LA Politics

Eduardo Galeano’s Soccer in Sun & Shadow

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I do not know much about sports but Galeano’s work was a fun read. The writing is playful yet authoritative so it made the book easier to read. Anywho, I wanted to bring some aspects about how spectator sports like soccer are similar to the act of war in some ways, from the technical layout of the game, the politics associated with it, and its romanticization.

What I found most interesting was the comparison of soccer to actual warfare from pages 17-23 because it makes complete sense. Wars have been romanticized for as long as I remember (even with the fallouts of WW1 and the Vietnam war) as with key figures being iconified in history. Political decisions obviously depended on who won and who did not and who would gain territory; soccer players and those betting on them would decide who would rise to fame and receive money while the losers become more invisible. With soccer matches being romanticized and representing pride and dignity, countries began to use their teams to promote nationalism and economic endeavours, as with gaining new territory and building an army, down to the matching outfits. Just like Jon said, soccer can be a whole course, because even though I do not know how to play soccer or the teams, the game itself is a far-reaching phenomenon that can be used in reference to most in life.

In another realm of popular culture, I also found it intriguing that the poorer folks in Latin America appropriated soccer from the upper-class English rather than vice versa that brought the game to the continent. I automatically assumed soccer came from Latin America because of how fused it is with everyday life but I was wrong. The game also emphasizes a few themes like machismo and opportunity. At the beginning of Galeano’s book, he notes how it is every young man’s dream to rise up the ranks, become famous, woo every woman and become wealthy through soccer while also including that a lot of players in Latin America reference the soccer ball as a woman because it is loyal (21).  A lot of things to unpack there. The woman in both senses is objectified figuratively and literally and feeds into the narrative of manliness. This narrative also serves to gatekeep women from playing soccer or being paid equally if they do. And to bring it back to the war comparison, women were expected prizes when men came back from war successful or participated in tournaments. Soccer’s chauvinistic roots live on.

My question for the class: what do you associate soccer with?

The Cultural Life of Coca

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I greatly appreciated this rather short article. It was purely anthropological and did not criminalize coca and by association the people who harvest it, as I find most Western media does.

In her abstract, Alison Spedding does note the stigma associated with the plants that narcotics derive from in the U.S., especially in context to the war on drugs. However, these plants, and in this case the coca plant in the Yungas region of La Paz, has a greater significance for the social fabric across the different cultures in Latin America. One of my favourite examples from the text is that the life cycle of the coca plants is equated to a woman by the Yungas people. There is the direct correlation of plants literally representing life, and thus the life cycle of a Yungas household, but also being fertile and bearing ‘fruits’ like women are traditionally associated with.

And just like the people, plants also hold a socio-historical significance. The excerpt

“After the coca has been picked, the process of drying converts it into a beneficial ancestor, parallel to the dried corpses of the ancestors whose cult was so important in the Andes until the [Spanish] extirpation campaigns of the seventeenth century.”

as well as the dated Cajatambo idolatry trials of 1656 demonstrate how coca has been used and adapted over time but has also been seen as a cultural threat to colonial sovereignty. The plant was so tied to the Indigenous identity in Bolivia that the Spanish sought to extirpate it in the 17th century. Parallels can be drawn to the same demonization of drugs in the US because of their association with self-medication and a foreign presence. Drugs in and of themselves hold no meaning until we give it a narrative, and so it is interesting how we can go from one extreme where we can value the medicinal properties of coca, to where we weaponize the idea of it as a political tool.

Moreover, South America is not listed as one of the continents associated with drug addiction but North America (excluding Mexico) is (UNODC 2019). So the stigma itself is hurting people where it is most prevalent, making it difficult for people to seek support or access unbiased education around illicit drug use. Popular culture, however grand in scale, is so important when disseminating information because of the numerous forms it can take and how abstract it is. A famous study conducted by SFU professor Bruce K. Alexander also notes the implications of social vs. individual use in his famous experiment ‘rat park’, with his findings suggesting that the mere exposure to drugs will not prompt individuals to get addicted as popular western narratives have suggested.

The concept of drugs is a multi-faceted discussion that can go on for hours but perspective is definitely critical for when we choose to project our own cultural values onto objects or practices.

What are some projections of drug use culture that you have seen in the media? Who was producing that narrative?

 

Castellano’s Cooking Lesson

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Rosario Castellano’s literary piece Cooking Lesson felt familiar and yet so foreign. It reminded me of the pain and invisibility the women in my family have endured, and the praise that follows for taking it in silence.

The narrative follows a housewife candidly thinking to herself about the traditional expectations of women while trying to grill broiled beef. Moreover, the cooking of the beef is the metaphor that runs parallel to her discontent with her husband, married and family life. For a piece that was written in 1961, I was surprised by the explicit descriptions of her sexual relationship with her husband but maybe that was the point. To use that stark contrast of the modesty assumed of a woman (and heavily catholic and conservative Mexico) and the reality that consists of doubt, improvisation, and discomfort at times.

For a more political theme, the theme of ownership between a man and a woman is one that I remember discussing in a history of Mexico class a year ago. The particular passage about the protagonist’s maiden name and new surname not being her own is something that resonated with me because it represents the transfer of custody from one man to another. Although this theme has been discussed repeatedly, this dynamic is still prevalent because 1961 is only a generation away from me, and lived through by generations who are still alive today. It is difficult to believe that we have fully healed from what has been ingrained and taught since time and Immemorial. We can talk about it, but it will never fully go away. At least in our lifetime.

In that sense, Castellano’s dialogue with herself as the protagonist is an echo of what can be considered a cultural memory. The lived and shared experiences of women across Mexico, as well as borders and time, are what make this literary work empowering. In addition, there is comfort in the uncomfortable. Being openly vulnerable about the intimacies and insecurities that come with any relationship is an invitation for any reader to see themselves and emphasize. Thus, the cooking lesson for me, metaphysically, is that you are in control of your own narrative, as Castellano is.

Overall, I really enjoyed this piece and was torn between writing about the Cooking Lesson and the article about the Zapatista corn article.  My question to the class – how did you interpret the beef metaphor?

The Pongo’s Dream

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I thoroughly enjoyed this piece, although the ending was a bit disturbing to visualize haha.

The six-page chapter follows the story of an “hombre Quechua moderno”, or in this case a lowly house servant (Pongo), who was wildly obedient despite the abuses he faced on a regular basis. The pongo never spoke, which was one of the main reasons his landlord picked on him out of all the serfs, until one day when he recited a religious metaphor to his landlord that would reward the quiet serf for his suffering and punish his oppressor in a revolutionary call.

There are many elements in this short story that I would like to address but I will briefly address only two. I think one of the most obvious points is the hierarchy of power built on racism. Throughout Latin America, there was a social system “La Limpieza de Sangre” or the cleanliness of blood (and the legacy of this system is alive and well today) created by the Spanish that relied upon blood quantum to determine everyone’s role in society.

The Silent Bell piece also exemplified this concept a bit with the Indigenous nun being too poor to give jewellery so the clergy wanted to sacrifice her ‘golden’ eyes instead. However, in these two examples, the golden eyes and the golden honey that the Pongo licks off the landlord as angels in his metaphor signify a purity contrast to the traditional form set out in feudal LA. The endless sacrifices made by Indigenous people and their good nature challenges the status quo with a more meritocratic form of justice.

Religion also plays a large role in popular culture in Latin America, so it only makes sense that the Pongo’s Dream (and the Silent Bell) heavily references it in the story. Catholicism was used to assimilate Indigenous and African groups after the conquest in the new colonies and eradicate cultural pluralism to make the administration of the colonies much easier. Political context aside, when the Quechua house servant with no name spoke metaphorically in reference to Catholicism, such as using the name of Saint Francis for the landlord to understand, It was as if he was speaking on behalf of the whole peasantry that the erasure of Incan cultural autonomy had no basis despite what has been conditioned and forced for centuries. The Pongo was a modern man because he was no longer silent to place the feudal system as obsolete.

Question for the class: Do you think that there is any other idea or imagery that serves as a microcosm of what is taking place throughout this piece?