses on the past in relation to the present and how they incorporate memories in his piece “Philosophy of History”. Benjamin examines how happiness can transcend the past and the present.  Building off of that notion, he discusses how a feeling such as happiness can link what happened in the past to what is occurring in the present. To put happiness into context with other feelings that happen in the past or the present, he states: “the past can be seized only as an image which flashes up at the instant when it can be recognized and is never seen again.” (Benjamin 255) Happiness is a fleeting feeling that comes and goes regularly, and Benjamin is comparing happiness to memories that exist within our minds. Just as happiness is a feeling that is brought up by a cute puppy or something that brings you joy, memories are fleeting in that they are brought up randomly, and disappear when you least expect it.

Benjamin continues to discuss the ever present connection between the past and the present. The present cannot be what it is today without recognition of the past, and that is history’s job to remind the present with the lessons and memories of the past. In order to fully understand history we must put it into context with the now. Benjamin argues that you cannot have one without the other, and he states: “history is the subject of a structure whose site is not homogeneous, empty time, but time filled by the presence of the now.” (261) Here Benjamin continuing his argument by uncovering the truth behind what history is really made up of-which are moments in the present.

In conjunction with Benjamin’s argument about the connection between the past and the present, Gastón Gordillo discusses how the ruins of ships from the past have become meaningful artifacts in the present. Ruins that become monuments carry both historical and social weight within their communities, and they can grow to represent something larger than themselves. In the town of Rivadavia, the remains of old steamships bring back memories from the past. They are the portals into a different time, a more prosperous time for the small town in Argentina. Gordillo discusses how these ruins can impact the collective memory of the people of Rivadavia, and how “the memories of prosperity  are shaped by experiences of poverty and decline that people unambiguously trace back to the shift in the course of the Bermejo.” (Gordillo 152) These ruins bring back memories of a different time period in Rivadavia, and they represent the change that has occurred since the time of their existence.

After finishing both of these readings I was able to gain a better understanding of the Bethlehem Steel Stacks. I found the Steel Stacks to be interesting because they are not ruins, yet they bring us back to a completely different time. Another aspect I found interesting about the Steel Stacks is how it is a museum out of something that used to be so ordinary. When thinking about Benjamin and his argument I was able to think about the Steel Stacks and how it is now a structure that talks about the past while also incorporating the present. When I was at the Steel Stacks and walking along the Hoover Mason Trestle looking at all the old stacks I could not help but think about how the work that was done here affected our lives today.

I also thought about the ruins in Rivadavia and how the remains brought back memories of a different time. I think that the steel stacks here do just that. These structures are the epitome of industrialization and represent the height of Bethlehem’s prosperity and success. Although now they look old and beaten down, they still have the power to bring us back to a different time in America’s history.

In Professor Salas-Landa’s piece she discusses the tedious steps that are involved in the excavation and restoration of ancient ruins. By focusing on what these structures mean to the culture in which they exist, Salas-Landa looks into these roles and how they affect the processes of excavation.  These structures became monuments, and Salas-Landa states that “they have emphasized the roles that the monuments of pre-Hispanic past played in substantiating elite notions of nationhood” (Salas-Landa 48). These structures were important pieces of the pre-Hispanic past and the present. Due to this importance the process of excavation and or renovation must be highly stressed because the loss of these monuments would be a devastating blow to Mexico.

Throughout the piece Salas-Landa draws our attention to the meaning of the physical artifact itself. Although ideologically these structures play a very important role and carry a lot of weight in the history of Mexico, we must pay attention to what is right in front of us. Salas-Landa discusses the process of turning a structure into a monument, and how these ruins were found, recognized and monumentalized.

I enjoyed this reading and was able to connect it to many of the other readings we have done in class. I think the process of monumentalizing something is very interesting and to think about what it means to take an ordinary object and realize the weight of its’ presence is an important concept within our society. In this class we have discussed the importance of artifacts, how the space that they occupy can affect their perception of those around them. I found it interesting to consider the role of the pyramids in Tajín and the relationship that they had with the people and culture there.

In this piece by Sandra Rozental, collective memory and the many different ways of remembrance are discussed. In the village of Coatlinchan the natives worship a stone that represents the Aztec rain god Tlaloc. This stone is one of the ways in which the village of Coatlinchan actively works to remember their heritage and spread the message of their history. Since the time of the stone’s discovery it has come to carry a significant amount of weight within the community of Coatlinchan, one can even say that it represents Tlaloc himself in the present day. Rozental emphasizes the importance of a physical artifact within a community that is committed to reliving and remembering their past. Rozental then goes into detail about the issues and complications that arise when transporting an artifact of this size. She discusses how the material importance of an object can lead to complications of the rightful owner of an artifact that is important to a particular culture.

Rozental also comments on the properties of a physical artifact within a culture. Because this stone was so large and needed to be moved elsewhere, it made sense for a replica to be made. Rozental discusses the issues that can arise when a replica is created. There are many problems that arise from creating a replica of an artifact, “but the transformation does not only concern the object’s discursive cosubstantiality with its’ original.” (Rozental 350) The people of Coatlinchan are concerned with this issue as well. As we saw in the movie in class on Monday, the natives of Coatlinchan are heavily concerned with losing the original message and story of Tlaloc in translation when it is transported and converted into different languages to show tourists.

After reading this piece I thought of the many ways in which societies can remember. I first thought of the power of touch, and how an object itself can represent a diety to a community. This stone represents many things within the smaller Coatlinchan community. It represents the living and dead personality of Tlaloc, and it constantly helps these people work to remember their heritage.