Posts by Brian:
Mar
2
Folk Culture And Modernity
Comments Off on Folk Culture And Modernity
I found the first article an interesting read for about the first 40 pages or so, then I began to fade away. In his essay, Mexican Murals in times of crisis, Bruce Campbell gives a well rounded synopsis of both the creation and demise of Mexican Muralism. As he states, “Mural painting was a pre-Columbian practice (Pg. 13), with its roots in the Aztec and Mayan empires. Over the years Mexican Muralism grew to be an artistic method for telling a story or more importantly, displaying political defiance. After the Mexican Revolution ended in 1920, highlighted by the “tres Grande” (Diego Rivera, Alfaro Siqueiros, and Jose Clemente Orozco), Mexican Muralism became increasingly Political in an attempt to represent the working class or Campesinos. Throughout the article, Campbell discusses how over the next 60 years or so, Mexican Muralism has gone from a thriving powerful art form to being all but wiped out by the government. Campbell talks about the idea of public space and how it was contested for by activist Muralist and the government. For a number of years Murals were the primary platform for the working class to display their feelings about society and the government and they were heralded as masterful pieces of art, more than just graffiti. But almost all of the Murals have either been destroyed or painted over for advertising or political campaigns etc. Campbell describes these Murals as being a way for the people to convey Folk culture through Art within the public sphere. Overall it was an interesting read that gives a great deal of background info on Mexico and a great deal about the political evolution of the country over the past 100 years or so.
Mar
2
Folk Culture & Modernity
Comments Off on Folk Culture & Modernity
Both articles this week were full of ideas that really resonated with me. However, I found myself skimming over parts of both articles in search of what was really essential to the arguments being made.
In Mexican Murals in Times of Crisis, by Bruce Campbell, Murals provide a perfect example of what popular culture is in Latin America and shows how all the issues we’ve discussed to date regarding popular culture work together, culminating in the creation of a work of art. Murals in Mexico have gone through many shifts throughout time, responding to the shifts occurring in Mexican politics. This idea reinforces the rejection of the likening of popular culture to a coral reef in that it proves popular culture is forever changing and adapting to current events occurring in the economic, political or social realms of society. The ability for popular cultural forms to adapt to changing environments keeps it relevant.
Murals in Mexico also blend together notions of “high” culture and low or popular culture. Campbell mentions that the mural combines elements of “European high modernism (futurism, experssionism, cubism) with the ideological and cultural components of a Mexico in the process of institutional consolidation after a protracted and devastating revolutionary war.” (p. 14) The use of European high modernism would presumably be categorized as high culture. However, considering the context in which these murals were painted, the political, economic and social turmoil that Mexico was experiencing during this times would most likely appear as topics for these murals. This is a characteristic of popular culture.
There is another way in which murals blend together the ideas of high culture and popular culture. The mural form itself is associated with a certain amount of prestige, as it is considered an art form, thereby categorizing it as high culture. However, the topics and issues depicted in murals usually speak for the people marginalized and oppressed in society, thereby placing murals as a popular culture art form. As well, murals are normally painted in public spheres, accesisble by almost all, again categorizing murals as popular culture. A clash occurs between these two opposing representations of mural art.
Campbell mentions that “mural art continues to be accorded great national prestige as a public cultural form” (p. 29). However, at the same time mural art “is destroyed…[it] falls victim to censorious government officials uncomfortable with the content of images.” I find similarities between mural art and Native art in Canada. Mural art is used as a symbol of national identity in Mexico, as Native art is used as a symbol of Canadian National identity, particularly on the West Cost. However, mural art is not regarded well by government officials, while in Canada, Native art and the Native people are not regarded well by not only government officials, but society in general.
I found The Spirit Queen’s Court, by Michael Taussig, a difficult, but extremely interesting article to read. I had a bit of difficulty figuring out how the article ties into the topic for this week, folk culture and modernity.
I believe that the interaction between folk culture and modernity is seen with the spiritual encounters and portals used to house these spiritual encounters. The portals all tend to have 4 important figures: the spirit queen, el negro primero, el indio, and the Liberator. I believe these characters portray the interaction between folk culture and modernity. These figures have been given certain meanings by the people. Presumably, the spirit queen and perhaps the negro primero could symbolize folk culture while the Liberator symbolizes modernity. El indio is a bit more confusing. Indigenous-ness is often associated with folk culture, and therefore we might assume el indio to represent it. However, the article mentions that this country has practically no indigenous people, and the depiction of el indio is actually of a US Plains indian. Therefore, el indio is not really a representation of folk culture as it does not originate from the country.
In any case, these figures have been given certain meanings, important in bringing about these spiritual encounters. These rituals, seances, and spiritual awakenings have continued to be performed, despite colonial rule and the imposition of Christianity in Latin America.
Mar
2
Folk culture and modernity
Comments Off on Folk culture and modernity
Campbell’s article appeared first to me as quite difficult, but as soon as he started speaking of its very subject, ‘Mexican muralism’, everything became clearer. With his study of this original form of art, he exemplifies how modern-states shaped their national foundations through their ability to control cultural productions, especially art, and the symbols they are promoting. Indeed the new Mexican state after the revolution worked at redefining national culture in order to support the legitimity of the newly founded state. Muralism which was an high art has been used to consolidate political legitimacy and stability and to draw a new national identity guaranteeing national unity. Mural practice almost became the official carrier of the state’s message. As it is the case for education, this article proves that cultural production has often been driven by a political purpose and led by the power. Campbell especially points out two aspects of this nationalist construction which is not unique to Latin America. He shows how the state tried to make of this new nationalism something common to the whole nation, overcoming social disparities. That is why they took mural art which was an ‘high art’ and tried to bring it to the masses. Campbell even suggests that provoking the audience was part of this purpose: controversies helped to display mural on a large public scene and to make it circulate. In the same universalist aim, nationalism also use to ally past and present, tradition and modernity and to confuse them. Nationalism often legitimizes a nation-state by drawing on so-called common historical events and traditions, which are myths most of the time. Mexican nationalism using mural art did not escaped to this rule. Vasconcelos called mural practice ‘ the deus ex machina of the Mexican renaissance’ as if the Mexican nation had always existed. Mural art in general was constituted of different allusions to the past (indigenous cultures, colonization, independence…) while creating a completely new imagined nation (The Cosmic race …)However, this article also shows how soon occurred a class dichotomisation around Mexican muralism. It took place between what was considered as an art belonging to a national culture dominated by an economical and cultural elite, supporting modernization, and a more popular/middle class contestation denoucing the lack of popular representation and resisting to modernization threathening tradition.
Thus, an art that was supposed to carry a new unique national culture ended facing ‘popular frontism’, which shows that popular culture did not identified completely with the modern state. This is easily demonstrable with the indigenous litterature we read for example.
Concerning The Magic af the state by Michael Taussig, I would first say how hard was this text to understand for me. I do not know about native speakers, but I barely understood completely one sentence out five. I know that the author is an anthropologist and a cultural theorist. In his book, he speak of the modern state in terms of spirit possession and state fetishism which is quite illustrating of the way nation-states built their legitimization through centuries. He puts in relation traditional magical rites with the working of the modern nation-state. The beginning of the passage is a conversation with the Spirit Queen which explains the nourishment of the state by the spirits of the dead. To me, this could be a metaphoric way of explaining how nationalism uses the past to strenghen national identity. This is a very poetic way of portraying the mystical foundations of authority in our modern states. I will stop there to avoid making too much stupid hypothesis. I prefer to wait for a complete explanation in class!
See you all tomorrow!
Mar
1
Folk Culture
Comments Off on Folk Culture
Folk Culture and Modernity
In the first reading the author discusses the “evolution” of the different processes that the murals went thru in Mexico. I think that the author uses the concept of the “public sphere” to show how depending on the governments interests the artists painted their murals. In the 1920´s there was a revolutionary sprit so the murals had revolutionary ideas. I thought it was really interesting to see how the government exerts hegemony in this case thru art, as in the case of Diego Rivera that had to change his painting because it could offend Catholics. Then, I think that the author also suggests that nowadays mural representation is still present, but now in the form of graffiti. When reading that article I thought of the EZLN´s murals in Chiapas and how they also use their paintings to represent their fight and resistance to challenges that globalization creates. I thought this article was interesting and I liked that I already had some background from the “cosmic race” article of Vasconcelos so that when I read the part in this article I already knew where he was coming from.
For the second article I think the article writes about the spirit possession and the formation of the “nation-state”. In my opinion it was difficult to follow this reading, but at like the part at the beginning where it says that we have places soulstuff to the state. I think that is a very simple sentence but powerful at the same time because it is true we attribute human characteristics to the imaginary concept of “nations”. I also liked the map on page 8 where there is the representation of European control (colonialism) where oil is taken out of the country and videos and cars are imported. It is a very simple map that has also a powerful message.
Feb
27
Readingweek Review
Comments Off on Readingweek Review
After a couple of weeks into the course, and a lot of good – though sometimes tedious- reading I am starting to formulate my own version of what is popular culture. Over the past week, I was able to spend some time alone with my thoughts, and trying to put the pieces of this huge puzzle that we refer to as “Latin American Popular Culture.” There are a few things that I’ve notice are always present in our readings: tensions, struggle, religion/believe, hope, and a huge identity crisis.
Latin America seems to be the teenager of the world. It isn’t Europe, and it isn’t Africa, but it is also not purely indigenous. So far, we have only seen the works of Vasconcelos and Wade in terms of efforts to define where Latin America stands in terms of ethnicity. However, as we saw with Rowe and Schelling, regardless of how or where do we place ourselves in the ‘color’ scale, there is an underlying factor in the construction of traditions and other forms of culture in Latin America, there is a dominant minority that refused to be ‘native’ and there is an indigenous majority that refuses to assimilate everything that the west provides. The result is often a compromise either out of agreement, or from one side not being able to submit another.
However, culture – especially popular one – does not always derive from conflict; there are also elements of hope and belief. Apart from the brutal and forceful indoctrination of the native people into Catholicism there is another reason why the region still highly religious. As, we have seen in the readings, we have always been superstitious… and we have always liked believing in higher powers. As seen in the “Legend of the Crystal Mask” long before we knew the Spaniards even existed we were already trying to explain things based on belief rather than on logic. Why? I really don’t know, but I think it’s an important factor to consider, as this ease to belive often leads to false hope.
So yeah, although I am getting an idea of what popular culture is, I think the continent as a whole is more confused than I am.
Feb
26
In response to Tory’s post
Comments Off on In response to Tory’s post
Tory,
I agree with what you are saying here and feel that you have really explained well some of the key themes in the class. While Latin America represents a huge mixing of culture, race, tradition, belief, etc., it would be wrong to assume that this automatically signifies a sense of social equality. While the concept of ‘Mestizo’ may seem attractive in its inclusiveness, it is undeniable that a strong and even rigid racial hierarchy exists in much of Latin America. I think that a lot of this has to do with legacies of conquest and colonization as much of Latin America culture and history can be defined through shifting relations of power. However, I think that it is important keep in mind that in in the face of domination, there is a strong sense of resiliency that causes culture to constantly reinvent itself rather than merely being crushed.
Feb
26
Synthesis
Comments Off on Synthesis
Over the past weeks we’ve spent discussing Latin America in this course, several prevalent themes have arisen in my mind. Most important of these is the concept of synthesis and its role in the many different ways “culture” is created. Latin America, in my mind, is predominantly an area of cultural synthesis–a meeting of many different people, classes, practices, traditions, beliefs etc. Each Latin American country has its own specific history of cultural generation and the interactions of these many different factors, which is why these “Latin American nations” resist such easy categorization; something which seems to have proved very frustrating for many of us taking the course. However in an attempt to unify all of these enormously different regions, I would suggest the idea of cultural synthesis as a most prominent characteristic–yet this too is a very slippery idea.
As many students have pointed out in class discussion, we should not submit to the common (mis)construction of this cultural synthesis as an equal, mutually beneficial, two-way exchange elicited by both sides in the pursuit of the common interest of sharing culture…Rather, we should remember that the synthesis of many different peoples ways of life was brought about through conquest, coercion, and very often the subversion of ideas, practices and beliefs. A prime example of this was that which was debated in class–the costumbrista or folk-catholicism practiced by communities of Maya (and non-indigenous) people in Central America.
So perhaps another important aspect of “Latin America” that characterizes so many diverse regions is the constant struggle for power and the social conflict brought about primarily through conquest and colonialism and perpetuated today by issues of race, class and nationality.
Feb
24
….the popular culture…
Comments Off on ….the popular culture…
¡Ya estamos a la mitad del curso! ¡wooooow! No lo puedo creer…
Es increíble la rapidez con la que pasa el tiempo… Debo decir que ir a esta clase me gusta por la forma en que discutimos las lecturas y que podemos expresar los diferentes puntos de vista, algunas veces me impresiona las distintas formas de ver una lectura dependiendo del punto de vista que cada uno de nosotros tenemos, de nuestras ideas y en general de nuestra cultura misma.
Creo que dentro de los temas que hemos visto en clase, una de las preguntas que más trabajo nos costó resolver y llegar a una definición más o menos satisfactoria fue la de primera: ¿qué es la cultura?, para ello nos apoyamos en las lecturas de William y Keesing. Llegamos a la conculusión de que la cultura es algo ordinario, tal como lo describe el título del trabajo de William, puesto que la cultura es todo! Y que a pesar de que muchas veces no nos damos cuenta, estamos frente a una pequeña cosa que es parte de la misma cultura, por ejemplo los “modismos” al hablar, formas de vestir, ideología, etc.
Durante la segunda semana revisamos una de las lecturas que causó un poco más de controversia: En mis propias palabras de Evita Perón, (junto con la de Vasconcelos, creo yo) y el escrito de Borges A Celebration of the Moster, en las cuales vimos dos puntos de vista opuesto respecto a la definición de que es la gente. Al mismo tiempo me gustó el análisis que hicimos de las diferentes formas que se utilizan en América Latina para definir una sola palabra: “people”.
¿Qué es la cultura popular en América Latina? Fue la pregunta que debíamos resolver durante la tercera semana, con la ayuda de la lectura The Faces of Popular Culture de Rowe, en la que vimos la gran diversidad cultural que comprende la cultura latinoamerica, que va desde las famosas telenovelas mexicanas, hasta coloridos carnavales, así como las formas en que se ha ido transmitiendo y difundiendo dicha cultura con el paso de los años.
En la cuarta semana vimos un poco de lo que es el folclore representado en las leyendas, tomando como ejemplo los escritos de Austrias y Arguedas.
Obviamente algo característico de la cultura latinoamericana es el mestizaje que se ha dado en los últimos años desde la conquista hasta nuestros días. Vimos el punto de vista un tanto radical de Vasconcelos y una idea más central de Peter Wade.
En general creo que este curso ha sido muy interesante y me ha permitido tener un punto de vista más amplio, así como cuestionarme muchas cosas que ocurren alrededor de mí, ahora conociendo la cultura canadiense, que pareciera una mezcla de varias y extrañando la cultura mexicana….
Feb
24
Last 201 thus far.
Comments Off on Last 201 thus far.
Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed this class. The setup has been remarkably different from what I have been accustomed to throughout the past three and a half years of university, and I appreciate the change!
I have been in sciences until this year of university, although I have dabbled in some first and second year arts courses, I have been taught through ‘calculation’ and ‘facts.’ It has been challenging to not only learn to think subjectively, but also to do so on a topic that I have no foundation in. Clearly, the representations of ‘pop culture’ in Latin America which we have been investigating are reflective of the Latin American experience as a whole. Having very little knowledge on this topic, I have been trying to sort out whether its easier to grasp from a top-down approach, seeing what the readings have to say about what has gone on in Latin America, or the bottom-up approach seeing how the Latin American experience has influenced pop culture. The class offers a good combination of the two, and despite my never-ending struggle, I appreciate the mixture in the class and our capabilities to individually express our own perspectives on what we are learning.
I am aware that this is not a history or political science course, however, pop culture has much to teach us about the Latin American lived experience, identity and culture. I have been fighting the urge to use my scientific background to ‘define’ these things, and rather attempting to simply observe and reflect. Using ‘pop culture’ as a channel to discuss any one of these topics is a representation of the individual (whether it be the dancers, the authors or the poets) unique lens through which they view their experience. This is reflective of what it means to be ‘Mexican,’ ‘the people’ or whatever they may be trying to convey. It is the individual experience, the unique perspective, the lived experience that makes it what it is. To each their own, and that defines what is the ‘truth’ for ones self.
The blog has been incredibly useful to accommodate all learning styles. I personally am not as much an audio learner, or one to comment excessively in class, but would rather read and write. Others, simply find it easier to express themselves through their writing. It has been wonderful to see how my classmates are progressing through their learning in this class.
Feb
24
Summary of the class so far…
Comments Off on Summary of the class so far…
Upon reading the course description for the class I didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into. I was pleasantly surprised on the first day of class when we watched Orfeo Negro one of my favorite movies that I’ve only seen because my father took me to see a reshowing of it. Ever since I have learned a lot in this course about the people of the culture and why said culture has endured. Moreover I have gained much from the discussions of the readings and videos including different interpretations and symbols that I completely missed the first time around. In the future I would like to have more of these discussions because I feel they have sort of petered out through the weeks. Anyway back to what I enjoyed about the class, among the reading I relished the legends and the pongo’s dream the most. It was like brain candy allowing my mind to wander into a long ago land full of whimsy and creativity. In the spectrum of reality I really liked reading Eva Peron’s “My Message” even though at the time I found it contradictory and repetitive. Now I see that its more about the ideas she presented and what she meant to the people that made her great whether or not she made conflicting comments. I found some of the readings challenging and anger-inducing but I would rather that over some easy boring piece that elicits no reaction inside me. Its makes writing a blog easier. Lastly I find it much easier to understand the readings and the authors point of view once given context and more information about their lives. Perhaps before asked to the reading we could be given a briefing that would enable us to critique more fully. All in all I enjoy this course.
Feb
24
Reflections
Comments Off on Reflections
Hard to believe that we are already half way done! So far, I have enjoyed many aspects of this class. In discussing many elements of both the meaning of culture and the people, and specific cultural traditions in Latin America, I feel that my knowledge has expanded in all areas. Interestingly, though I have taken many classes in anthropology, I feel that I have learned at least as much about what ‘culture’ is in this class, and likewise, am probably more confused by it as well. I have never really had the opportunity to study ‘popular’ culture to such an extent, and I find that it adds a fundamental dimension to the study and understanding of culture as a whole. I also find that I have been able to make connections about culture, popular culture, and the people that we have discussed in this class in many of my other classes, which is exciting.
I really enjoyed the first two articles that we read by Williams and Keesing. I like the concept of culture being ordinary; that it is not an authentic relic of the past that can be found in a museum, or a form of high art only accessable to the elite, but rather it is all around us. Everything we see, from infrastructure and architecture, to human interaction and social relations sheds light on the embedded history that has sculpted the culture that we see today. Culture in Latin America can not be reduced to strictly indigenous culture or legacies of European culture, but rather it represent the mixing of it all. In comparing culture to a Coral Reef, I really enjoyed how Keesing dismanteled this idea, suggesting that culture is not simply a natural process that slowly changes over time and is unintentional in doing so, but rather culture is reactionary. Culture exists out of a serious of power relations and struggle that have conciously dominated and resisted domination. Forces of globalization, modernization, and colonization have effected culture, and people have continuously resiseted and reacted to these forces thus adding yet another dimension of the culture we see today.
In Evita Peron’s book In My Own Words she adresses the ‘people’ in a passionite way. However reading this article brings into question, who exactly are the people? According to Peron, the people are generally those who have in some way been disenfranchised by the system, ie the women, the poor, the sick, the elderly, etc. Many definition of the ‘people’ can exist, but as this relates to the study of popular culture, one can see that culture can both come from a trickelling of culture from the elites of above, or an absorbing of culture from the masses of below. Cultural exchanges are multideimensional in their flows.
This concept is well defined in Rowe and Schelling’s “The Faces of Popular Culture.” Though this article cuased some debate in class, I feel that its aims were explain how parts of indigenous life and culture were ‘crushed’ during the time of conquest an colonization, there is a certain resiliancy of culture that have not allowed for domination, but rather hybridization and mixing of cultures. In this article we see the exchange of culture from ‘top down’ and ‘bottom up,’ along with an extreme hybridization of customs and religions. The authors note that as capitalism effects culture, commercial processes can make art pre-packaged and for profit, thus cheapining their form. Rowe and Schelling note that at certain points commodification can go too far and get eaten up by the ‘culture industry’ which leads to a degradation in quality and creativity. They suggest that history is not nuetral by guided by popular culture that can get absorbed into commercial and state culture.
Lastly, I will comment on the discussion of race. I find race a particularily interesting concept in Latin America. Through conquest, colonization, and slavery, many mixed races were created that further created social hierarchies. In The Cosmic Race Vasconcelos suggests that it is in the mixtures of race that make Latin America strong and unique. However through his language, it becomes very obvious that race is far from nuetral. Wade argues that even in the concept of ‘mestizo’ that signifies to many an inclusion of all, their still exists a strong sense of racial hierarchy, and this mixing has not equated to social and racial equality. In Latin America, generally speaking, lightness of skin often equates to social status, and black or indigenous colouring can often be found at the bottom of this hierachy.
Feb
24
Theories of Mixture 1: Mestizaje
Comments Off on Theories of Mixture 1: Mestizaje
I found this past weeks reading on the mestizaje by Vasconcelos and Wade to be much different than I expected. I was not prepared to read about Vasconcelos’ “solution” to the problems of having a hierarchy of races. His plans were very far out and I was glad to see that Wade took a different stance. When reading the beginning of “The cosmic race” I was interested in the history of the ruins that proved the Latin American cultures were around if not older than what we thought were the most ancient of civilizations. Furthermore the increasing evidence of Atlantis, what I’ve always thought of as sort of a fairy tale, was intriguing. However soon after this information was presented I began to see this article taking a different direction that I could not get on board with. The author identifies himself at first as being Latin American and then when this is no longer convenient clarifies that he is Spanish. Moreover he feels the need to distance himself from both associations when talking about their mistakes in battle and ideology. Hindsight is twenty twenty and to Vasconcelos if everyone had just listened to everything he said the Spanish would be the dominant race. Moving forward since this is all in the past, the most shocking ideas in this article to me were based around the plan to create one “new race” or “the fifth race”. This new people would not “exclude” the other races but would succeed in dominating them. In order to create this better race “the very ugly will not procreate” therefore it will be a beautiful race. Which in turn will also eliminate “poverty, defective education,…” because those are both problems that stem from ugliness. People will learn to only love one another if they are worthy of breeding superior offspring. After decades of this what “today is normal will come to seem abominable.”, only the best traits from each race will be perpetuated into the new one. Thus giving hope to the “inferior races” by imparting on them the opportunity to present the “better specimens” who would go on to a higher level of importance. This plan is preposturous and cruel and I hope to never see it implemented. On the other hand I found Peter Wades article a more comprehensive look into the mestizaje with less personal agenda. I agree that even in mixed races there is a hierarchy still based on the lightness of skin. A factor that Vasconcelos overlooked. Among other things I found the parts on music and food engrossing and a great relief after reading Vasconcelos stark look at things.
Feb
24
First Half Reflections
Comments Off on First Half Reflections
Upon reflection of the first half of the semester I am overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge in the classroom. After years of being a student, I have come to realize that in many cases I absorb the most knowledge just simply from listening to my classmates speak. This class is certainly no different as there is an immense amount of information being conveyed through our class discussions and I am very much enjoying it. I guess the main concept of the first half has been “What is culture?”. The Williams and Keesing articles provided examples of Culture both as a journey and similar to a coral reef. The journey symbolizes how culture is never stagnant and continues to morph and evolve and the Coral Reef references how culture constantly changes and acquires deposits but there is no specific pattern for that change as it grows, similar to a Coral Reef. After reading these two essays, I was left with a strong sense that culture is very much ordinary…its the clothes we wear, the cafes we go to, and all these other very mundane aspects of life. Once I grasped the basic concept of Culture as flowing and ever evolving, I was able to tackle all the other readings with this basic pillar in mind.
Feb
24
Popular Culture
Comments Off on Popular Culture
Feb
24
Mexico’s Flag Day
Comments Off on Mexico’s Flag Day
Green:
The Independence Movement
Hope
White:
The purity of the Catholic faith.
Purity
Red:
The Spaniards that joined in the quest for Independence.
The blood of the National Heroes
Union
The emblem-shield symbolizes the Aztec heritage.
According to the legend, the gods had advised the Aztecs that the place where they should establish their city was to be identified when they saw an eagle, perched on a prickly pear tree, devouring a serpent. They saw this mythical eagle on a marshy lake that is now the zócalo or main plaza in Mexico City.
This flag was created in 1821, when the Independence movement had ended victoriously.
El Día de la Bandera or the Fiesta of the Mexican Flag is celebrated on February 24.
Pledge of Alliance:
¡Bandera de México!
Legado de nuestros héroes,
símbolo de la unidad
de nuestros padres y nuestros hermanos.
Te prometemos ser siempre fieles
a los principios de libertad y de justicia
que hacen de nuestra patria
la nación independiente, humana y generosa
a la que entregamos nuestra existencia.
Translation
Flag of Mexico!
Legacy of our heroes,
symbol of the unity
of our parents and our brothers.
We promise to always be loyal
to the principles of liberty and justice
that make our fatherland
the independent, human and generous nation
to which we give our existence.
Feb
24
LAST so far…so good :)
Comments Off on LAST so far…so good :)
I have really enjoyed this class so far!
Throughout the last few weeks we have investigated and analyzed a number of general ideas and terms. Attempting to define them was very difficult as there was always another persons idea or point of view. We have over the last few weeks come face to face with the slippery slope that accompanies attempts to define such broad and capacious terms.
The first two readings by Keesing and Williams gave us two different views or ways to look at culture. Keesing employs a very anthropological way of looking at cultures. He believed anthropologists needed to rethink the way they approached culture. He gave us a very attractive metaphor of the Coral reef. Williams on the other hand believed that culture is ordinary, that all people are a part of culture and make it what it is. He uses the metaphor or a journey to exemplify the idea that culture is moving, growing, unbiased, and all around us. These two views simply gave us some insight into what others have said on the term “Culture”.
The second readings were by Eva Peron, and Borges. They both addressed the term “The people” and just who the people are. In My Message by Eva Peron the people are presented as “Pueblo” which in Spanish translates to an inclusive, small town community feel that represents all people except the elite. In Borges article “Celebration of the Monster” we see a different side of the Argentine people, perhaps a more real side. This is a perspective coming from the middle of the crowd, informal and representative of how normal people feel and think in Argentina at the time of Peronism.
In the article by Rowe and Schelling the concept of popular culture in Latin America is contemplated and discussed. This article described Latin America based on times in history, customs, traditions, art, culture, and ways of life that made me really picture everything. This article did a good job of explaining the many different and also similar popcultures present in Latin America. It consists of a medley or mixing of old and new ways of living, ways before colonization mixed with the new ideas brought by the Spanish, and the ideas of recent times. Culture is always evolving.
The next articles we read were by Asturias and Arguedas bringing attention to Folk Culture. In Latin America the notion of Folk has to do with indigenous heritage. Asturias presents a collection of legends, stories having been handed down through the years. It is important to note that when legends that come from an oral culture are written down they can lose some of their magic or be written solely in a way that the author decides they should be. Arguedas tells a story of the Pongo, who gets revenge on his master. This folk tale is written from an indigenous point of view, a great identification with mestizo and the lower side of society. It is about the lower people getting their own back, if only for a moment there is always room for resistance.
The last readings by Vasconcelos and Wade discuss theories of mixture. Vasconcelos provides us with a very utopian idea about a 5th race. His idealistic view is that love will bring us together with the creation of something new. A collection of all races best qualities. He still employs a hierarchy within the races with some better than others. His racist undertones as well as unrealistic ideas made me question … well basically his sanity. His arguments are extremely controversial and difficult to begin to break down. Wade on the other hand talks of the concept of mestizaje, and the idea of a mosaic. This is a more realistic way to look at the differences and dualities within the mestisaje. People have the choice to decide how they want to view themselves.
Feb
23
Ethos of Latin America
Comments Off on Ethos of Latin America
At this stage in our course on Popular Culture in Latin America seems fair to give some reflection upon topics we have discussed in class and in the blog – I will leave my post to free thoughts not worrying about referencing the articles.
Feb
23
Summary and reflection
Comments Off on Summary and reflection
So far in this course, we have talked about many different aspects of Latin American culture. The first thing we discussed was the nature of culture. We found that culture does not fit into a nice little box; nor can it be defined in a straightforward manner. The consensus that was reached through discussion was that culture is constantly evolving, and is to an extent shaped by outside influences.
We also talked about the role of the general masses in the shaping of culture, as well as the influences of cultures upon one another. The article by William and Schelling contained examples of aspects of European cultures influencing aspects of Latin American cultures, as well as examples of Latin American cultures influencing European cultures. Personally, I found this to be especially interesting, since in the past I had only given superficial thought to the links between various cultures. For me, this article in particular drove home the point that was made in the beginning of the class, that culture is ever-changing.
Other examples of readings that I enjoyed were the indigenous legends written by Asturias, and the Pongo’s Dream . The legends all carried a passion and rawness of emotion that I equate (maybe naively?) with the indigenous civilizations; while I was reading them I kept thinking about the ancient civilizations- human sacrifices and gory games of something related to soccer. In general, I found the legends to be interesting, although I had to read them through several times in order to understand them (semi) completely.
On the other hand, I only had to read The Pongo’s Dream once; coupled with the fact that it was only 3 or 4 pages, it has by far been my favourite reading of the term. All joking aside (!), I think that this short story by Arguedas gives a particularly poignant picture of the life led by the indigenous people of Latin America under their self proclaimed masters. It also resulted in what I thought was a good discussion, with several different interpretations being introduced to the class, as well a discussion about the introduction of Catholicism to Latin America.
One of the last readings was La Raza Cosmica, which also led to some passionate debates. My general impression was that the author was slightly nuts, but the reading was valuable in a purely academic way.
In regards to the rest of the term, I don’t think I would want any drastic changes; maybe a little more time for class discussions, and slightly more focus on modern popular culture, but that is about it.
Feb
23
So far, so good…
Comments Off on So far, so good…
So far, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this course. It’s definitely lived up to my expectations. I’ve found the readings for this class interesting, and rather diverse. However, I enjoyed reading the more literary readings, such as the folk tales or the Borges reading, and wish there was a bit more balance between the academic and literary readings. But, maybe I’m speaking too soon! It is, after all, only half way through the semester.
I also like the way the course has been organized. Although we did spend quite a bit of time defining culture and “the people” in general terms before jumping into Latin American-specific popular culture, I felt this was necessary in order to understand the rest of the course.
I have found the readings & discussions we’ve had on mestizaje and racial mixture particularly interesting. Looking forward in the course, I see we have a few more lectures on this topic, and I am definitely looking forward to learning more about it. I feel like it’s a very complex topic, with many different arguments for and against it. I also enjoyed reading the article by Vasconcelos. It was different from your conventional, university-assigned reading in that we were encouraged to challenge the author’s arguments and ideas, and not just agree with them.
While the readings have been great, I also enjoyed the use of video and youtube clips that were used at the very beginning of the semester. I find I learn better when a variety of different media is used (such as writing, music, video). Hopefully there will be more of this later on in the course!
Feb
23
In the first half…
Comments Off on In the first half…
I have learned over these past weeks has much to deal with Latin American Culture, but also Culture in general. I now understand culture is something fluid, and that you define for yourself. No individual can define it for you and you can’t define it for another individual. I have learned that throughout history people have influenced ideas of culture to manipulated the populous of countries and regions (specifically Latin America). I also learned the different types of extreme views that culture and assimilation views can reach (Jose to be more precise). I also learned that everyday things around us can be considered cultural items and icons. Culture is something perceived in one’s head and not in items necessarily as well though. The folk culture with the blending of cultures was quite interesting. It showed how culture can be built like a tapestry over time. It also displayed the assimilation tactics that the Spanish used towards the natives, which we also learned about. It was apparent that they had been change generation by generation to reflect other views. Instead of worshiping just the sun god it became the same god as that of the house of Christ. Other students pointed out how different days in Mexico were also dual ritualistic for both the Catholics and the native religion. I found it funny that in order for us to find out that culture is so complex that it took so many weeks but after showing us that no one can quite get it right that I have come to this conclusion. In order to define culture you must look deep within yourself and only then you will truly get a sense of what your own culture is and then and only then can you go into cultural studies without being ignorant towards certain individuals, despite what their ideas may be.
Feb
23
Can any of this be synthesized anyway?
Comments Off on Can any of this be synthesized anyway?
I’m still reeling and really have no idea what exactly can be, should be, will be, was and is classified as Popular Culture, especially in an area so undefinable, diverse, broad, multicultural, and flexible as Latin America. But I suppose it is exactly these things that we are meant to understand better through this semester’s readings so far. The idea of popular culture as not being considered a coral reef, gradually changing over time as is suggested by Keesing. Perhaps the idea of culture as a journey comprised of the ordinary, everyday, educational, or working class is a more accurate representation. I identify more with the idea of cultural development as a journey, as opposed to the slow unnoticeable accumulation of things. There are likely examples of both types of culture, however it seems that both are forms of process.
I suppose there is some connection between the people and their culture, or the culture they consume, if culture is something to be consumed at all. Eva Peron, and her version of populism provide one example of the people as the descamisados, workers, women, exploited and suffering. She contrasts this idea with those in the oligarchy, or the military. Interestingly though, I find it hard to categorize her as a member of the group with whom she so enthusiastically tries to identify. Borges’ article sheds light on the idea of the people as well, but from a different perspective. From Rowe and Schelling the power of the media in all its forms seems the most relevant to me. Not only the power of the written word, but the way that music, dance, drama and oral stories come to be popular culture, or forms of it. The historical narrative they supply provides a good background to contemporary popular culture and what is loved and abhorred now. They seem to embrace the idea of culture as a process more than an explosion or apparition, as does Williams. Reading what I see as examples or representations of actual popular culture in the works of Arguedas and Asturias was interesting. Through the works, ideals, values and discourses are apparent. I’m interested to better understand the way certain discourses permeate their writing, even if they consciously felt they did not ascribe, construct or fit into them. Having discussed Vasconcelos in other Latin American related courses, I was glad to finally read a sample of his famous work. As problematic as it may have been, it provided an interesting example of thought and race from the 1920s. The racism he includes in his work seemed normalized and expected. His class, socio-economic position and gender are highly present in his work, and contribute to why we might find problems with what he wrote presently. Wade’s reaction or counter point that perhaps culture, race and mixture can be better understood as embodied experience was more in line with my personal opinion. I liked that he was able to acknowledge that people can find commonality in their differences within constructs of supposed homogeneity. The idea that a nation can be both homogenous and heterogeneous at once seems paradoxical, but was clarified when Wade wrote about the woman who was a mulatta. When asked whether she identified with black or white parent better, she answered that she was neither. This avoidance of classification alters conceptions of culture creation, nationality and identity.
No one perspective can come to represent such a diverse and changing area such as Latin America. The people can not be seen in one light, nor can popular culture be classified in only one manner. The process of creating and defining that culture is not unidirectional, nor is it always at one speed, or by one group. Identity, race, class, gender, education, sexuality and space interact altering what is considered culture and what is popular about it.
Feb
23
So far…
Comments Off on So far…
So far our readings have been very diverse, and they have explored different aspects of Latin American culture in depth. We started off with the Williams and Keesing readings, which talked about how to interpret culture and how to define it. Culture is not solidly set in stone, unchanged by time. It is not only appropriated to a certain environment and group of people (for example, culture in the form of a museum or “high” culture as the product of the elite). Culture is present everywhere, even in the most mundane scenarios and it is produced even by the most ordinary people.
We also read about Peronism, by Borges, who was against Peron, and by Evita Peron, who obviously supported her husband, the president of Argentina. Evita believed she was one with the people, and that she could relate to the descamisados of Argentina. Borges, on the other hand, revealed Peronists as ruthless people who acted out violently without reason. We saw the contradictory interpretations of the people in Peronist Argentina through these readings. Then, William and Schelling discuss various aspects of Latin American culture itself, like samba, Mexican artefacts and telenovelas. Here we saw the way traditional facets of Latin culture have evolved into their modern forms.
We then got into folk culture, as presented in the reading by Asturias, which was a collection of indigenous stories. Asturias interweaves reality with fantasy, and I this is what made these stories a little hard to read for me, although they were interesting. Our next reading by Arguedas depicted the abuse of the Indigenous people by the Spanish, and the Indigenous people’s rebellion.
Then we had Vasconcelos, who argued that a new race should emerge from the mixing of Spanish and Latin American races. This reading was a little creepy, because it seemed like Vasconcelos was predicting and encouraging the creation of a superior race. This race would be calculated, and this superior race would possess the Amazon. Wade’s article discussed mestizaje and its implications on the personal and public levels, and reveals the complexities of being mestizo.
I am hoping the readings for the rest of the term will focus on more modern topics, and that we will discuss current Latin American cultural issues. The readings are interesting, but so far, they have not fully explained today’s Latin culture.
Feb
22
“1st half”
Comments Off on “1st half”
During this past weeks we have learned a lot of Latin American culture. First we study some general concepts of what culture is and how is developed, also which factors affect the most on this development and how culture is formed. We realized that culture is basically ordinary and everything that surrounds us and that there is not a real definition of what it is, but we all have the idea of culture in our heads. Then we start getting a little more involved with latinos with both articles about the people, how they were spoken to and the different perspectives, while Borges was a more “on the surface” article, Peron’s one was more from “above”, even if she always said that she was like the people. But they give a clear idea of who are the people, el pueblo. Then we got a little more into Latin culture and folklore, how they were “created” when the Spanish arrived, and how they have been devoleping in all these years. How we were created from a mixture of different cultures. Also we saw how natives were treated back then and they are sometimes in some places still treated like slaves. We saw also how important are legends and how we create them and inherit them from our ancesters, but they are not written, they are passed by narration from generation to generation. We have seen some of the more general aspects of our culture and in the biggest countries, with the exception of Guatemala, but that is just a scoop of what we latinos really are.
Feb
18
summary
Comments Off on summary
In the first two articles we discussed the “definition” of culture. In his article Keesing suggests the idea of the different cultures to be like coral reefs, in the sense that there is change in the different cultures and that there is not a specific pattern for that change. Willliam on the other hand suggests in his article that culture is all about journeys. We discussed in class that in some form we all as human beings experience the processes of the different journeys.
After that in class we discussed “my message” of Eva Perón. In class we talked about the different connotations that the word “people” might have and still has. Personally I think that even though she was a populist and she say things that people wanted to hear at the same time she did things for the Argentineans. I might not know enough but I think that Eva and Juan in fact did things to improve the situation in Argentina and in my opinion that is what it counts. Then, there is Borge´s article in which he gives the other not so good picture of Eva and Juan´s socialism and how it was not perfect. People were forced only to like Eva and Juan and not to support other parties. Borges refers to this socialism as a monster so at a point Eva and Juan took their socialism to an extreme.
Then, there was the long article by Rowe and Schelling. We talked about how culture is not static and it changes over time. This exchange is two ways, that is to say that Latin America not only changes but also the other cultures in which it comes in contact with. For example nowadays with modernization there are always negotiations and struggles between the different classes and ethnic groups of the different countries of the world.
The last two articles we discussed were of Asturias and Agueda. From Asturias writing I understood that oral culture is somewhat more flexible because new elements are added. This has its advantages and disadvantages because in order to preserve it, it needs to be written and in the process things get lost or added and that changes it. At the same time if it is not recorded then it can get lost so in that way I could say that is kind of hard to decide what to do with oral culture. The last reading was Agueda´s we talked about the liberation theory and how it is used in many places of Latin America as an idea that creates hope among the marginalized people. To tell those stories help oppressed people to continue their struggle against the oppressors.
Feb
17
Reflections
Comments Off on Reflections
My reflections of the first half of the semester:
I feel like whenever I write reflections I never know how to begin. I guess I will start by writing about what my expectations were like before taking this class or how I felt in the beginning… Well I was very excited to take this class and hoped that it would link together some of the experiences I had in Peru last year with some relevant or interesting topics that I would learn in the classroom. Actually so far we’ve talked quite a bit about Peru in the classroom, which I find interesting.
Looking back at my initial post about popular culture in Latin America, I seem to have come to the conclusion that there is no single definition. There are many types of popular culture in Latin America and that they all have roots in various places. For instance in the Rowe and Shelling article we learnt how “Carnival has its origins in the Saturanlia and Bacchanalia of Ancient Greece and Rome” (I’m not sure if this is true, but nevertheless) we are presented with the fact that older European cultures have transcended certain aspects of their culture into parts of Brazil’s culture through colonization. There were a few other examples roots of popular culture that come from various place, for instance another one was Portuguese colonizers that brought popular theatre performances called “dancas dramaticas” to Brazil. It sounds like these are very much one way exchanges, but they weren’t. For every part that was introduced in Latin America, it has been reappropriated by those living in the communities. I’m sure that the dancas dramaticas that originally stem from Medieval Portugal are not preformed in the entirely same manner in Brazil, but rather they are a transformation of added, changed and reconstructed dimensions that reflect parts of the indigenous or whichever community’s identity living within these places. Other roots or influences on popular culture that we’ve touched on include colonization, urbanization, neo-liberalization, and the mixing (mestizaje) of different groups. All in all there I have realized that popular culture is influenced through interactions of all sorts.
Thinking about what separates popular culture from “regular” culture or “high” culture, is that it is accessible. It is generally visible or a prevalent aspect in the everyday lives of most individuals in Latin America. Since most individuals in Latin America aren’t part of the elite and mostly encompass the growing middle class or the lower class, in my interpretation, there may be a stronger sense of popular culture is these communities.
The People ultimately have a lot to do with popular culture. The spread, the evolution, the interactions of popular culture depends on people. A tricky question is, who are these people? The fact that there are many types of people, with their own cultures and ways of life, demonstrate popular culture is just as diverse or multifaceted as the people in it encompasses. Learning about popular culture, I have discovered, is quite complex because nothing is quite straight forward. One thing that is continuously reinforced in life, in the readings, and in the classroom is that It is necessary to think critically and that things take time to understand and there many never be a answer…
This ends my reflection on the first half of the semester and I hope the next half we can start to look deeper at some of the questions and the comments that I have and the other students in the classroom. Perhaps we can figure out if and how we (students in the classroom) are influenced by or actively influence popular culture in Latin America.
