Friday 11 am Section

I was intrigued by Anna's guest lecture on Gitelman's essay and its unpacking. I was interested in his concept on history and how it "invokes the limited sense in which doing history means putting together narratives about events... based on interpreting the 'indexical survivals or inscriptions that form a fragmentary record of the past" (Pg. 129) This notion of how we perceive history is a very important concern because all of our culture and our past as a race depends on understanding it and avoiding negative repetitions.

I think that going through Chris Marker's Immemory was a good way of comparing how we learn history today vs a more hypertexual way. I found it frustrating because I could not understand that much of it. It was only when I came across a subject that I was well versed in (The European Art Section of 'Museum') that I was able to enjoy, learn and make speculations about. However, the only reason I was able to follow along with that section is because I had learned about it in my high school, in no way pertaining to new media, 'weird documents,' file organizers, etc.

Although I found Immemory to be confusing and frustrating, to some degree, I appreciated what Marker was trying to convey. He gave us, the user, all of himself through the digitalization of his memories. Although I had never met him before, I felt that we had a connection through the European artwork that did not exist with people I actually knew. When I went back to my dorm I tried to explain the Fransisco Franco image in correspondence to the Gurnica eye ball/light bulb and they could not understand it. It was amazing and refreshing to look at someone's memories and feel that connection through space and time. It made me think of an ancient Chinese concept called xien. Xien believes that all people want to find their soul mate, regardless of gender, race, etc and that through poetry, they can achieve that. Reading Marker's memories and poetry allowed me to make that connection and understand him in a way I would never be able to understand even some of my closest friends.

When I first started to write this blog I was going to rant and rave about how much I dissliked Immemory... but now, looking back on it, I find I really enjoyed it and would like the opportunity to delve deeper into Chris Marker's mind.