The 2010 European Capital of Culture: Istanbul

Through this class, I quickly discovered the vibrant, rich and beautiful culture of Istanbul and became more and more enthralled with every aspect of Istanbul; from it's unique location between two the continents of Europe and Asia, to the politics surrounding the city to the overall civilization, I was engulfed with the beautiful city.
While doing research for my final paper, I found that Istanbul will be noted and celebrated as the 2010 European Capital of Culture (by Examiner.com, which is an online-travel guide that features different places of travel around the world) due to its' history, culture, and diversity.

This will be a year-long celebration, where the theme “A City of Four Elements,” focusing on Earth, Air, Water, and Fire, as the theme creatively categorizes Istanbul and it's sense of diversity. Earth represents the values of the past, in relation to the historical development throughout the years and the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Air represents the spiritual wealth of the religious city and a bridge between all cultures. Water is used as another connecting factor, as the people who live nearby and in Istanbul are connected by water, all of these events will take place off of the shores of Istanbul. Lastly, fire is meant to represent the future of Istanbul. This theme will be used as a cultural torch as it will continue to pass throughout generation to generation.

There is no doubt in my mind that Istanbul really is the Capital of culture, after reading some literature in regards to Turkey and doing personal research, Istanbul, Turkey seems like a global melting pot that connects an array of cultures from all around the world. Istanbul also incorporates different aspects from other cultures within their own, such as some European traditions, which is another cause that gives way to the detailed and vibrant city. The theme, “A City of Four Elements,” perfectly fits the personality of Istanbul and represents it's immense history within the city and country, the religious beliefs, and a sense of unity between all cultures.

Rick Steves in Iran

Rick Steves segment on Iran was informative, but the end of the segment left me wanting to know Iran on a deeper level, as it seemed Rick Steves just seemed to scratch the surface in this show. The information that was relayed to the audience was beneficial to me, at least because I started out only knowing minimal about Iran, but this show did not come across as deep or as intriguing as I would have liked it, especially since it was on Iran. Iran is such a different society and culture compared to the United States, and considering the events of the past, Iran would have been one of the main places that many Americans would like to know more about. Even if Americans do not plan to travel there, this show could have set Iran in a better light or them or have been more informative and detailed. I almost feel like Rick Steves was trying to prove a point to Americans that Iran is not a bad place and for us to realize how similar we are, instead of just touring and interviewing Iran naturally.

But like I said, I did find this segment interesting and beneficial, but it just left me wanting to know more about Iran once I watched this segment, it showed me how beautiful of a country it is and that Iran is such a unique culture!

Lipstick Jihad

My initial thought when reading "Lipstick Jihad" was Moaveni's identity struggle. The fact that while she was in America, she dreamt and longed for a life in Iran and to find a "niche" of some sort to fit in. She felt out of place in America, never confident with her Iranianness, almost second-guessing it when she had to tell people about herself. When she finally got to Iran, she discovered that she felt the same way and just as alone and out-of-place as she was in America. After reading only this far in the novel, all I could think was how she was simply not okay with who she was. She did not accept herself for being truly herself, which is why I believe she had such an identity struggle/crisis throughout the novel. All of the conflicts seem to come from within for her, which is why she had such a hard time "fitting in" in America and then again in Iran. No matter where she traveled or decided to live, she was not going to feel content and at peace, especially if she was struggling with her inner-self.

In end, I found this book interesting, but it just seemed as if Moaveni was dealing and centering on an identity struggle if nothing else in the end. I did not mind reading this book, while it was a bit hard to get into at the beginning, I found it interesting overall because it showed many aspects of the Iranian culture and daily lives that I became aware of, but I would not recommend it.

Current Event: Israel-Hamas prisoner swap deal near

I stumbled upon this article and found it semi-relevant and interesting to our class. The article was found on yahoo news and is about the Israel-Hamas prisoner swap. The deal is to exchange hundereds of jailed Palestinians for an Israeli soldier who is currently being held in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has agreed to exchange the soldier Gilad Shalit for about 160 prisoners whose release has been vetoed before. Gilad Shalit was captured by Hamas gunmen who tunneled and invaded Israel from Gaza in 2006.

Please feel free to view this article at :

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091123/ts_nm/us_palestinians_israel_prisoners_7

Persepolis

The graphic novel, "Persepolis," holds many cases of symbolism within it. To me, the most interesting aspect of sympolism was "the veil." The Veil is in the first section of the book and Marjane is forced to wear a veil at school. She is seperated from her friends and doesn't know how to take the apperance of the veil overall. It seems that all of these situations are forced upon her at once, from the wearing of the veil, to the revolution. The veil has become a part of religious ideology to Marjane and also something that is a part of her everyday life. On Page 131 of the text, Marjane dresses more modern, in a t-shirt, jacket, and nike shoes...and "of course" wearing the veil. While she is so modernized, the wearing of the veil is constant. She is expressing her self-indentity, yet at the same time expressing the identity of being Iranian. It is like Marjane is caught somewhere inbetween it all. By wearing the veil, Marjane ultimately conforms to a sort of repression of the Iranian society even though she frequently tries to rebel.

Current Events Article: "Corrupt Countries"

I found a current events article that has some relevance to our Post Colonial class. This article (link is below), states the worlds "most-corrupt countries." Afghanistan is apparently the 2nd most-corrupt country. Some examples of why Afghanistan is considered to be one of the most corrupt countries is because of the range of government positions to daily bribes for basic services.


A few countries that were considered to be some of the least corrupt countries were Singapore, Denmark, and New Zealand. Also, on another positive note, Iraq was considered to have some improvement...being 176 out of 180 most-corrupt countries. The U.S. was ranked 19th.

Personally, I found this article to be a bit ridiculous. How do these businesses and "experts" rank these countries? What factors or qualities are considered to be a "corrupt" country and how is the ranking process done overall? There are so many different situations, reasons, qualities, characteristics that deal with how a country is overall...and most importantly, WHY a country is the way they are. Just because a particular country has a more negative view to it, does not necessarily mean it is corrupt. There are reasons behind everything, especially when dealing with the situations going on in the world today. This is not just for Afghanistan, but for every part of the world.

The link for this article is:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091117/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_corruption_index_2

Armenian Choreg

For tomorrows class (11/4), I will be bringing in Choreg (Armenian Sweet Rolls). While I did not make these, I bought them from an Armenian market back home. Below I have attached the recipe if anyone is interested.

Ingredients:

5 lb bag King Arthur all purpose flour
2 1/3 c sugar
2 T salt
2 t baking powder
3 T ground mahleb (Middle Eastern bakery/store or online via Penzey's, etc.)
black sesame seeds
2 pkgs dry yeast
2 1/2 c butter
1/2 c Crisco
1 c water
2 T vanilla
7 eggs, beaten (additional for brushing tops)
3 c milk
white sesame seeds

Directions:

Line baking sheets with parchment.

While mixing dough, heat oven to lowest setting to aid in rising, then turn off.

Mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, mahleb and about 2T black seeds in a very large pot or bowl (I usually use a HUGE Tupperware), then sprinkle the yeast on top.

Make a well in the center.

Melt the butter and Crisco, then remove from heat and add the water, vanilla, eggs and milk. You don't want the butter mix hot enough to kill the yeast, but you do want it warm to activate it.

Pour butter mixture into well and, using your hands, mix everything together.

Cover with waxed paper and a dish towel and place in oven to raise for about 2 hours.

Punch down the dough and allow to raise for another 10-15 min.

Scoop out a handful onto a lightly-floured surface and roll/pat out to about 1/4" thickness.

Form into desired shapes - sometimes I'll use a large diamond cookie cutter, sometimes I'll use a pastry cutter to form diamonds. I'll make small braids or spirals out of some. Just be consistent size-wise per tray so they cook evenly.

Cover trays with dish towel and allow to raise again for about 45 min. By the time you get to the last tray, the first tray will have already risen for some time. If you don't have enough trays, stage on parchment and slide onto trays as they come out of the oven.

When you are ready to put a tray in the oven, brush tops with egg and sprinkle with white sesame seeds and a few random black seeds.

Bake at 350 for about 25 min until golden.

Once they are out of the oven and cooled, we usually freeze what we won't be eating right away in batches of 10-12 per plastic twist-tie bag.

Enjoy!

The Bastard of Istanbul

I really enjoyed reading The Bastard of Istanbul. While this novel frequently refers back to the Armenian/Turkey massarces of 1915, it also places a great focus on the deep connection that Armanoush and Asya form throughout the novel. While they are both of different ethnic backgrounds, Armenian and Turkish, they both seem to look past their cultural differences and focus on being friends over enemies.

While Armanoush introduces Asya to a bit of her world, Cafe Constantinopolis, Armanoush's fellow cyber friends quickly place Asya into the "enemy" category as soon as they find out that she is Turkish. In this online world, they seem to hold nothing back to Asya and ultimately feel that she is responsible for her people's actions, which is definately unfair. I am glad that Armanoush can look past their cultural differences and just focus on their friendship and overall peace together.

It is apparent that the girls have a sense of dependancy and reliance upon one another because at one point, Asya questions herself if Armanoush really found out her real thoughts on suicide, and her instability of relationships and sex, if Armanoush could accept Asya still as a friend. "Would Armanoush understand without being judgmental; could she erally, truly see into Asya's soul fromthe echelons of that sterile tower of hers?" (199), Asya wonders.

Overall, the obvious controversy this novel produced is apparent as Shafak references to the "massacres" of 1915, but if you look at the novel in a deeper, different aspect you can see the other angels and aspects the author tries to reveal.

Armenia and Turkey sign a historic agreement

As of October 10, 2009 Armenia and Turkey signed a historic accord, which will establish diplomatic relations between the two countries after almost a century of hostility. Armenia is looking to boost their economy and Turkey wants to prove they are ready to join the European Union.

Below is a link with the full article and a 11 minute news video discussing the treaty.

http://www.france24.com/en/20091012-armenia-turkey-sign-treaty-normalise-ties-week-europe

The Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide memorial in Yerevan, Armenia

Facts of the "Armenian Massacres"

"The Armenian Genocide" (also known as the "The Great Calamity by Armenians) occured on April 24, 1915 by the Ottoman Empire of Turkey was the systematic destruction of the Armenian population, killing over 1.5 million Armenians.

Interesting enough, the Armenians and Turks were at peace in the Ottoman Empire for centuries prior. This began to change when the inequalities between the Armenians and Turks were made more public and began to cause an uproar.

Armenians were not viewed as equals to the Turks. They were viewed as second-class citizens and had to deal with limited freedoms because they were Christian Armenians.

This massacre is the 2nd most studied case of genocide after the Holocost.

Recently, 20 countries have officially recognized the events of this time as a genocide, while 42 of the 50 states of the U.S. recognize these events as a genocide as well (Michigan is one of the states that does recognize this event as a genocide). The states that do not recognize this event are: Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

The Republic of Turkey (the OTtoman Empire) deny the word "genocide" as an accurate description of the events that occured during this period.

An Interview with Sylvia Axt

My grandmother and great-grandmother were both born in Constantinople, Armenia. While they had both moved to the United States before the Armenian Genocide, my grandmother remembers parts of her childhood relating to this time period and how it had an affect on her family overall.

While my grandmothers family did not speak of the Armenian Genocide within their household and tried to act like it did not happen because it was too sore and deep of a subject to understand at such a young age, there are facts and events that occured that were inevitable.

For example, since most Armenian last names end in "-ian," my great-grandmothers brother's last name was Karmanian. While he was living in Turkey as a business man during the time of the genocide, he ended up changing the spelling of his last name so the Republic of Turkey would not know he was of Armenian descent in order to protect himself. At this time, most Armenians who were working in Turkey also changed the spelling of their last name so it no longer ended in "-ian," and were not treated poorly by the Republic of Turkey.

Another interesting fact my grandmother remembers was that since Armenians are Christian, and the people of Turkey are Muslim, during the time of the genocide, the Armenians had to have tattoos of a cross on their face, hands, and arms so everyone knew they were Christians, leaving them at a greater risk. My grandmother also mentioned that during this time, the Armenians who had the tattoos on their inner forearms would keep their arm bent and close to their body, only bending it to show other Armenians.


Also, a few years ago my grandmother and great-aunt went on an Armenian cruise to simply socialize and meet other Armenians. During this cruise, they actually met some affiliates of the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, who was fired in 2006 by President Bush when he publicly referred to the 1915 tragedy of about 1.5 Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as a "Genocide," which signaled a change of stance in the U.S. government's position on the sensitive issue of the time period and could have been a prompt used to further antagonize Turkey on this issue.

In stance of the U.S., there are several official documents describing this event as a "genocide," and President Reagan also described this tragedy as a "genocide" in his speech on April 22,1981. Moreover, 42 of the 50 U.S. states recognize the events of 1915-1923 as a genocide, but since not all of the states publicy regnoize this event as a "genocide," President Bush did not feel it was appropriate to have a U.S. ambassador representing our country when not all of the states recogniz this event since the statements by John Evans were biased when he referred to it was a "genocide."

Paradise Now

The film "Paradise Now" gives you the insight of a daily lifestyle in Nablus. The two friends in this movie set out on a suicide bombing mission in the Middle East. This movie gives you a twist of what you are most likely expecting because it is from the views of the actual suicide bombers, when in most movies I have seen it is from the view of the victims.

One of the more shocking aspects of this film was my reaction and realization of what I would do if I were a Palestinian. This movie gave me the feeling that with everything going on the Middle East, we are mostly under the assumption that the Palestinians are after one thing. In reality, this film made me realize that the Palestinians do not know which side or what to do just as much as we don't as well. They are also put in the middle of the situation on what to do and what is best for their safety and lives overall.

With religion being a large part of the Middle Eastern culture, this leaves them with the questions of the acceptance of God and their other beliefs in higher meaning and beyond. I feel that they are now just taking each action and thought with the question and prose to please their beliefs in a higher power (God). They are doing what they think is right, yet are not completely and fully sure if it is the right thing and are still asking themselves about acceptance and pleasing God.

More Afghanistan commotion puts Obama on the spot

One of the news articles that I read online today was found on the Yahoo homepage and happened to catch my attention since it had to deal with the current events happening in the Middle East. The link to this news article can be viewed by clicking here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091004/pl_afp/usafghanistanmilitarypolitics_20091004030445

The article goes over if Obama should send more troops into Afghanistan...McChrystal, a military officer, believes that if the U.S. does not send more troops into Afghanistan, then the U.S. will lose the war. This situation provides complications not just for the U.S. and Afghanistan, but also for all of the Middle East as well.

Personally, I do not feel that sending more troops over to the Middle East will get us in any better of a position to end this war. I believe that sending more troops over will just complicate the issue even more and will get us farther away from peace between the two countries. Both the U.S. and the Middle East have faced many innocent casualites and more would come if we send even more troops over to Afghanistan. I do believe that Obama is faced with a difficult decision because he is searching for the best possible source of security for America, but it does not come at such an easy cost unfortunately.

Pride of Baghdad

The graphic novel, "The Pride of Baghdad," by Brian K. Vaughan is a novel that portrays much more than a simple storyline. Since there is not much text in this novel, the reader must pick up on the art and emotions of the characters (which is not hard to do!) The art and drawings of the characters in this novel easily give each character many distinct and bold emotions and personsalities. It is very simple to pick up on the tone the author and artist are trying to set in each section of the novel. The drawings bring a greater emotion to the reading that could not be caught through just text. It creates a better picture and mood of the storyline.

Aside from the artistic representations and the bold meaning they brought to the text, there was another possible thought of inner-meaning in the text. The battle between and tension beween the captive lions is something similar and relatable to the Iraqi soldiers. Personally, I thought this plot line to be that of the battle between Iraq and the United States. The lions represented the Iraqi soliders and the struggles they face. The lions face daily struggles, bullying, and tourture that are simliar to the soliders life in Iraq, which is why it is easy to see the correlation between the two!

The "Middle East?" Or...

The article, "The 'Middle East?' Or.../Arabic Literature and the Post Literature Predicament," was very interesting to me. My favorite section of this article was the Arabic Literature part. Mainly because I really enjoy learning about new and different cultures, their customs and differences between the rest of the world, especially other cultures in general. For example, I found it interesting that Arabic Literature the earliest group of fiction writers were in the 1920s. They belonged to the upper or middle-class and quickly developed a taste for European music, art, and literature.

Arabic narratives are known to have reached their full prime artistic maturity during the 1920s. This development occurred in Egypt by a group of writers who were actively involved in launching an "Authentic National Egyptian Literature."

I found it positively surprising that gender is not a key component in which they analyze and depict the problems and antics in Palestine. In 1982, for example, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon was led by women. Unfortunately, this does not mean the women and men are viewed as equals yet. In some literature these women are stereotyped as "unattractive, low-class," and even named to be "mad women." All demeaning and low characteristics to get such a gender. On the other hand, if this invasion would have been led by men it probably would have had a much different connotation.

"The History of Palestine"

I initially did not know much about the history of Palestine previous to this class. Just from simply watching the YouTube video of "The History of Palestine," I have already broadened my horizons concerning Palestine. For example, Palestine was once known and viewed as a land with a high level of people, culture and education. Since the first clash between the Palestinians and the Jewish in the 1920s, this has gone downhill. The tension between the Palestinians and the Jewish continued for many years past the 1920s...The Jewish population drastically increased in Palestine during 1932-1936 up to about 174,000!

The biggest aspect that stuck out to be during this video was during 1947 when the United Kingdom gave the situation between the Palestinians and the Jewish over to the United Nations. They decided to split the lang between an Arab state and a Jewish state. Keeping in mind that the Arabs were 2/3 of the population and the Jewish were 1/3 of the population, and nonetheless the Jewish ended up getting 43% of the land, and the Jewish ended up with 56%. Not only did the Jewish get more land with a smaller population, they also had the more fertile land.
...This aspect has got to be one of the most obvious that the Arabs were not favored during this time. They were clearly treated unequally and poorly to other nationalities and ethnicities during this time. The only thing that seperated the Jewish from the Arabs was religion and they were constantly treated as a lesser people.

The ending scene also shows a lot when it is stated that to get a citizenship in Isreal, all that is needed by someone is to be Jewish. Having a family tie, knowing hebrew, or any relation to Isreal is irrelivant...all that is concerned is being Jewish, which just baffles me because there should beso much more to it than simply someones religion!

Reel Bad Arabs

In "Reel Bad Arabs," the stereotype and facts stated about the Palestinian and Isreali people are extremely true and noticable in movies, news, and media overall. They are projected to be villified and dehumanized at every chance possible. Especially in movies, they are stereotyped in the same particular way each time...from the setting and surroundings (usually encountering a desert or some isolated location) to the characters and their personalities, the arabs play a degrading and unequal role. For example, in the classic Disney movie, "Aladdin," the opening song plays the lyrics, "we'll cut off your ear if they don't like your face, it's barbaric, but it's home." From the get-go, this movie already holds the stereotype of the arabs and the normality of all of it.

One aspect I learned were the three occurances in history that have helped to share the Arab stereotype/image:
1) The Palistine/Isreali conflict, in which the United States supported the Palistinians.
2) The Arab oil in the 70's, which made gas prices in the United States rise and angered the American people.
3) The Iranian Revolution

As the video played on, I was surprised at very large number of movies that involve Arabs and give them the same degrading and villan-like stereotype. They are always portrayed as the terrorists or viewed as lesser compared to the American characters. A more modern example would be the movie "Rules of Engagement" (2000), The U.S. soilders go over and kill innocent Arabs and victimize all, including women and children.

Overall, this video had me nodding my head in agreeance frequently because it is quite obvious that this stereotype is very true all around. While the Arabs are portrayed as the terrorists or the "bad guy" in movies, the question was posed...What do the Arabs think of us? There are thousands of American movies that involve Arab characters as terrorists or have them play in degrading or dehumanizing roles. While this is so, have we ever thought about how this makes them feel? To always be viewed as the bad guy, to be ostracized throughout a single country? They are people, they hold just as equal of rights, they have feelings and the same faults and successes that we all possess, yet are still thought of in a negative light. Personally, I believe this stereotype and these movies bring us farther from peace and are simply just seperating the different people of the world. While it is said to embrace our differences and how great diversity is, we are doing the opposite and what is worse is that we are putting these actions in the media for the world is see in full action.

Initial Thoughts

When I first signed up for this class, I had not heard or known much about it, besides the fact that I just knew I needed it as a part of my English major. After the first class period, I left anticipating the next class- a feeling I was not exactly expecting! I am really looking forward to learning more about the Middle East and the modern literature it entails because not only do I not know much about the subject, but the Middle East has become such a big part of our lives as Americans and has made a profound impact on the United States overall, especially after 9/11. As we all know, after 9/11 the way things are run in the United States dramatically changed and are still in full effect today. Alongside, it is important to be informed about the Middle East and to dig deeper than just the negative that has happened in the past between the Middle East and United States. There is more to the Middle East than just 9/11 and I am really looking forward to exploring more into this region and learning about its literature, culture, people, and history.

Another reason I am looking forward to learning about the Middle East is because my ancestors are from Armenia. My great-grandmother, great-aunt, and grandma are all from Armenia, and I have grown up hearing stories about their time in Armenia. One of my greatest childhood memories is having my grandma try to teach my cousins and I Armenian through cassette tapes and in person at family gatherings. I used to be able to speak basic Armenian (numbers, simple words, ect.) but unfortunately have forgotten them today but possibly one day I will get myself to learn more about the language (once I get through my Spanish minor, that is!).

Overall, I anticipate what this class has to offer, I have a good feeling it will be very beneficial and a knowledgeable class that I will be able to take and give a lot from!