INTERVIEW THREE                      DATE: OCTOBER 11, 2012

INTEVIEWED:  AMATOGA JÉRÉMY                 INTERVIEWER: Jefferson Caicedo

Place: Universidad Del Valle- Melendez                Length: 14:25 Min.                 Hour: 11: 44am

 

Jefferson: Good morning.

Amatoga: Good morning

Jefferson: Nice to meet you.  Thank you for accepting this interview.

Jefferson: Amatoga is a Fulbright -scholarship -holder and she is majoring in Spanish and Literature.  She is from USA and this semester she is going to be with us helping us in our projects here at the Valle University.

Jefferson: Today we are going to talk about this book written by Ray Bradbury, called Fahrenheit 451.  This book was published in 1953 and this semester we are reading it and I would like to outline, to point out some interesting aspects about the book that I found. 

Jefferson: I would like to begin asking one question:  No accept to knowledge can be assumed as another way to enslave people, is it possible to perceive this.

Amatoga: Well, considering that I did not grow up in the Colombian context and I don’t have enough/any historical or political background, and, on the topic I’m going to speak generally about this.  So, do I think that…um ignorance or the lack of enlightenment can be assumed can be used to enslave people? Yes I do because it has been done.  In the American context during the American slavery um African-Americans were no permitted to read to, to may how to read, to may how to write; therefore, they did not have access to books or education.   The education system for Africa-Americans slaves started in 90^th early 20^th century.   And so yes I do think that it can be used to enslave literally, so when it comes to the Colombian context.  And, metaphorically speaking unn it wherever see inaccessibility to books, unn or a lack of education can be used to kind of sedific, right.  To make them ----------, to make them afraid of---------------------------or thinking critically about their world and about their life because when you read it opens up your imagination and introduces you to-------- views.

Jefferson: What you said is really interesting.  I would like give or to say to what extend or how can we perceive this?  Can you give some examples about it nowadays? (Particularly?) How people is being put away from the access to knowledge, how people is been forbidden the access to knowledge.

Amatoga: OK.  For example umm at TAX University since the 1960s, there have been students who’ve been trying to fight for an African studies department.  An African studies department allows for all students to kind of having alternate view of how the world works. So everything is forming American U.S. central point of view.   For example when you learn about ancient history or is not about ancient history now. But this will be a very good opportunity for students about civilization in the East.   Asian civilization, as well as African and central Asia, some Russia and other places.  And finally, we’ll see that the African-American department has been established but during the period when we didn’t have it, it was…it was inaccessibility to certain kinds of knowledge because the university did not want to challenge the status quo.   They wanted to keep the curriculum the way it is because once you start learning that ancient reason room was not----------------right.  What happens?  You feel like someone has been lying to you and that you’ve deceived.  So that’s, that’s a very confused example.  Also books banning still continues in the United States.  There are list of censured books.  (Jefferson):  OK, don´t move ahead form the topics, (Amatoga: It just was to give two examples) thank you, thank you so much.

Jefferson: And the other question I would like to ask you is: Books are a mean to acquire knowledge; can we conceive a world without books? And how would be that world, without books?

Amatga:  And can we in our ----- position conceive other worlds without books? No, but do a world without book exist? Yes; and does a world without books continue to exist? Yes, because there are many umm nations, groups of people all of the world who still depend on oral traditions and they do not write their names down and if they do, some of them on hieroglyphics for instance.  And paintings and drawings, ------and other things that we consider art work but it’s actually…. Even in South America, descendants of the Mayans, Incas, Aztecs, use key books umm they use other forms of umm, umm (communicating) communicating and convening for meetings.  So is this hard to believe? No because there are people who still live in this place; but, but us in academia, can we consider another world without books? No because we never had to leave-----.

Jefferson:  OK.  Thank you.   I’m looking for one excerpt from the book…uhm, here.  Eeh.  On page 125, I would like to quote something that the author says here.  He says.   “Well, the world can get by just without them” (referring to the books).  So Bradbury himself, I think that I don’t know; what’s your opinion about this excerpt.  Maybe he is considering that the world we live can get by without books or is eh a way to criticize the way…because as you know… I know you got to what the book is about.  And in the book they burn books.  It’s the main topic of the book.  Someone states here “Well, the world can get by without them” (referring to the books).  What is your point of view?

Amatoga: Um… Well, Is that a very hard question to ask, especially considering that Bradbury talked himself.  So out from high school he didn’t do college ------- it. And so He spent all his time in the public library; and so books were very important in his life.  And…I think that… I think that we will be able to get by without books.  Why? Because there is enough of us that already have knowledge from the books that we’ve already read and we can convey orally, but I also think that if there is an ephemeral time where we do not have books anymore, we still have enough to read and still think that people will read in secret.  So we avoid the accessing of books ---- to them? I don’t think so.

Jefferson: OK.  The last question I would like to talk about is:  Having information is a mean to have power, to control and influence others, in which way can we notice this?  How can we notice this ah, ah…way to control to influence others using the information or the knowledge? If you cn… I mean, generally or because…as we talked before; you are not very deep in Colombian context.

Amatoga: Yeah.  For example, un, yeah, for…Hun and I can’t be in context (Yeah but you can be more general) yeah.  Umm, it’s like a----- assumptions to me.  Assumptions about------…… Well, OK! So here how students and what higher education does, that it gives you the knowledge to be able to do more with your life.  So when you go to college you need enough in order to have a regular job; it’s like you’re not going to for instance, so tricky industry after college.  That is unusual ---what you to do, but you go one/want to be you know a business man, you’re going to be a doctor, you’re going to be a politician --- you know smarter who researchers or things like that/who think li that; and so what happens is that we… information that you have, the majority of the Colombians don’t.  So for instance when you think on a politician, or doctor, or a researcher wherever knowledge that you produce, people tend to believe you and you can control their mind in that way, right, because they don’t hove… For the most part, I’m not talking about individuals but for the most part, they don’t have the information to challenge you, right, but you do.  So we who are here; even though we don’t have the-----------, we still hold the right to power because of what we know.  What we know how Colombian government, Colombian politics and society.  That, the…Majority of people don’t know, right? So I guess that could be an example.

Jefferson:  It’s been said that, that eh… This information you are talking about uhm… Sometimes… We, we already talked about, the lack of ... there, the no accept to the information or the knowledge but at the same time there’s am, sometime there is a lot of information that can get you distracted.  It’s another topic that the author touches here in the book.  So I would like to quote uhm… one excerpt from the book…… OK. Here, OK.  He says “Betty yet give him none.  Let him forget there is such a thing as war.  If the government is inefficient, top-heavy, and tax-mad, better it be all those than that people worry over it.  Peace Montag.  Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs or names of state capitals or how much corn Iowa grew last year.” So here the author is talking about how sometimes the government or the system use the power or the information to control or put a lot of information just to get people distracted or get concentrated in aspects that are not really such important.  What your opinion about this?

Amatoga: Well, I mean beside ----- mind the politicians, I mean it’s just a matter of the context, but I’m sure that you, your---- has heard uhm, ah … you may have listened to another’s president campaigns for instance.  Maybe other political leaders; and they distracted with the bunch of statistics, they distract with things that are going to be, but they never tell you what they’re actually doing, or how are they’re actually solving the problem, but they’re throwing other information ------ so thus you get lost in the information, right.  Uhm… what else? Advertisements for products.  Is very pretty the product, you know you’re gonna distracted by oh my God! It’s like if I… you know, I drink these pills.  I guess I’ll be skinny for instance and then you tend to forge the like whole problems that are associated; that’s just like an example.  So I mean in the Colombian context if/I think people will be most important will be like politics and how politicians distract you with all this information and they don’t believe on/they will be done.

Amatoga.  Thank you a lot for a lot for your time, for accepting this interview and hope to meet you in the future time.

Amatoga: Thank you for having me, bye everyone.