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The text The Society of Reluctant Dreamers by José Eduardo Agualusa is set after Angolia’s independence, which also reflects government structures and changes in that structure. The novel’s narrator, Benchimol, recently got a divorce and thus goes to a resort or hotel to be able to rest and recuperate. He’s also a journalist whole tends […] read full post >>

This course has definitely been one of the more unique ones I have taken (and I have taken quite a... read full post >>

Well we made it. In the beginning of this course I said that I wanted to expand my horizons and that has most definitely happened. I was planning on only doing 11 books but I was a little trigger happy … Continue reading → read full post >>

 In the text, Society of Reluctant Dreamers, Agualusa challenges the meaning and importance of dreams. In the book, they have the ability to appear in people's dreams, and one character, in particular, can dream about people he hasn't met and future things that haven't occurred yet. He can dream about the future. He uses this power to appear in everyone's dreams in Angolan to overthrow the government, a one-party state. This power over dreams is bizarre and not what we usually think dreams are. Dreams are funny, confusing, metaphorical tales that we become aware of in our sleep that don't always make sense and can arise hidden feelings or motives we would not know when we are conscious. In the Society of Reluctant Dreamers, this dreaming is not a mere confusion or weird story in our heads but a movement to defeat politics and the political authority at the time. This creates a collective dream among the whole population of Angolans and gives people the courage and bravery within themselves to stand up. As a community together, they are able to find the strength to come together and make a change. This power is crazy to think about and is something we would not see in everyday life. 

One question I have is, How can the unconscious affect us so profoundly? Especially when we are conscious and always careless about things and scared? 

After watching the lecture, I wanted to reflect on the point about how Agualusa uses dreams as a metaphor to bring change. Jon mentioned in the lecture how this was a metaphor for literature having the same effect. Literature is powerful, and words on a page hold so much meaning, especially in Romance Studies, where the words hold hidden themes and underlying thoughts/memories. I believe that literature has the power to create change. Just like our dreams coming to us in the unconscious, literature is an escape from reality when you read. It is somewhat a form of the unconscious, and that's why I think it has more power than words from people. Hearing things in the unconscious allows us to fully grasp the idea without adding our own bias from the natural, conscious world. 

This book had many themes of repetition and conflict between original and copy stories, just like the conflict between dreams and reality. For example, in the book, when the character meets the woman he previously dreamed about, he calls her a fake image of the woman he dreamed about, and she does not seem real. This challenges the tradition of dreams being a copy and reality the original. Agualusa flips it around many times. This book was sometimes hard to follow because of these confusing, non-traditional themes. Another example of bizarre is when a character tells the world that his brother is dead, but in the end, his brother is there in the political overthrow. Why was this hidden from the reader for so long? 

I am super excited to discuss this book this week and hope that I can further understand Agualusa's intentions and writing! 

read full post >>

 In the text, Society of Reluctant Dreamers, Agualusa challenges the meaning and importance of dreams. In the book, they have the ability to appear in people's dreams, and one character, in particular, can dream about people he hasn't met and future things that haven't occurred yet. He can dream about the future. He uses this power to appear in everyone's dreams in Angolan to overthrow the government, a one-party state. This power over dreams is bizarre and not what we usually think dreams are. Dreams are funny, confusing, metaphorical tales that we become aware of in our sleep that don't always make sense and can arise hidden feelings or motives we would not know when we are conscious. In the Society of Reluctant Dreamers, this dreaming is not a mere confusion or weird story in our heads but a movement to defeat politics and the political authority at the time. This creates a collective dream among the whole population of Angolans and gives people the courage and bravery within themselves to stand up. As a community together, they are able to find the strength to come together and make a change. This power is crazy to think about and is something we would not see in everyday life. 

One question I have is, How can the unconscious affect us so profoundly? Especially when we are conscious and always careless about things and scared? 

After watching the lecture, I wanted to reflect on the point about how Agualusa uses dreams as a metaphor to bring change. Jon mentioned in the lecture how this was a metaphor for literature having the same effect. Literature is powerful, and words on a page hold so much meaning, especially in Romance Studies, where the words hold hidden themes and underlying thoughts/memories. I believe that literature has the power to create change. Just like our dreams coming to us in the unconscious, literature is an escape from reality when you read. It is somewhat a form of the unconscious, and that's why I think it has more power than words from people. Hearing things in the unconscious allows us to fully grasp the idea without adding our own bias from the natural, conscious world. 

This book had many themes of repetition and conflict between original and copy stories, just like the conflict between dreams and reality. For example, in the book, when the character meets the woman he previously dreamed about, he calls her a fake image of the woman he dreamed about, and she does not seem real. This challenges the tradition of dreams being a copy and reality the original. Agualusa flips it around many times. This book was sometimes hard to follow because of these confusing, non-traditional themes. Another example of bizarre is when a character tells the world that his brother is dead, but in the end, his brother is there in the political overthrow. Why was this hidden from the reader for so long? 

I am super excited to discuss this book this week and hope that I can further understand Agualusa's intentions and writing! 

read full post >>

      Ok, so bridging off of Astha's post ("In sum..."), this is also an end to my undergraduate career, as well a one of the more unique courses I've had the pleasure of taking at UBC -- RMST 202. 

     Some flashbacks--I'm not sure if I became a better reader in this course by reading more, but rather by learning how to think more abstractly about novels. Usually, connections or metaphors seemed to far-fetched for me to consider being "true" about a book, however, it seems that this is often not the case. From this course, I've learned to dive deeper into metaphors and imagery, and to indulge my creativity and allowing myself the opportunity to imagine strange parallels, deeper metaphors and interesting imagery, as the meaning that I impart from this may have been exactly as intended (but no one really knows!). 

My favourite books from the course (in no particular order)

Black Shack Alley

Agostino

W, or the Memory of Childhood

In terms of general thoughts -- and perhaps this will be helpful for Jon and TAs -- the nature of the course was unique, but also rewarding. Portioning out what is ultimately a lot of writing throughout the term gives you an opportunity to both improve incrementally, as well as experiment with what and how you write. For example, if you have three essays per term, each worth a large chunk of your grade, there is an aversion to a "risky" idea, or a more out-there or experimental approach. By giving us so much freedom with our writing, we have the opportunity to grow as writers, try out new things, and find out how and why we ourselves write well. 

Lastly, as an overall reflection, I wasn't sure how much I would improve as a writer throughout my university career. I surely did, but I believe that it was more a product of courses like this, which deeply examine literature and writing styles, rather than my creative writing courses, which I wouldn't have thought at the beginning of my time here. 

Ok, thank you everyone! This might just be my final ever written assignment at UBC. Now it's time to go out into the world and "get that bag", as the kids say.

read full post >>

      Ok, so bridging off of Astha's post ("In sum..."), this is also an end to my undergraduate career, as well a one of the more unique courses I've had the pleasure of taking at UBC -- RMST 202. 

     Some flashbacks--I'm not sure if I became a better reader in this course by reading more, but rather by learning how to think more abstractly about novels. Usually, connections or metaphors seemed to far-fetched for me to consider being "true" about a book, however, it seems that this is often not the case. From this course, I've learned to dive deeper into metaphors and imagery, and to indulge my creativity and allowing myself the opportunity to imagine strange parallels, deeper metaphors and interesting imagery, as the meaning that I impart from this may have been exactly as intended (but no one really knows!). 

My favourite books from the course (in no particular order)

Black Shack Alley

Agostino

W, or the Memory of Childhood

In terms of general thoughts -- and perhaps this will be helpful for Jon and TAs -- the nature of the course was unique, but also rewarding. Portioning out what is ultimately a lot of writing throughout the term gives you an opportunity to both improve incrementally, as well as experiment with what and how you write. For example, if you have three essays per term, each worth a large chunk of your grade, there is an aversion to a "risky" idea, or a more out-there or experimental approach. By giving us so much freedom with our writing, we have the opportunity to grow as writers, try out new things, and find out how and why we ourselves write well. 

Lastly, as an overall reflection, I wasn't sure how much I would improve as a writer throughout my university career. I surely did, but I believe that it was more a product of courses like this, which deeply examine literature and writing styles, rather than my creative writing courses, which I wouldn't have thought at the beginning of my time here. 

Ok, thank you everyone! This might just be my final ever written assignment at UBC. Now it's time to go out into the world and "get that bag", as the kids say.

read full post >>

To be honest, it took me a while to figure out who the characters were and who was speaking. I... read full post >>

Over all the weeks of reading different literature, I can confirm, at least for myself, that Elena Ferrante’s “My Brilliant Friend” is the longest reading I have done for this course. The focus is mainly on the relationships among all the characters from the protagonist, Elena’s point of view. The theme(s) are oriented on the […] read full post >>

As I end this semester, I am also ending an integral phase of my life- that of an undergraduate student. With a lot of goodbyes coming up, I am in a strange point of excitement and nervousness. This semester, I … Continue reading → read full post >>