Our first class began at 8:30 am, on the patio right outside the entrance of Casa Mennesiana. We all circled around a table to discuss The Italians (Barzini) and The Smiles of Rome (Cahill). Rabbi Spitzer pointed out the introduction of Italians, where Barzini explains that he intends his portrait of Italy to be akin to an artist painting his own mother. The author hopes to tackle both the beauty and the warts of the city, but always with the impetus of deep, abounding love. I often wonder how the respect Europeans feel for their homeland did not make it to America. Maybe, as decedents of European immigrants, we are more cynical about our birthplace because it is not truly our home?
The excerpt that Rabbi pointed out from Smiles was from "In Ruins" (Woodward). Woodward says, “When we contemplate ruins, we contemplate our future.” (60) But, he says much more than that, writing that ruins can also displace us, leaving us to cope with finding that “living, we cannot fill the footprints of the dead.” (60) I like to think that the footprints of the dead and the footprints of the living are one in the same. Without research, without life after great civilizations and rulers, the footprints of the past would have been washed away with the tide. Man remembers man.
The pieces that were emphasized in class brought about interesting dialogue, but the quote that stood out most to me was not mentioned. In Italians, Barzini describes the travelers who flock to the Spanish steps and asks, “From what unnamed and unknown modern crimes and horrors are these young foreigners fleeing? What mysterious emptiness in their souls is filled merely standing on Italian soil?” (13) There is this sense of utter wholeness that I have experienced in fleeting seconds here in Italy. I feel as if the world wraps her arms around Rome in a loving embrace.
As a class we toured the Colosseum and the Forum in the afternoon.
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When I looked at the ruins of the Colosseum, unlike Woodward, I did not see the future of my civilization, nor could I call up the unblemished love (or the love of blemishes) that Barzini introduces in his text. But, Woodward did strike a chord with his quote about displacement. Although I did not feel like the Ancient Roman civilization was damning the present with its monuments, I did feel a displacement of connection. Here I stand in a structure that I have studied, seen photos and movies of, heard about in Sunday School ... and I am in awe of the visual, but sickened by the brutality that took place here. +278.JPG)
The ruins of the Roman Forum exposed the seemingly constant contradiction of Rome: decaying structures and thriving architecture. As grass and broken stone littered the heart of the forum, a building stands in the background that was built by Julius Ceasar. I guess it is the clash of mortality and immortality. I loved the fact that the ground we were walking on was buried under some sixteen-feet of dirt for parts of history. The Forum has not always been accessible, but is is alive once again.
Throughout Rome, all of the ancient columns and buildings have been stripped of their marble and metal nails, exposing the brick and stone work below. The marble was melted down and reused to build structures by later civilizations. With this reuse-recycle mindset, I call up Woodward's quote about the future again. When I see the ruins of the Colosseum and the Forum, I can see the future of our civilization. It is not our eventual demise and decay, but the link we will provide for the future. People will take from this civilization what is valuable and leave that which serves them no purpose. It is not a chilling fact, it is the history of man sustaining himself on earth. Each civilzation has brought us to this point today and made it's distinct mark on man. I think that is why so many tourists like to return the favor by carving their names into the ancient stone of the Colosseum.
Alissa, thank you for your journal entry. It is a good start on what we mean by drilling into the experiences.
ReplyDeleteBarzini obviously put a great deal of time and thought into his book before writing. If you were to write your book about "The Americans" how would you characterize your "mother land?" Are there feelings of patriotism? etc.
I share your feeling of being torn between the building of the Colosseum and the activities which took place within it. Are there any parallels between that and some of our great architecture and the activities which take place in them?
And finally, when the footsteps of the past and ours are one, what benefit is there in paying attention to the past footsteps? Why study them? I would suggest it has to do with our ability to learn from their paths; making their successes available to us and their foibles and errors cautionary signs.
And I enjoyed your photos; they really give life to the journal.
Alissa,
ReplyDeleteI like how you brought up the fact that we as Americans do not seem to really appreciate our homeland like what Italians do, but I almost disagree with you. I think that yes, we sometimes do not like our town that we grew up in or the schools that we attended early on, but we take huge pride in our country! Most Americans take honor in the flag, the militia, and American made items. In fact if you go back to my town, you will see bumper stickers that say: "Don't put my American flag on your foreign car!"
Besides the taking pride in the town thought, I did like how you thought about all that you have learned, read, and watched about the coliseum and really it was a negative type of place, but you have to remember, we do the same over in America. We have executions, maybe not as brutal or as much pride in them, but we still participate in killing the guilty.
Alissa,
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I would like to say this was written extremely well. I wish I was able to express myself in the same fashion as you, but obviously we all excel in different parts of life with yours being writing. When you spoke of displacement of connection with the Colosseum, I could relate to this. We often marvel at what the Romans did and stand in amazement at their achievements, but when we think about the battles that took place, the number of slaves the empire had, and their general disregard to those who were not good enough it can shed a new light upon what the Romans were like. Lastly, I thought it was neat that where we walking in the forum was buried. Who knows what else is out there to found?