Since we are not holding class this Thursday, take the time to research, analyze and compile a Thanksgiving special. This can be an actual performance, a proposed performance, a critique of Thanksgiving traditions, or a treatment of a relevant performance. You may want to consider any of the following: Williamsburg and/or Plimoth Plantation reenactment villages; performances by artists who have addressed some of the implicit issues of the holiday and its version of history (like the Gomez-Pena and Coco Fusco pieces mentioned in your text); the history of holiday's origins (who proposed and initiated Thanksgiving, when, and why. . .); family or community manifestations of the holiday and the accompanying social implications; or this project Christopher and I did a couple of years ago.
You should post your Thanksgiving Special as an entry on the blog. This could be in the form of an explanation, images of your performance, an essay, etc. Your entry needs to be posted on the blog by Saturday, Nov. 17.
Also, remember that you have a 4-page paper due by 5pm Thurs. (Nov. 15) by email.
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2 comments:
Turkey Day
Thanksgiving is an interesting holiday, it's one of the few secular holidays still around. However, Thanksgiving has been somewhat co-opted by various religions. I find it interesting that so many people embrace Thanksgiving in sacred and secular terms simultaneously. Why is it that so many Church groups participate in sharing turkey and pie, but won't share candy with children (Halloween)? Neither holiday is mentioned in the "Good Book." Apparently it's ok to celebrate the eradication of a culture as long as we lie to ourselves and say it was God's will. Look how much better off we all are. We didn't lose a culture but gain a vast empire. So for many, Thanksgiving is a day for thanking the gods or each other for our prosperity and freedoms etc. Never mind the plight of the remaining indigenous peoples of America. What are they thankful for? I'll bet they love the desert plot the government traded their lush farmlands for. They probably thank the government everyday, but especially on Thanksgiving.
Throughout my life I have wondered where the Thanksgiving holiday truly arose from and insofar my questions have been met with a dull silence. Until now do I know the true manner of this "holiday" from reading the project that Inst. Samuelson did on the holiday, regarding the disease and corruption that founded our beautiful country. What a shame. So what are we celebrating or giving thanks for? If we compare the classic thanksgiving story to our holiday seating situations are we the savages? While we feast and divulge in our prosperity the natives, who were pushed to the armpit of the country for the most part, can't quite enjoy the luxuries we as anglo-americans possess. Are we thanking God for our social heirarchy? The founding of our country and it's terms have always pained me, and to see that our evil ways are being celebrated every year makes me sad to be an American.
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