Analyzing My Own Assumptions

This blog post will be a continuation of my analysis of my selected text. It will be guided by provided questions, displayed below.

Becker, Hallye "Screenshot of my computer" October 1st 2015

What cultural or social values doe we share with the culture in which the text was written?This article discusses the value of obscenity rulings and removing an anti-fascism book from shelves because of it's use of a swastika. Spiegelman vehemently disapproves 'Maus'  being removed from Russian bookstores, for reasons deeper than the fact it is his own graphic novel. It's a very American argument. Our culture heavily values freedom of speech, as does not have a ban on swastikas as other nations do. The idea that an anti-Nazi book would be taken off shelves simply because it uses a Swastika as an illustration seems absurd to us. This idea has endured so long mainly because it's clause rests in our Constitution, as is believed to be one of the founding principles of America. 

What cultural values do we not share? I tend to agree with the argument Spiegelman makes, and I tend to align with him. It could be argued that this is also about values we do not share with Russia and other European nations. For example, Spiegelman discusses his problems with his book being banned in Germany because of their ban on swastikas entirely. He talks about loopholes he found and petitioning for the book to have it's intended cover. It truly speaks to his tenacity, as he refused to simply change the cover. However, not enough was said in the article to really have enough fact to create a solid argument. This actually weakens his argument a little, seeing as his acknowledgement of the other side is minimal at best. 

If the text is written in a culture different from out own, what values do and don't connect to our own? This text was written based off of American culture and beliefs, though it does somewhat address Russian beliefs. However, it's discussion of Russia's values are so minimal that it would be hard to discuss Russia's culture based solely on this text. 

If the text was written in a different historical time, how have beliefs changed?This article was published in 2013. It is unlikely any vast changes in belief have occurred over the past two years

REFLECTION:

I read both Isaak and Evan's blogs.  After reading over their posts, I noticed we all tended to have a similar issue. Our biases and values tended to align with the speaker in our articles. While we didn't all necessarily agree on the basic arguments of the text (for example, I disagreed with Isaak that medication was the new cultural norm for weight loss), but the idea was the same. It made me realize I could definitely take a step back so that I could more effectively analyze this text. What piece of the puzzle might I be missing by only focusing in on one area? What extra research could I do to better inform myself and understand the cultural implications of this work as a whole? I'm supportive of the idea of this article, but should I delve deeper so I can understand it better and challenge the ideas presented to me? I'd like to get a bigger picture on this controversy, so I can have a better understanding and therefore better writing when analyzing the post overall.