Monthly Archives: January 2017

Reaction to Folktales

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I will explain in this blog post my reaction to several folk tales from Latin America: four legends from The Mirror of Lida Sal: Tales Based on Mayan Myths and Guatemalan Legends, by Miguel Angel Asturias; and the tale “The Pongo’s Dream” by José María Arguedas.

As we have seen in the previous readings, folk tales can be considered part of what we call popular culture, because of their traditional origins and of their broad audience still today. Those five tales also allow to have an idea of what a folk story can aim to do: criticizing the social order, among other things, or ensuring the survival of the knowledge of certain traditions or civilization.

As we are told by the text, “The Pongo’s Dream” is actually a tale that José María Arguedas adapted, introducing a twist at the end to reverse the initial message of rigidity of the social order. Arguedas seems to predict an eventual but inevitable change that will bring justice to the peasants and put an end to the unquestioned authority of the landowners. I believe this is an example of a politically engaged folk tale.

As for the tales written by Miguel Angel Asturias, we merely know from the title of the book that they are “Based on Mayan Myths and Guatemalan Legends” so we don’t know to what extent they were adapted. Given their content, we know they were necessarily written after the conquest of Latin America.

The aim of Legend of the Singing Tablets is very different from the one of The Pongo’s Dream, I believe. The plot is quite confusing, especially the ending, but I think the tale is supposed to transport the reader to a very ancient and mystical time, with unfamiliar Mayan myths like the tradition of the Moon-Chewers poets.

Legend of the Crystal Mask, surprisingly, doesn’t address that much the Spanish invasion (even if its story is situated after it), rather focusing on a Mayan religious stone-carver in exile, and his struggle to respect his vows despite his desire to use more precious material. The end is again unclear and I don’t know if the carver is murdered by his stone sculptures because he broke his religious vows by crafting the Crystal mask or because, like the “Priests of the Eclipse” seem to say, they would always have rebelled against him anyway (making the Crystal mask irrelevant to the plot).

I liked in the Legend of the Silent Bell, even if it is only my own interpretation, that one can find similarities between the Christian cult as it described in the tale and the Mayan sacrifices that preceded them in the country: the theme of sacrifice and execution as spectacle is present during all the text.

Finally, I suppose the Legend of the Dancing Butchers is one of the tales that the author modified most. It seems like a transposition of indigenous mystical elements (the witch that is said to grow back arms, the trickster entity, the metamorphosis) in a more contemporary setting (the cigarettes, the town).

Reaction to The Faces of Popular Culture

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I will develop in this blog post my reaction to the text The Faces of Popular Culture, by William Rowe and Vivian Schelling.

The text describes exhaustively a large number of elements that the writer attributes to the popular culture of countries such as Mexico, Brasil, Chile, Argentina and those of the Andean region. Oral traditions (like duels of poets), literature (like the Literature of cordel), religion, carnivals, dances (like samba), television (with telenovelas) and sport (with football) are studied.

Though the exhaustiveness of this text allows us to have an idea of concrete examples of popular culture in Latin America, I think The Faces of Popular Culture is also useful in determining the ability of these elements to evolve and the factors of such change. The writers explain that, in a first time, it was a combination of native culture / African slaves’ culture and of the colons’ culture in some sort of equilibrium, with various interpretations sometimes possible at the same time. But regularly, William Rowe and Vivian Schelling elaborate on how urbanization and the rise of capitalist society disturbed the popular culture, in its form and in its goal.

I can develop the example of the folhetos studied in the text. Folhetos are books containing a story written in verse which were created in rural communities, having evolved from a tradition of oral poetry. In the past, they had a cheap, wooden cover and they never aimed at challenging the social order. But within a “modern” capitalistic culture, they are massively printed, with covers reminiscing of comic books, and criticize much more vigorously the conditions of the poor. Therefore, the folhetos are now “popular” because they are the product of a rural tradition and because they address the issues of the living condition of the working class or of the rural populations.

Finally, another point I found interesting was the relation between popular culture and mass culture / the culture industry. At one point, the writers explain there is a disagreement between scholars as to what this link is: are they opposed, are they the same thing, is one of them included in the other? I think Rowe and Schelling believe that mass culture is actually part of popular culture, without being its only form. Even if we find its products have less value compared to more traditional ones, they are consumed by millions and they can evolve to reflect the minds and the demands of the people.

Reaction to My message

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I will explain here my reaction to the reading of My message by Eva Perón. She wrote this text shortly before her death by cancer and this was a way for her to address her final words to the Argentinian people, to justify her and her husband’s struggle, to identify the enemy and to express her dying wish.

Evita continuously explains she never forgot her poor background and has always remained loyal to the “people”, which she almost qualifies as a separate species: one that is cruder than that of the oligarchy, but also more loyal and humane. She regularly reaffirms that her husband has always fought for the betterment of their condition, instead of living a life of privilege. I think the way Evita calls to the needy and sympathizes with them aims at justifying the political movement and the leadership of her husband, but at the same time her work for them actually proves her honesty.

She warns the “people” of the main enemies they face in this battle: the military, the clergy, the oligarchs in general but also the indifferent, those who do not feel violently convinced by Peronism. She calls to the passion, to the fanaticism of the people to prevent political or military opponents from overthrowing Perón.

The tone of the text is overly optimistic and grandiloquent. Evita appears sure that the population can form a coherent force dedicated to the common good and that the demonstration for the liberation of Perón was an example of this. However, this same event is exactly the same as the previous reading of the week, A celebration of the monster by Jorge Luis Borges: Borges stated that such dedication and unity are not to be expected.

It can partially explain why Peronism is controversial. Theoretically, it has a benevolent goal of helping the poorest of the country but it mainly relies on demagogy and fanaticism.

Reaction to A celebration of the monster

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I will explain here my reaction to the short story A celebration of the monster, by Jorge Luis Borges. A celebration of the monster depicts Argentinian youths who join the Perónist movement (the “monster” regularly evoked in the short story is most likely referring to Perón) as a band of erratic and chaotic people instead of proud patriots.

They constantly seek to sell the guns they were given to participate in the demonstration, they burn down the bus that was carrying them, they need an authoritative figure using constantly punishment to keep them in line and they end up killing a Jewish student for little reason before trying to sell his clothes covered in blood. All of this does not prevent the narrator from praising the Monster from time to time and the lack of faith the student had for the Perónist figure supposedly leads to the eventual murder.

I suppose Jorge Luis Borges expresses in this short story his skepticism of the Perónist movement, or perhaps more broadly of all populist movements. This collection of young, violent and uneducated people gathered for an event dedicated to the Leader cannot become a coherent group moved only by patriotism. I think this statement is made as an irony, given the generally humorous tone of the text, written in a vulgar and incorrect way to represent the crudeness of the characters.

As for the title, the name “monster” is always used in the text when the narrator refers to the Leader. It must be Perón and Borges explicitly writes that the story takes place in Argentina but there is no explanation in the story as for why the characters refer to a figure they obviously respect with such a term. Perhaps replacing the name with this very pejorative word is a way to both insult and anonymize Perón, so that the moral of the text can also apply to other populist leaders of Latin America? Furthermore, the eponymous celebration is perhaps not the speech of the Monster, which does eventually take place in the very last lines of the text, but the excited and chaotic behaviour of the protagonists when they arrive at their destination, going as far as committing a murder: this can be interpreted as the real celebration motivated by the figure of the leader.