Feb
2
popular culture as folk culture.
Posted by: Brian | February 2, 2009 | Comments Off on popular culture as folk culture.
I really enjoyed these two readings. They were both easy to get into and kept my attention. The first article by Miguel Angel Asturias is comprised of a collection of legends. A legend is a story or body of stories that are handed down through the years and often popularly accepted as historical. Often legends explain why certain things come to be, or intend to teach a lesson of some sort. I liked the Legend of the Silent Bell and how it created a picture of so many different people coming together. The description in Claras dream, (although disturbing) was memorable to me when she describes the joining of “her brown, warm-blooded race, with all its sacrifices, and the Spanish race, brave and also tarnished.” Most of the people in the Legend were donating material objects (things they could be happy without) pieces of gold like the wedding rings of passed away relatives while this Indigenous but Christian girl had only her golden eyes to give. To give your eyes for something is firstly insane, and secondly shows a great passion or devotion to whatever it is or whoever it is you are giving them to. I was shocked in the end when Clara is yelling out about what she had done, begging Don Sancho (representing the church) to recognize her sacrifice. She calls out to everyone telling of her sacrifice for her race to mix with Christ. She is ignored, her voice extinguished by the bell… Having just read the ending paragraph again, it seems as though the bell extinguishes the voice of the nun, and in turn grows hoarser and hoarser until it itself stops ringing… I will be really interested to hear what people have drawn out of these Legends!
The second article was also very enjoyable. It’s always nice to hear stories where a bully, in this case the Master is in the end made to look like the fool. The story created a picture of a community or environment that was highly stratified and cruel. Stories like this would definitely have an empowering effect on anyone who felt like they were in a similar situation as the pongo. It encourages people to stand up for themselves even when the situation seems impossible. It also portrays the idea that you can do something without a huge support from other people. The other servants never stood up for the pongo, but probably because they were too afraid. It only takes one person to take a stand against something for others to join and feel as though they can actually accomplish something.
