Becoming actively involved in the world and in the lives of others is the ethical-active component of openness. The attitude is one not only of generosity but of joy, born of an open heart and an open mind.
Real
True Narratives
People do not always extend a hearty welcome to others seeking to enter their country, even for the best of reasons. Immigration narratives illustrate some difficulties encountered along the way to welcoming others.
- Hiroshi Motomura, Americans in Waiting: The Lost Story of Immigration and Citizenship in the United States (Oxford University Press, 2006).
- Lucy E. Salyer, Laws Harsh as Tigers: Chinese Immigrants and the Shaping of Modern Immigration Law (University of North Carolina Press, 1995).
- Rachel Buff, Immigrant Rights In the Shadows of Citizenship (NYU Press, 2008).
- Jia Lynn Yang, One Mighty and Irrestistable Tide: The Struggle Over American Immigration, 1924-1965 (W.W. Norton & Company, 2020): focusing “on the opening of America’s doors in 1965 to those once excluded . . .”
Imaginary
Visual Arts
- Norman Rockwell, And the Symbol of Welcome Is Light (1920)
- René Magritte, The Window (1925)
- Georges Braque, Harbor in Normandy (1909)
- Paul Gaugin, Breton Girls Dancing at Pont-Avon (1888)
- Georges Seurat, Harbor in Honfleur (1886)
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Film and Stage
Catholic priests have been subjects of several films illustrating the virtue of welcoming in the negative.
- Diary of a Country Priest, abouta mentally tortured priest who tries to minister to a remote French village
- Priest, a lookat the “tortured soul of a gay priest”
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Orchestra Boabab, “Pirates Choice” album, is Senegalese music influenced by Cuban and other Latin music. The way the players embrace music from across the ocean makes this a suitable entry for this topic. This disc is among the finest of all international recordings.
Youssou N’Dour is a Senegalese singer who describes his approach as Pan-African: “What all of us Africans share is more important than what we don’t share.” His album, “The Guide (Wonmat)”, offers numerous enticements for listeners outside Senegal, the employment of several well-known artists from outside Africa being less important than the creative spirit and artistry of the music.
Another Senegalese artist, Ismael Lo, has drawn on European influences. Here is a playlist.
Khadja Nin is a singer from Burundi whose songs display a similar openness of spirit.
Compositions from the Western Classical idiom:
- Franck, Symphonic Variations (Variations symphoniques), M46 (1885): trying new things, in the open where everyone can see and hear
- Dvořák, Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 21, B51 (1880)
- Borodin, Symphony No. 1 in E-flat Major (1867)
- Alfvén, Den forlorade sonen (The Prodigal Son) Suite (1957)
- Boccherini, Flute Quintets, Op. 17, G 419-424 and Flute Quintets, G 437-442
Albums:
- María Cristina Kehr, Krishnasol Jiménez and Roberto Koch, “Navigating Foreign Waters: Spanish Baroque Music and Mexican Folk Music” (ignoring the tragic history of Spanish-Mexican relations in the Baroque era)
Fictional Narratives
Novels:
- Sahar Mustafah, The Beauty of Your Face: A Novel (W.W. Norton, 2020): “The first 14 pages of Mustafah’s novel take place during a school shooting. We see the events unfold from two perspectives — the shooter’s (glancingly) and the school principal’s.” [on the acceptance of an immigrant in a school after a shooting]
Music: songs and other short pieces
- Jakob Bro, “Welcome”