I’ve been unwell and in pain all weekend so I couldn’t get this done in time but having finally finished the readings, I feel I learnt a lot. The second half (urban culture) was much easier to get through than the first half. Maybe that was just because I associate culture with contemporary times, and that holds my interest more. 

In the beginning of the chapter, the authors recognize that the (Spanish) ‘Conquest had catastrophic consequences for the Andean and Mesoamerican civilizations’. They used their superior military, disease and religion/Christianity to destroy the indigenous cultures and their existence as autonomous states, but their efforts failed to ‘expunge the memory of an Andean, Aztec and Mayan civilization’. These cultures continue to thrive, albeit still altered in some form of another. I feel this sort of resistance to colonial powers by the indigenous cultures can be seen throughout the world and reveals characteristics of humans as a whole. In other countries too, such as India and parts of Africa, we can see the same sort of resistance to colonial powers and influences not just politically, but also socially and culturally. There are interesting parallels between India’s freedom struggle under British colonial rule and Indigenous Latin American people’s struggle to maintain self-identity under Spanish Colonialism. 

One can infer that although the Andeans and others incorporated certain elements of Catholicism into the culture, but these were forced down on them. It’s admirable to note how these civilizations fought back and perpetuated their own traditions and customs down the generations through dances, handicrafts, theater, etc. It’s also interesting to note how indigenous populations and mestizos in Latin America portray the Spanish Conquest and its aftermath differently. The former presents a native interpretation which resists the European version (56) whereas the latter celebrate the Spanish victory and reaffirm the Spaniards’ legitimacy and cultural dominance in Peru (57). It shows that history is never an accurate account of events. In the words of Dan Brown, ““History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books-books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, ‘What is history, but a fable agreed upon?” 

While reading the second part of the chapter on urban culture, it was interesting to note that capitalism CANNOT exist without nationalism/a unified national identity. Capitalism destroys local traditions and their peculiarities. The power wielded by capitalism can be clearly seen in the following sentence: “[Even for the unemployed and marginalized], ownership of a television set is among the first priorities after basic shelter and food.” Rowe and Schelling also talk about culture as not being fixed but constantly changing and adapting itself to the society changes. Popular culture is made by the people and evolves with them. This is exemplified through the case of the Otomi women in US, whom people called ‘Marias’. They started giving their daughters the most unfamiliar names like Jeanette and Deborah, so they can be looked upon as individuals and not a homogenous group. Football too, plays a huge role in the urban culture, which comprises 3/4th of the population. 

Although long, I definitely enjoyed the second half a lot.