Student Comments: The Destruction of Culture
The following are edited excerpts from your worksheet comments. You were asked to respond to the Chris Hedges' chapter called "The Destruction of Culture."
On National Symbols: “[Hedges] is saying that a nation would use its cultural resources as an excuse to keep a war going. I think this is important because it tells you that a nation would try to cover up the real reasons they go to war.”
--Sharla
On Wartime Culture and Its Aftermath: “The things that inspire us during a war have no value when the war is over. The only value is to use it toward war’s nostalgia. This is important because realizing how feelings change after war makes you wonder [whether] war is the only difference in your life. “You” have not changed.
Not embracing a history is wrong if you have the power to understand it.”
--Jennifer K.
“Things like songs, books, poems, and film excite us during time of war, but when the war is over it’s awkward & embarrassing to listen, read, or watch. People realize their actions and behavior, and see they were foolish. I felt this was important because the media influences people and certain facts are not given to the public. When the conflict is over, people come to their ‘senses’ and evaluate the whole situation. When people feel embarrassed about their actions, they hide their guilt and blame the other side to justify their cause. Like Hedges says, “Each side creates a narrative. Each side insists they are the true victims.”
--Lydia
On Patriotism: “Hedges emphasizes how people easily express war in their culture” (professor’s italics).
--Jessica
On the Seduction of War: “Hedges talks about how war begins to control the lives of the citizens and the government. He refers to it as a “trance.” Support for the war takes over every aspect of life, like an obsession. It’s important because it shows how manipulative war can be.
It has a relationship with the title of the book. He describes the extremes to which the government succumbs…just so they can justify the continuation of the war, and people believe, or at least they want to believe, that they are fighting for the good side. And in a way [it] gives their life meaning.”
--Diane
On the Truth of War: “In reality, it is difficult to put down exactly what the “atrocity” may be. There can be a distortion of facts, or at best, a manipulation of what exactly happened. It is important because what you see is not always what you get. During our last class, we spoke about war images and how those images and their captions can be vague and elusive to the point and extent of incomprehensibility as consumers of mass media.”
--Jennifer R. (Eun Jung)
“What a person remembers during a time of stress or trauma can change people who witness war. How can someone recover information if the information has changed depending on what the person remembered? It is difficult to look at a situation when it is traumatic.
--Karen
On Fear: “Fear can change the feelings of people toward each other. This…reminded me of September 11th. Before 9/11 people did not really live in fear of … the people who attacked us. The victims will always fear the culture or country that harmed them.”
--Christine
Response to Christine: “Fear can cause people to forget about the facts.”
On the Destruction of Culture: “Not only is the destruction of culture in wartime mental or symbolic, it is physical as well. Hedges talks about…buildings, monuments, towns or villages being destroyed and possibly forgotten. Their destruction has affected the right to remember where they once stood. There were many places forgotten and monuments not built or give recognition (for example, Sept 11).
--Mariella
On Genocide: “We have gone over how enemies come about. One group of people don’t see another group of people as their social norm, so they automatically become the enemy. That group will try to destroy the other group’s culture because they don’t see it fitting into this world.”
--Ching
On Cultural Suicide: “During war the state destroys itself, too, because anybody who doesn’t support the state becomes an enemy, too. I think it’s important because during war we can hurt our own culture. We tend to consider anybody who doesn’t support us to be an enemy and this destroys the unity of a culture or country.”
--Gabriel
On the Infrahuman: “When communities are at war, they de-humanize the enemy so it is easier for them to cope with the fact that they are destroying other human beings. I think it’s important because in every war we’ve had, that issue becomes the reality. We can see it today. Everywhere is this concept of “war on terrorism.” Everyday, on the news, in the newspapers, some television show somehow alludes to the war in Iraq.
We separate ourselves from the enemy.”
--Kim
On Hatred: “The author is trying to address the nationalist leaders’ views on how the cause should be promoted and why it is a real cause. This happens in all major events, including the September 11 attacks. The reasons for these events are because of a “difference” between people. Many do not understand the others “enemies” and turn that into a form of hatred. I think this is important because many people view the enemy as non-human and different and that is because they don’t try to understand them.”
--Samantha
On Caste: “Many countries have racism, meaning they believe in caste.”
--Taranjit
On National Symbols: “[Hedges] is saying that a nation would use its cultural resources as an excuse to keep a war going. I think this is important because it tells you that a nation would try to cover up the real reasons they go to war.”
--Sharla
On Wartime Culture and Its Aftermath: “The things that inspire us during a war have no value when the war is over. The only value is to use it toward war’s nostalgia. This is important because realizing how feelings change after war makes you wonder [whether] war is the only difference in your life. “You” have not changed.
Not embracing a history is wrong if you have the power to understand it.”
--Jennifer K.
“Things like songs, books, poems, and film excite us during time of war, but when the war is over it’s awkward & embarrassing to listen, read, or watch. People realize their actions and behavior, and see they were foolish. I felt this was important because the media influences people and certain facts are not given to the public. When the conflict is over, people come to their ‘senses’ and evaluate the whole situation. When people feel embarrassed about their actions, they hide their guilt and blame the other side to justify their cause. Like Hedges says, “Each side creates a narrative. Each side insists they are the true victims.”
--Lydia
On Patriotism: “Hedges emphasizes how people easily express war in their culture” (professor’s italics).
--Jessica
On the Seduction of War: “Hedges talks about how war begins to control the lives of the citizens and the government. He refers to it as a “trance.” Support for the war takes over every aspect of life, like an obsession. It’s important because it shows how manipulative war can be.
It has a relationship with the title of the book. He describes the extremes to which the government succumbs…just so they can justify the continuation of the war, and people believe, or at least they want to believe, that they are fighting for the good side. And in a way [it] gives their life meaning.”
--Diane
On the Truth of War: “In reality, it is difficult to put down exactly what the “atrocity” may be. There can be a distortion of facts, or at best, a manipulation of what exactly happened. It is important because what you see is not always what you get. During our last class, we spoke about war images and how those images and their captions can be vague and elusive to the point and extent of incomprehensibility as consumers of mass media.”
--Jennifer R. (Eun Jung)
“What a person remembers during a time of stress or trauma can change people who witness war. How can someone recover information if the information has changed depending on what the person remembered? It is difficult to look at a situation when it is traumatic.
--Karen
On Fear: “Fear can change the feelings of people toward each other. This…reminded me of September 11th. Before 9/11 people did not really live in fear of … the people who attacked us. The victims will always fear the culture or country that harmed them.”
--Christine
Response to Christine: “Fear can cause people to forget about the facts.”
On the Destruction of Culture: “Not only is the destruction of culture in wartime mental or symbolic, it is physical as well. Hedges talks about…buildings, monuments, towns or villages being destroyed and possibly forgotten. Their destruction has affected the right to remember where they once stood. There were many places forgotten and monuments not built or give recognition (for example, Sept 11).
--Mariella
On Genocide: “We have gone over how enemies come about. One group of people don’t see another group of people as their social norm, so they automatically become the enemy. That group will try to destroy the other group’s culture because they don’t see it fitting into this world.”
--Ching
On Cultural Suicide: “During war the state destroys itself, too, because anybody who doesn’t support the state becomes an enemy, too. I think it’s important because during war we can hurt our own culture. We tend to consider anybody who doesn’t support us to be an enemy and this destroys the unity of a culture or country.”
--Gabriel
On the Infrahuman: “When communities are at war, they de-humanize the enemy so it is easier for them to cope with the fact that they are destroying other human beings. I think it’s important because in every war we’ve had, that issue becomes the reality. We can see it today. Everywhere is this concept of “war on terrorism.” Everyday, on the news, in the newspapers, some television show somehow alludes to the war in Iraq.
We separate ourselves from the enemy.”
--Kim
On Hatred: “The author is trying to address the nationalist leaders’ views on how the cause should be promoted and why it is a real cause. This happens in all major events, including the September 11 attacks. The reasons for these events are because of a “difference” between people. Many do not understand the others “enemies” and turn that into a form of hatred. I think this is important because many people view the enemy as non-human and different and that is because they don’t try to understand them.”
--Samantha
On Caste: “Many countries have racism, meaning they believe in caste.”
--Taranjit
posted by Jrc at 2:36 PM
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