~ Reflection ~
I remember thinking to myself while reading The Truth About Awiti, "What does this have to do with world politics?" Yes, I understand how slavery and civil rights movements play into society and politics today. I also understand that disease and natural disasters have great effects on society. But an immortal god-like figure who controls hurricanes? The connection was a little blurry. Through our class discussion, I could see how this novel frames world politics.
Although immortality isn't real (as far as we know), the novel, to me, says that history is immortal. We can try to erase or ignore parts of history, but not everyone will. While there is no one immortal person like Awiti, history and the emotional responses to it can be passed down through generations. People are affected by things that happened in the past and in fact, CP Patrick mentions that physical illnesses like hypertension can be inherited. My group suggested that history, and often the trauma that comes with it, may also be inherited.
One thought I had after class was about the use of the word "truth." In the closing chapter, Awiti explains that she will never find peace and this is her truth. It does not necessarily mean that, as an objective fact, she will never find peace. It brought me to thinking about our discussion on Tuesday of the different implications of words used in the International Studies field. We suggested that relations could mean between two cultures or countries, but was generally informal, that politics implied the interaction between or within governments, that world could mean a perspective rather than the entire physical globe, and so forth. In world politics, we are examining politics through our own world lens as well as other world lenses. I thought this connected well to Awiti's "truth"- what we believe to be true and how we live our lives (and aim to live our lives) is different from others' and may not even be empirically or objectively true. In that sense, I found The Truth About Awiti to be even more fitting for this class.
So far, this is one of my favorite classes. As far as I can tell, there's nowhere near as much class interaction in giant lectures. I loved hearing different perspectives and ideas, especially on such a rich and thought-provoking novel. I'm excited to see where this class goes, and I'm also very happy to be learning with all of you!
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