Author: Geraldine

For this blog post, I chose to read Foreign Bodies, by Peregrine Hodson from the Granta Magazine, Edition 46 under Essays and Memoir published March 1st, 1994.

The short story revolves around a horrible crime that occurred when a group of friends went to vacation in Morocco. There were four friends: Amanda, Roddy, Jane, and the narrator, who is dating Jane. As soon as the story begins, the narrator makes it clear that Amanda has gone home early because she missed her dog. The narrator also makes it clear that Roddy and him are friends, and that although Jane and him have been dating for three years, they know they will not be together forever and will eventually break up. While there, they have sexual intercourse, but both know that there is not a real connection there and it will end soon- probably when they return from the vacation.

On the last night there, they decide to go to the beach and watch the waves hit the coast. While there, a French guy comes and offers to smoke kif with them, which they agree. They engage in conversation, and eventually, two of the French guy’s friends join them. Their names are never given, so in the table, I simply call them “man one” and “man two”. As time passes, two more of the French guy’s friends come and they are soldiers. One is described to be thin and the other tall. In the table, I refer to them as “thin soldier” and “tall soldier.

When the narrator notices that they begin to speak in Arabic together, he gets a bad feeling and decides they should leave. As they begin to pack their things, the French guy attacks him. He tells Roddy to go find help and as he runs away, “man one” and “man two” run after him. The French guy keeps the narrator pinned to the floor and forces him to watch as his soldier friends take turns raping Jane.

After the rape is concluded, they all leave and the narrator is left with Jane, who is hurt. He holds her as they watch the waves and wait for Roddy to return (assuming he has outrun both men and will return).

I created a table on Google Fusion tables, which you can find here: Connections

Disclaimer: Creating a table linking everyone was difficult, mainly because very few of the characters knew one another or had any real connections. There are other limitations, such as knowing whether or not the French guy’s soldier friends and the other friends knew one another or were summoned there by the French guy. Additionally, we do not know how strong their bond is, though I am assuming it is strong if they planned a rape together. Additionally, because the details in this story were slim, there was no way to know the length of their relationship either.

 

I chose to focus on Digital Harlem, a digital humanities project focusing on everyday life in Harlem, New York from the years 1915-1930. The 4 people who created this digital archive were from Australia and chose to display Harlem in a different light. Rather than portraying life from black artists and the black middle class, as usually done when thinking of Harlem, they chose to chow regular New York City life. Their sources were mainly legal records, such as the district attorney’s closed case files, the probation department case files, newspapers, the committee of fourteen papers, and the writer’s program collection.

Their interface and research is mainly observed through their usage of maps. As we learned in class, maps are often subjective and can be created in a way to strengthen the point of view of the author, can be misleading, or easily misinterpreted. This is not all maps, however, as most are thought of to be historically authentic and not open to interpretation. Below is a map showing arrests from 1915-1925 without a specific tag. 

Although, I do not believe that these maps and the ability to thoroughly search through crimes is inaccurate, I believe that the authors might have been trying to show Harlem as a crime ridden neighborhood throughout those times. This is because even though there is a chance to look for searches including “weddings” and “parties”, almost 90% of the tags have to do with crimes, arrests, or illegal things of some sort. Just like David Turnball mentions that it is impossible for a map to absolutely show everything, it seems as if this map is specifically trying to show one thing: crimes. It might even reflect the point of view of law enforcement at the time, since being law enforcers meant that most of their word revolved around solving crimes, which led to crime being their lives.

I would propose to keep these same maps, instead of creating a whole new one, but change the title of the project itself. This is not a representation of everyday life, since I am almost certain that most people in Harlem at that time did not just rob, steal, deal drugs, etc. I understand that the authors do not want to focus on only black life, but I believe that they could focus on only crime (although it already seems they did) and could just retitle the project to: Crime in Harlem 1915-1930. If I could propose changes to this map, it would simply be removing the other tags, such as “weddings” and “parties” and tabs like “churches”. I would also find it interesting to have the mug shot of the person who committed the crime; that would be interesting to see there.

http://www.howtheotherhalflived.com/thedebateisover/index.html

 

I observed the Payroll by Job Class data set, which is based on the city payroll data for all Los Angeles City Departments since 2013. It is organizes into a very detailed spread sheet with a lot of useful information and is updated on a quarterly basis (when in its current year) to ensure accurate and up-to-date information.

The spreadsheet has dozens of data types. In the order from which they are read left to right, the data types are: year, department title, payroll department, record number, job class titles, employment type, hourly or event rate, projected annual salary, Q1-Q4 payments, payments over base pay, percentage over base pay, total payments, base pay, permanent bonus pay, longevity bonus pay, temporary bonus pay, lump sum pay, overtime pay, other payroll and adjustments, MOU titles, department class, pay grade, average health cost, average dental cost, average basic life insurance, average benefit cost, benefits plan, and finally, a job class link. A record in this database is whenever a row is added, in which each of these data types, or columns, are filled out for every individual and their position added.

Using Wallack’s and Srinivasan’s definition of ontology, I would classify this dataset as a meta ontologies. It is created by the state in an attempt to inform its citizens about pay roll in certain cities, yet the data might overwhelm or allude citizens who do not understand how to read data or have technological barriers to access it. Because of this, I believe that government officials, whether it is the mayor or a local city police officer, will find this information most useful and illuminating. This is not to say, however that a local citizen might wonder where their tax dollars are going to or how much the pay is for a certain position. Yet, I believe it is most useful to government attempting to figure out the fiscal year.

The phenomenon in this data sets describes the way pay increases as you move higher in the city ranks, as well as responsibility. It attempts to show how often and how much officials get paid in the position they are in, as well as how they spend that money when using government resources. However, even though this dataset is very detailed, I find it missing some things. It does not have the names of government officials, which might confuse people when they see the same titles. It also does not mention how long the person have been working for the government, which might result in confusion for differing salaries within the same position.

If I was starting over with this data collection and was someone else with a different point of view (and didn’t know it was made by the city), I would think this was a critique of how much government officials are being paid using tax payer money.

I chose to take a look at the “Finding Aid for the Collection of Material bout Japanese American Internment, 1929- 1956 bulk 1942-1956”. By first looking at the descriptive summary, I am able to get an idea of the kinds of historical narratives that comprise the collection. For example, from the title I know I will encounter narratives about Japanese relocation, specifically those publications released by the War Relocation authority, Japanese American internees and advocacy groups. I know that there are 4 boxes and a folder in English at UCLA, where I can visit with an advanced notice. Once I begin reading, the descriptive summary also tells me there is a placed emphasis on the Manzanar and the Minidoka internment camps.
Looking at the Container list, I see that the first two boxes contain documents, such as speeches, pamphlets, and annual and semi-annual reports of the years. Continuing on, the finding aid tells me exactly what I can expect to find in every folder in that box, whether it is a report or a speech. Through reading descriptions of each folder, I have concluded that the narratives include a lot of information on life in the camps, as well as speakers of the WRA using racial prejudice to justify reasons for the camp and explain how they would be beneficial to America. The second box focuses on the two camps mentioned above, with more detail on life, sports, entertainment, and even yearbooks of the graduating classes while in the camps. The final box has a more diverse array of documents, such as outside analysis of Japanese life and advocacy groups. The last box, also being from later times, depicts documents from people opposed and for the internment whom were “on the outside looking in”.
If I were to base my research only on the information I found inside these boxes, I think it would be incomplete. Yes, there are documents explaining the history, detailed account of life inside the camps, and the lives of people outside, but a greater scope is missing. Because the archive is mainly focused on two camps, I cannot assume that all Japanese American internees experienced the same life inside the camps. It could be that these camps were a lot different than the others, whether being better or worse. Additionally, I do not believe there is enough historical background, only minimal information on World War II and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Lastly, I believe the archive would benefit from more documents on life after the camp. To remedy this, I would recommend using this archive as a helpful aid, but finding a bigger and more diverse archive to facilitate one’s research.