Let me preface all this by saying that I did not understand what I was reading, and this was further emphasised to me when I read the sparknotes pages after finishing “Combray“.
I really wanted to fall in love with this text. In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust has an almost revered place in my home; my stepdad, who is at the beloved centre of our family first read Swann’s Way when he was my current age (20), albeit in the Persian translation. Since then, he has read it in English too, and is learning French for the sole purpose of being able to read all seven volumes of this masterful novel in the original language. I’m not kidding, Proust is the reason why he is learning French, and why the act of language-learning is a constant for us all.
I didn’t understand what was going on at all. I didn’t even realise that things were going on. I didn’t pick up a plot, I couldn’t follow the paragraph-long sentences—may I refer to a 192-word long sentence about buttercups—I was just lost. I remember asking my stepdad, who is a very intelligent man, if he understood what was going on when he was reading it for the first time at my age. He said that he didn’t, and that felt a little validating, to be honest.
Nonetheless, I did pick up a few small things. Now obviously, Marcel Proust and the narrator come from an affluent, upper-class background and, as with many writings from the early 20th century, there’s going to be some analysis about social class. I really liked the part of the story where he speculates about the appearance of the Duchess. He has all these theories and ideas about what she’s going to look like, before actually seeing her and being disappointed by her mundane-ness. She just looks like any other person in his social circle. She just looks like a person.
I’m sure that people have idolised the appearances of the upper class for many, many years. I think of European monarchs in the 1500s who would have portraits commissioned with their flaws concealed and their youth exaggerated, just to have the paintings taken around the country for their subjects to see what they supposedly looked like. I imagine there’s always been this notion that higher class automatically means more beauty, so it’s thought-provoking to see that notion shatter before the narrator’s eyes.
Also, I didn’t like that he pretends that Gilberte and the Duchess’ eyes are blue, just because he associates blue eyes with beauty. Sure, go on about beauty standards and all that but let it be known that I stand with my fellow brown-eyed people and would like to make it clear that brown eyes are also very beautiful and they deserve as much hype as blue eyes.
My question upon reading this part of the novel is that to what extent is the narrator’s relationship with each of his parents normal and/or healthy? Because I’m seeing some Oedipal subtexts and I can’t say I enjoy it.
Posted in Blogs, Proust | Tagged with classism, marcel proust, oedipus, perception, perspective
Let me preface all this by saying that I did not understand what I was reading, and this was further emphasised to me when I read the sparknotes pages after finishing “Combray“.
I really wanted to fall in love with this text. In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust has an almost revered place in my home; my stepdad, who is at the beloved centre of our family first read Swann’s Way when he was my current age (20), albeit in the Persian translation. Since then, he has read it in English too, and is learning French for the sole purpose of being able to read all seven volumes of this masterful novel in the original language. I’m not kidding, Proust is the reason why he is learning French, and why the act of language-learning is a constant for us all.
I didn’t understand what was going on at all. I didn’t even realise that things were going on. I didn’t pick up a plot, I couldn’t follow the paragraph-long sentences—may I refer to a 192-word long sentence about buttercups—I was just lost. I remember asking my stepdad, who is a very intelligent man, if he understood what was going on when he was reading it for the first time at my age. He said that he didn’t, and that felt a little validating, to be honest.
Nonetheless, I did pick up a few small things. Now obviously, Marcel Proust and the narrator come from an affluent, upper-class background and, as with many writings from the early 20th century, there’s going to be some analysis about social class. I really liked the part of the story where he speculates about the appearance of the Duchess. He has all these theories and ideas about what she’s going to look like, before actually seeing her and being disappointed by her mundane-ness. She just looks like any other person in his social circle. She just looks like a person.
I’m sure that people have idolised the appearances of the upper class for many, many years. I think of European monarchs in the 1500s who would have portraits commissioned with their flaws concealed and their youth exaggerated, just to have the paintings taken around the country for their subjects to see what they supposedly looked like. I imagine there’s always been this notion that higher class automatically means more beauty, so it’s thought-provoking to see that notion shatter before the narrator’s eyes.
Also, I didn’t like that he pretends that Gilberte and the Duchess’ eyes are blue, just because he associates blue eyes with beauty. Sure, go on about beauty standards and all that but let it be known that I stand with my fellow brown-eyed people and would like to make it clear that brown eyes are also very beautiful and they deserve as much hype as blue eyes.
My question upon reading this part of the novel is that to what extent is the narrator’s relationship with each of his parents normal and/or healthy? Because I’m seeing some Oedipal subtexts and I can’t say I enjoy it.
Posted in Blogs, Proust | Tagged with classism, marcel proust, oedipus, perception, perspective
Hi,
My name is Shanaya Acharya and I am in my 3rd year at UBC. I am majoring in Psychology with a minor in Commerce. I am originally from Nepal but I have lived in Dubai my whole life and I consider it my home. Fun fact: I also have a twin sister who studies with me at UBC which made the whole process of going off to university a lot more fun and less scary.
Honestly, I have always been nervous about taking any Literature courses. I have always shied away from literature courses because of how heavy the reading lists are and how difficult the readings can be. Additionally, although I enjoy reading, I have always found it challenging to write essays evaluating and analyzing what I have read. However, this course really captured my interest because of its diversity in readings and I’m very intrigued to read novels that have divergent origins, such as those from France and Spain and from Africa as well. I am excited to read novels written by men and women from different time periods, exploring a wide range of topics. Even though there are quite a few readings, they seem very interesting and I am excited to explore the differences and similarities between these texts.
I found it really interesting how, in the lecture, Romance studies was described as “belonging nowhere”. I like how we are not being tied down to literatures from specific places and are learning literature in a more global perspective. I also liked how we analyzed “Romance languages”. Rather than focusing on their relation to Latin, we focus on how they are diversified themselves away from Latin. Overall, I really liked how the lecture emphasized how Romance languages and learning and reading texts regarding Romance languages is something we can all share and does not have to be solely focused on a certain part of the world. I am excited to explore these texts and learn more about literature from so many various parts of the world.
I am hoping that by the end of this course, I become more attuned and aware of literature from diverse parts of the world. I am excited to learn about literature stemming from different languages can be so different, yet, so similar as well. I expect this course to make me a more well-rounded individual and hopefully, make me less intimidated and scared to take other literature courses in the future.
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with
Hi,
My name is Shanaya Acharya and I am in my 3rd year at UBC. I am majoring in Psychology with a minor in Commerce. I am originally from Nepal but I have lived in Dubai my whole life and I consider it my home. Fun fact: I also have a twin sister who studies with me at UBC which made the whole process of going off to university a lot more fun and less scary.
Honestly, I have always been nervous about taking any Literature courses. I have always shied away from literature courses because of how heavy the reading lists are and how difficult the readings can be. Additionally, although I enjoy reading, I have always found it challenging to write essays evaluating and analyzing what I have read. However, this course really captured my interest because of its diversity in readings and I’m very intrigued to read novels that have divergent origins, such as those from France and Spain and from Africa as well. I am excited to read novels written by men and women from different time periods, exploring a wide range of topics. Even though there are quite a few readings, they seem very interesting and I am excited to explore the differences and similarities between these texts.
I found it really interesting how, in the lecture, Romance studies was described as “belonging nowhere”. I like how we are not being tied down to literatures from specific places and are learning literature in a more global perspective. I also liked how we analyzed “Romance languages”. Rather than focusing on their relation to Latin, we focus on how they are diversified themselves away from Latin. Overall, I really liked how the lecture emphasized how Romance languages and learning and reading texts regarding Romance languages is something we can all share and does not have to be solely focused on a certain part of the world. I am excited to explore these texts and learn more about literature from so many various parts of the world.
I am hoping that by the end of this course, I become more attuned and aware of literature from diverse parts of the world. I am excited to learn about literature stemming from different languages can be so different, yet, so similar as well. I expect this course to make me a more well-rounded individual and hopefully, make me less intimidated and scared to take other literature courses in the future.
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with
Hi everyone! Welcome to my blog. I would like to start by formally introducing myself. My name is Yasmin and I am second year student majoring in political science with a minor in sociology. I am originally from Afghanistan but immigrated to Canada back in 2009. I have always grown up with reading and writing […]
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Greetings everyone! My name is Noor and I already graduated back in 2020 and have been working and traveling (mainly within Canada thanks to COVID). I was named after Queen Noor of Jordan, and a fun fact about her is that she was amongst Princeton University’s first female graduates. In my free time I like […]
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Hello! I’m Katrina and I’m currently in my final year at UBC as a Psychology major. I also currently work as an Early Childhood Educator assistant at a local daycare/early learning/childcare centre. Like many others, I also took this course for my literature (and final!) arts degree requirement. I was a little bit unsure and […]
Posted in Blogs, Introduction | Tagged with blog1, rmst202
Hi everyone! My name is Tierra and I’m in my second year at UBC. I’m majoring in International Relations and currently trying to decide if I want to minor in Political Science or Economics. The first question people ask when I tell them this is what I plan on doing with my degree, and my […]
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Hi everyone! My name is Simon Shiwen Liu, and I’m a first year student in the faculty of arts hoping to major in both human geography and international relations. I was born and raised in Jinan, China and later moved to Beijing, China for middle school. I later spent my high school period in Winnipeg, […]
Posted in Blogs | Tagged with
Hello! I’m Katrina and I’m currently in my final year at UBC as a Psychology major. I also currently work as an Early Childhood Educator assistant at a local daycare/early learning/childcare centre. Like many others, I also took this course for my literature (and final!) arts degree requirement. I was a little bit unsure and […]
