One of my goals for this class is to take a more active role in how I process history. Our class discussions about political theatricality and the importance of perception has led me to reflect more on my background and my education. In the same way that implicit biases affect how we process new information, I am realizing that my biases and those of the system in which I was educated have impacted my view of history. As elementary-school aged children, most of us are inclined to accept the information we are given without much thought. I don’t think it would have occurred to me when I was young to question how the source can introduce subjectivity. Perhaps this was innocence or simply that this kind of critical analysis was a little beyond my abilities at the time. This class can be, for those of us who need it, the opportunity to revisit the major historical events we are discussing prepared to take a harder look.
The Uniqueness of a Single Number
Before I started this class, I had no idea how significant the year of 1968 was for so many people in so many different places. I’ve taken a few history and classical literature classes in my life, but I had never encountered the type of attitude that has appeared in this class. From our first readings of Vinen, the year 1968 is treated almost as some mythical creature or extraterrestrial being. It is important to note that Vinen, a distinguished scholar of the time period, refers to 1968 as “The Thing.” When someone such as him calls a certain year by a name like that, the awe which people still have for it is clear. It’s almost as if he doesn’t know what else to call it. However, each of my grandparents was a young adult in that particular year, and I have never heard any of them wax poetic about that year as Vinen has. But, I am certainly looking forward to learning about why a year can constitute the stuff of legend for so many different people.
Autobiography & the Ambiguity of “The Thing”
Whenever I encounter a new or unfamiliar term, one of the first things I do is look up its definition. The long 68 is something I had never heard of prior to this class, and its elusive nature and lack of a set definition make understanding the time period and its events more difficult for me. When I’m learning, I like having rules and definitions and order—68 is the exact opposite. Enoch Powell referred to it simply as “The Thing,” and leaders of student, political, and racial protests of the time period often loosely defined their movements by what they opposed rather than what they supported. Even Richard Vinen, as a historian who has extensively studied 68, struggles to define the “what,” “when,” and “where” of this period of rebellion and sustained conflict. While 68 has an incredibly complicated and nuanced history, our discussions in class so far have demonstrated that it can also be somewhat defined by the strong labels that mark its conflicts: anti-Vietnam, student, Black vs. white, Catholic vs. Protestant, the New Left and the counterculture. What I find interesting about 68 is the effect of labels on the conflicts of 68 and on the literature produced during and in response to it. I’m curious about how the polarizing language of these labels, often with ambiguous or shifting meanings, plays into the rise of the memoir and autobiography of young people involved in 68 in the U.S. and Ireland, as they seek to define and redefine themselves amidst the chaos of the time period. I look forward to exploring how the emphasis on personal storytelling by key players of 68—from Huey P. Newton and Bernadette Devlin to the Catonsville Nine and Chicago Eight—is shaped by the confusion and ambiguity surrounding the events and language of 68, and how these memoirs then shape our understanding of 68 and its implications today.
The Importance of Perception
If I were asked to compile a list of my academic strengths, writing and literary analysis are two concepts that would not be present. In light of this, I am entering this class with simultaneous excitement and nervousness. Despite writing being a weakness of mine, I am excited to see how this class can enhance my skills as well as allow me to explore a connection I didn’t know existed between Ireland and African Americans in the United States. The first couple of classes have been a whirlwind of information. I am not very familiar with history during the period surrounding 1968, so I have learned plenty of new things already. What has stood out to me the most, however, is the theatrical nature surrounding the protests. The public’s perception of a certain group or event may be fairly different than the truth. For example, the civil rights movement is normally associated with peaceful protesting and the Black Panthers with violence. In reality, however, the civil rights movement was more violent and the Black Panthers less violent than the public believed. Perception is just as important in today’s world regarding politics and movements. That being said, along with improving my ability to analyze a literary work, I would like to explore the importance of perception and theatrics throughout the 68 era.