But on our second day of class, Dr. Kavoori introduced the notion that everything is a text -- every person, every city, every little detail in society can be read and understood. And for me, living and studying in Oxford has provided me with a whole myriad of texts, both literal and figurative.
The most literal example has been reading the recently-released Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (my copy pictured here). You might be thinking, "This is just a children's fantasy novel -- so what?" I'll admit, I think there's some merit in that statement because yes, it's about a young wizard in his adventures at school. But there's so much more to it than that. The Harry Potter series has addressed so many social issues that it's hard to say it's just a children's novel. For example, prejudice based on blood line plays a huge role in the books. Harry's best friend Hermione comes from two Muggle (non-magic) parents and another student, whose parents are both wizards, calls her a "Mudblood," which is a derogatory term meaning "dirty blood." Suddenly the reader realizes some people (including the main villain in the story) use blood line as a way to unfairly classify people. Then it truly comes to the forefront when the villain starts trying to kill students like Hermione simply because of her Muggle parentage. It's very reminiscent of Hitler's thinking during the Holocaust -- some people must be killed to "purify" society. So are the books still "just for kids"now?
But that's not the only text I've read while I've been here. Probably one of the most fascinating parts of the city is Cornmarket Street, which is literally a two-minute walk from the front gates of my dorm. Once you turn onto that street, it's like a whole different world has opened up in front of you. I've seen several guitarists, electric harp players, and other musicians on the sidewalk, playing their music and hoping people will drop donations into their hats or instrument cases.
There are also a surprising number of teenagers congregating in the streets most days in small circles, giggling and pointing and generally being obnoxious. My brother, sister, and I have termed such kids "feckless teens." They make up a large part of the general congestion of Cornmarket Street, especially when they play cards in the street in front of the local McDonald's or gallivant around with no regard for others' personal space. My apologies for not having a picture of said feckless teens -- I think you can imagine what they're like.
But if you look past the people wandering the street, you can still see the history of the street and the city when you see the Saxon Tower, which is located at one end of Cornmarket Street.
Our speaker before last night's High Table dinner explained that this tower was part of the original wall around Oxford, serving as a bell tower for the adjacent church and a beautiful reminder of what the city used to look like when this was built in 1050 A.D. And Cornmarket Street was (and still is today) one of the most important streets in the city -- because over a thousand years ago, all you needed to have was a church (by the Saxon Tower) and a market (in Cornmarket Street, no surprise there) to make a city. It's as simple as that.
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