I would like to apologize for doing this so late. I have to complete ~12 supplemental applications for graduate schools (which I’m still not done with) and there’s just so many essays to write, it’s hard to figure out what to prioritize and what can wait. Hopefully, this is the last time I’d be late though.
I liked the article by Campbell on murals. The murals, originally a form of artistic expression, gradually developed to be an artistic form of political and cultural resistance in the 20th century. As it became more and more politically charged, the government started to censor certain murals that it didn’t agree with, destroying them by painting over them, etc. The excerpt involving art critic Hijar and artist Ehrenberg was really interesting. Hijar accusing Ehrenberg’s group, H2O, as “neutrality at the service of the State” implied how Latin Americans EXPECT the murals in public spaces to be politically relevant and charged, and to express public woes against the political establishment. I never before saw the political/cultural factor as crucial when looking at murals. Additionally, the incident in April 1990 where the militants of PRI occupied the municipal building in the town Tlalpujahua was interesting. The government committed voter fraud, made a deal with the militants that they would let the mural in the building stay, but then cheated the people and destroyed the mural. I find it ridiculous how rampant the corruption is, and it somehow reminds me of the government in India. The pictures of the murals included in the text itself were really different and interesting though!
Coming to The Spirit Queen, I have now read that first chapter twice and I still don’t understand. Is he actually seeing the Spirit Queen, the cult Goddess/leader? Is it a figment of his imagination? Does he know he’s imagining? Or is it a pretended dialogue? The answer to this doesn’t bother me as much as the fact that in 11 pages the only time I understood what Taussig’s motive for writing the book/chapter was when I saw the image of “oil out videos tv ammo in”. So it was Latin Americans’ struggle for self-governance/freedom or against imperialism (I’m only guessing). The following words really resonated with me:
“Do not fear the sword that comes to avenge you and to sever the ties with which your executioners have bound you to their fate.”
Overall though, interesting writing, but if it weren’t for these bits of text, I probably would have no idea what the theme was (or would find it very vague).
I had just as many questions (if not more) as you did about the Spirit Queen. The writing was very vague but there were several individual pieces of text that I really enjoyed as well. The corruption of the government is something I have found to be pretty common in some Latin American cultures, by talking to friends born in such areas. It’s sad and indeed quite ridiculous, but very prominent.