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IO Mindmap - Coggle Diagram
IO Mindmap
2. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
The power of literature
Transformative
Liberating; method of escapism
Enlightening
Captivating, thrilling
Friendship
Luo
The Narrator
The Little Seamstress
Innocence to maturity
Growing up
Sexual maturity
Culture and history
Mao's Cultural Revolution
Personal history: semi-autobiographical?
Realism VS fable
The individual vs society
Longing for freedom
The seamstress' leaves the village
The oppressive control of society
Forces of tradition
Rural areas VS the city
Authoritarian state
Indoctrination
Fear of education and knowledge
Fear of the truth
Fear of independent/critical thinkers
1. Running in the Family
The past
Memory
Collective memory
Individual/personal memory
The fluidity of history -> postmodernism
Facts VS rumours (a 'well-told lie')
Displacement
Cultural disconnection
The Karapothas -> the 'other'
Yearning for a sense of belonging
Colonialism
Ceylon VS Sri Lanka
Ondaatje's Dutch ancestry
Lakdhas Wikkrama Sinha
Family
Reconnection
Father
Self-discovery
Alcoholism
Characterisation
Strong women
Ondaatje's mother
Lalla
Global issues
The romanticisation of the past
The vulnerability of history to time and perspective
The intersection of personal memory and cultural history -> impact on identity
The reassessment of history as a way of understanding personal and cultural identity
Common themes
Presentation of women
Lalla
The Little Chinese Seamstress
Mythologising history
Magic realism
Familial/personal history VS historical times
Postmodern approach VS fabulous elements
Culture and memory