What most interested me was the different materials used throughout history and geography, as well as the different book forms there are. Of the books we saw, texts were written on stone, papyrus, parchment, and, finally, modern paper. And there were scrolls, accordion folds, codex, and modern books. I wonder to what level the book material and type influenced the survival of different texts. A lot of our perception of the past is based on the texts we have from different regions and time periods. However, that perception may be off-balance based on how many and in what condition books were able to survive. We likely know more about some cultures rather than others because those cultures had better materials for writing things down. The librarians said that papyrus is particularly delicate and often only survives in fragmented pieces. That means that cultures and time periods that predominantly wrote in papyrus are likely underrepresented and barely understood due to a lack of texts which survived. This shows how dependent our historical perspective is on chance—on what materials and technologies a cutlure happened to have accessible. It is also likely that scrolls and codex were able to survive longer than book types like accordion folds because they had fewer creases to tear on over time. Our historical perspective and context desperately depend on what texts happen to survive. It draws into question how reliable our analysis of history is because there may be time periods and regions we know nothing or little about just because the materials they used to write with did not survive through time.
What stood out to me at the beginning of Antigone was the parallel fight between Ismene vs. Antigone and Isma vs. Aneeka. Ismene—like Isma—took the logical stance of conservative protection, opting to sacrifice a proper burial of her already dead brother for the safety of the two living sisters. Both Ismene and Isma sacrifice a level of their integrity for the larger picture, knowing they would like to fulfill their religious obligation to bury their brother as they are supposed to. But at the same time, knowing that adherence to their beliefs would be detrimental to their lives. They both choose to look towards the future and what their—and Antigone/Aneeka's—lives could hold if they do the socially expected outcome of not properly burying their brother. They choose to avoid conflict in the name of safety. Whereas both Antigone and Aneeks cannot continue their lives if they sacrifice their integrity to abide by social pressures. Both of their lives are so dependent on faith and fa...
The issue of the survival of materials is definitely important--and in some cases the problem that precedes that one is cultural assumptions about what materials matter: many traditions don't survive because others did not see value in the way they told or recorded stories...
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