"Sprecken zie deutsch? Droppen zie dead!!"

For the culmination of our analysis of  A Wilderness of Sweets by Gilda Cordero-Fernando, we explored the differences between formal history and informal/alternative or counter-history. It's now your turn to apply the insights brought up in class to your own reading of some of your favorite historical/counter-historical stories.

Your writing task:

Write a review of your favorite or memorable work(or works) of counter history or alternative history. This can be a film, literary work, theatrical piece, screenplay, etc.

Give a synopsis. Identify the actual historical event that provides the setting, the backdrop or the central idea/theme of this story.

Critique the historical accuracy of this text and the artistry/technical level of the story(re)telling. 

Lastly: What is the value of this work as counter or alternative history? What does it contribute to our knowledge of history? or what is its significance (historical or otherwise)?

One of my favourite examples of historical/counter-historical stories would have to be a drama/comedy film that goes by the title of Stallag 17.

Now, Stallag is the germal word for prison, and thats exactly where this movie was set in. A prison camp for allied soldiers during world war II. The film stars golden era actor William Holden as the wise prisoner Sefton. The film depicts how the germans treated their prisoners, in the stories case the germans have a snitch amongst the prisoners, telling Prison Warden Von Sherbach about the prisoners plans of escape. The prisoners eventually know of this "snitch" because their otherwise secret plans manage to get leaked out everytime. During the course of the movie, the prisoners suspect Sefton as the snitch, because he always turns out to be the one's with the most appliances and the cleanest bunk(this is common in prisons where certain prisoners have it better than others) in this case it turns out this way because Sefton is wise and resourceful, his knowledge of the camp eventually leads him to find the true snitch amongst them, revealing the truth that no one can be trusted during times like this. The movie is primarily a comedy with two characters (Animal and Shapiro the prison clowns) though the show has some espionage elements, it still relatively remains lighthearted all throughout.

The historical aspects of this was it was set during world war II and it had several references towards bombings that the allies made, one of the characters in the story was a American Lt. that was arrested after bombing a train station. They also showed briefly how the "geneva convention" works during the war, prevention war crimes against prisoners and perhaps showing some sort of civilized acts against humanity. This of course as it was shown in the movie, was only superficial as when the so called "geneva man" left the camp all the prisoners were confiscated their amenities once again(heaters,coffee machine,blankets). Other instances also that have real life connections was when the local clowns decided to have a peep show on the nearby female bath room, it just so happens Russian females were being detained here, the russians themselves during world war II was dealt a severe blow by the german military, both soldiers and civilians alike were thrown in detention camps and such. Though the in-film story is fictional the time it was set in was a very real event. World war II itself was a entry, in the modern human history, that most people would want to forget. The horrors of World War II is long gone from today's world but for our grandparents this was an all too real fact of life, as the name suggests the world as a whole was in chaos, minus a few isolated countries. The movie gave a lighter feel to the events of that war, a "what if this happened" kind of thing.


The value of this work as a counter or alternative history is that the same of any other work of similar genre. It gives history a twist, it gives it details, it gives imagination to an underwise dull and uninteresting past. That in my opinion are the effect of such stories, we all knew how World War II started and ended, as a whole, history of course is written by the victor, but perhaps in this case we(people,director) can have a chance to add detail to that history or perhaps change it altogether. In this movie's case Seftan's story during his stay in Stalag 17 was a comedic/dramatic one, where many things happened not just the dull or even shall I say FACTUAL events that happened in real life. War in this case is not pretty, in the movie as well this was portrayed BUT it was given other detail such as the comedic duo and other fictional aspects. In my case, factual can be a bit boring, one example I can give (though this leaves the movie context) is the ever-present debate between Japanese/asian made videogames vs. Western based videogames. The trend I notice is that Japanese style videogames have more fantasy like elements, though still somehoe based around reality, they add a bit of mystery in it, common themes are genetic modification, androids, over-sized WMDs, diabolical plots. While in westernized videogames they tend to stick or at least have a closer grasp on reality with themes like, Terrorists, Gangs, Nuclear weapons. Although this may seem unclear to you, but long time gamers can detect the subtle differences in the developers' styles so much so to the point one can say "OH! this game is obviously japanese made." Going back, in my opinion once again the important aspect of these counter or alternative history stories i that they give extra detail on things that are normally, factual/real. Afterall that's why i/some people/most people watch/read/play these kinds of things, they do it to escape what is "real" or "factual". It's good to think differently or UNREALISTICALLY once in a while.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046359/ - IMDB link on the classic Stalag 17
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions - Geneva Convention
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/ww2time.htm - The real timeline of WorldWar II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_video_game  - check under Cultural Differences section

This second is too late

I hope you have so far enjoyed the contemporary stories in our reading list; specifically "Games" , "Documents," and "The Tale of the Spinster and Peter Pan." Here is a much overdue blog assignment to help you internalize and reconcile the themes in these stories with your own experience, and hopefully help generate ideas for you final projects.


1) The major difference/s between past and modern/contemporary life. (ie., in the PH or in Asia)
2) The advantages & disadvantages or the good & the bad of modern life over the ways of the past generation (compared to the first questions, this time you have to place value judgements. (ie., in the PH or in Asia)
3) Based on the stories, and on your experience, how big is the role of technology in our modern lives? What role does it play? What attitude do you have towards it? (ie., in the PH or in Asia)


Technology of course, technology is the main driving force and the main catalyst in today's world. In Asia especially, did technology influence heavily, possibly even greater than the western world. Most countries in Asia evolved, in terms of technology, very rapidly compared to the west, within the span of a century, most countries in Asia, especially the big three, China, Japan and Korea. These wired nations depend on the infrastructure that their respective leaders worked so painstakingly hard to build, and unless some unseen factor that may disrupt these systems may occur,which is rare, these countries get information at lightning fast speed(literally). Also take into account that these three nations all "evolved" or modernized in such a short amount of time. 30 or so years for Korea, around 40 for Japan and China clocks in within a decade. All these countries and of course other countries in the world, just a century ago lived in the dark ages, minus the US, Britain, Germany etc. In Japan for example, maps are no longer necessary, and even an inexperienced tourist will find his/hers destination with the latest smart phone map apps that are downloadable at every prefecture in japan, with unimaginable detail of course. One doesn't need to enter a shop to look at whats being offered, some Japanese apps can turn smartphones into hologram detectors where simply pointing your phones camera unto that direction will reveal a holographic arrow that can only be detected once you installed that app, very handy if maps aren't your thing. In Singapore, where a person just 30 years ago would have to walk from Orchard Road to Somerset which would take 30 mins. A person now, would make use of Singapore's efficient and punctual subway system that can rival even that of Japan and believe me thats only a trickle of what technology is available nowadays.   


This is where it gets interesting, as technology continues to evolve the undeniable change to its society is its consequence. The positives sure outweigh the negatives, this is obviously true as proven technology STILL continues to evolve.(It wouldn't evolve if it sucked) Everything is made easier with technology, how we get to work, how we shop, everything. One cannot imagine now a life without television, you can? Ok, try without an electric fan in the middle of summer, or without a refrigerator to keep our food. Didn't think so, old technologies create new ones, further increasing the effectively of society and making the world a GENERALLY better place sans global warming, but i wouldn't delve in that aspect. The most COMMONLY known negative effect of technology would be people become lazy cuz of the roles of machines and automated production, people back then worked and spilled blood sweat and tears as this is a valid point, this is also perhaps the most obvious of effects, I for one would like to tackle the effect that technology is actually making us "too fast" How you may ask? People nowadays, live in a world of technology, some countries more than others, but we all do. Thing is, we live in a world where everything is "fast fast fast", or as the koreans call it "Bbal ri Bbal ri Bbal ri", information NOW, products NOW, get to the destination NOW. If my memory serves me right, in Singapore there are very little ancestral homes remaining, most have been demolished for the sake of expansion of commercial areas, as we all know Singapore is one of the smallest countries in the world and here everything is based on how efficient things can accomplished, after all Singapore was built on the industriousness of it's people, now couple that with technology and a recipe of "self-incompetence" is made. People that are not fast enough with the trend, not fast enough in internet speed, not fast enough with the latest cellphone model are washed-out BOTH by say peer-pressure(we all know what that can do) and by the actual system, think built in obsolescence.(sorry we cant fix your PC, BUY A NEW ONE) 
   
 I for one cannot deny nor escape the fact that technology made me who I am today. No one can I guess, both the positive and negative effects are included of course. It's an unavoidable fact that everyone acquired a habit, a sense of the world or simply what's nice to wear thanks to technology. (I'm referring to media for this aspect). Computers are one thing, the information that flows through them via the Internet is another. In my opinion every year that passes, every new "thing" that comes out is exponentially better than the model before, (not to be taken literally in the case of handphones but you get what I mean). It took centuries before the printing press was invented, another century or two before the first typewriter first arrived on the shelf, the gap even grows shorter when the first computer was made, a mere decade since then when the first word processor was released. Now, we have smartphones being chucked out every month, not to mention the whole new "tablet" technology(iPad, Galaxy tab). As we progress into the future more and more of these things get invented ad infinitum. Isn't it ironic that the more people have these latest AND fastest gadgets the more they don't have time? My Internet is not FAST enough, my phone CAN'T do THIS, my iPod has TOO SMALL a memory capacity. I personally do not shun technology, far from it if I may say so myself, rather I shun the bare necessity of it. NO i do not need yet another iPod that has over 9000 gB in capacity because mine is at 8999 gB. NO i do not need a smartphone that makes coffee, 'cuz that's what a coffee maker is for. Sure a smartphone that has a camera is nifty, a smartphone that has GPS is handy, a smartphone that has a few apps now and then are cute, but seriously a coffee maker? (This can be a very real in a few decades) Nope, I dont need one, CUZ i have enough TIME to go to a coffee shop, get a fresh brew and smell the roses.        




http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=142943  A competitive world, insights on.

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/03/04/is-technology-failing-to-simplify-life-tim-ferriss-on-economistcom/  "Is technology failing to simplify life?"

http://www.convinceme.net/coldebate/980/Science-and-technology-are-progressing-too-fast-for-the-good-of-society.html  People proving to one another facts about technology and life, instead of just living. nerds