In the film, Hanff desires above all else to visit London and walk the streets that she knows so much about through books. One particular line caught my attention when Hanff describes a conversation between her and a newspaperman. She says that the man told her that "tourists go to London with preconceived notions. I told him I'd go looking for the England of English literature, and he said: 'Then it's there.'" I now lay in my bed next to Machiavelli's Florentine Histories wondering what my preconceived notions of Italy are (I have yet to read about their "Histories"). What will I find when I go? I know Italians are under a lot of financial trouble and require aid from the EU and IMF. This has led to a lot of cuts in governmental programs and a lot of public unrest. Will I find Italy to be a state of protesting and poverty? I know that Italy has an incredible history in art, architecture, and science. I most surely will marvel at the anchientness of these histories, knowing full well that they no longer prosper as they once did.
My goal of these blogs is to write about what I have read about and what I have experienced in Italy, the first to please my Professors, the second to please my family and friends. I also want to communicate to my friends and family what I have learned at James Madison College, something I find hard to do. This is my first trip outside the United States and I want to do it justice.
I am going with my friend Joe Popek. We share a Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy (PTCD) major and have learned about "the greats": Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Hobbes, Locke, Smith, god knows who else. This is the first of my two majors, and it seeks to "sort out values and principles that have been most important to mankind." So far, we have learned about such fascinating topics as JUSTICE, the SENTIMENTS OF ALL HUMANS, PRUDENCE, MORALITY, THE ENDS OF GOVERNMENT, and again... only god knows what else. My other major is Comparative Cultures and Politics (CCP). This is the craziest major ever conceived. Honestly, my best description of it would include some mix of existentialism, cultural relativism, power relations, knowledge production, and understanding that YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! This major has ruined every movie, ever... even fiction. :(
Basically, my first major tells me what the great Westerners believed to be the best way of living, and my second tells me that all of that is hopelessly wrong. Wait... not only is it wrong, but it adds to our perception of knowledge that we use to justify what is correct and then we use that to justify our actions. Politically, my first major consists of mostly Republicans, and my second, almost exclusively Democrats. By the end of 4 years, I will surely be crazy. However, I will use both of these majors to describe my events in Italy, and maybe you will learn more about what I study at James Madison College.
This brings me back to that excellent film, 84 Charing Cross Road. It is a movie abound places imagined, never experienced both through letters and books. As I begin to read Machiavelli's Florentine Histories, I continue my imagining of Italy. When I step off the plane in Rome, I begin my experience of Italy. You however, read this probably not knowing or experiencing much about Italy except through popular representations largely circulated in the United States, such as THE COLOSSEUM, THE MONA LISA, and THE POPE!! I will try to bring interesting things I find in Italy to this blog, hopefully something that changes all of our perceptions of Italy! Wouldn't that be cool?
With that, my first post is done. Sorry it was so long. I'll try to make them shorter and less pretentious. I'm usually not good at writing and not sounding pretentious. Maybe i'll add in more emoticons! =D
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