Latin American Studies – Daniel's Blog

I found both the “To Roosevelt” and the “La raza Cósmica” readings to be very pro-Latin American works. However, they each take a different approach on making their own stances on the issue. Regardless, you can still see a form of anti-imperialist sentiment in both works. In Rubén Darío’s poem, his approach is clearly more based on literary features. The most noticeable one throughout the work is his use of contrasts, highlighting the fact that despite its positive aspects, the U.S. is still a nation with no God. Perhaps these…read more

I was very munch conflicted by this week’s theme and the reading as well. Before I came to UBC, I had been taught about the early 20th century export boom already, and knew that it was very exploitative for former colonies, and extremely beneficial for imperial powers, such as the United Kingdom, for instance. In Brazil, coffee started being exported from the late 19th century onwards, and for a long time, its economy wouldn’t go beyond that of a mainly exporting country. It would sell its coffee beans, make a profit…read more

After reading the translation of “The Fetishist Animism of the Bahian Blacks” (I was disappointed to not find an original version), I definitely got a new perspective on how former slaves were treated in the late 19th century and early 20th century in Latin America. I did already know that racism in the region was very much present at the time (and still is, to this day), but what I was not aware was the extent of the scientific works being published to justify racism. In the specific case of…read more

Reading about the Caudillos reminding me a lot of what I had learned in school about the “Coronéis”, or “Coronelism” (Coronelismo). They were very similar to the Caudillos, in the sense that they were present in Brazil during the same time period (late 19th century up until the early 20th century), and their role in society was similar as well. They were local authorities in rural areas that had vast influence. What would happen back then was a series of “exchange of favors” (troca de favores, in Portuguese). The federal government was comprised…read more

After reading an excerpt from Simon Bolívar’s “Letter From Jamaica”, the main idea that stuck to me was the fact that his fight for freedom was something along the lines of a struggle. He criticizes the Spanish consistently, accusing them of abusing them, and using several different analogies to different circumstances when oppressed peoples were forced to go through the same struggle he’s going through now. But at the same time, I can’t help but think his views are highly limited to the socioeconomic elite. The reason I believe that…read more