Author Archives: David Peckham

12/5/23

Temporal Awareness in Laia Jufresa’s Umami

After finishing Umami, I was not sure if I should examine it through a primarily spacial or temporal view, as both are incredibly important to understanding the ideas that Laia Jufresa incorporates within her work. Ultimately I took a cue from the way that Jufresa herself organizes the novel, with the chapters and sections of the book representing phases and years, so I believe that there is a greater empahsise on time and temporality within the novel, but I also believe that physical space plays an important role within the work as well. Even within individual pages, it is shown how the lives of the characters are shaped by events, no matter how small, with no exact date given, other than an approximate idea of what year that they take place in. Events such as small conversations about life, and meanial tasks such as chores, doctor’s visits or cigarette breaks, are treated with the same immense respect that is shown for the more important events that shape the characters lives. Other events, which in other novels would be treated with greater importance, such as heart illness, cancer, hepatitis etc. are merely small footnotes for describing the lives of the family members, who recall small gatherings, birthdays and graduations with more importance.

There is also a distinct correlation that is shown with Jufresa’s novel, between the passing of the years/seasons, death, life milestones, with the growing of the milpa and the coming of the Emperor Umami. Luz is shown as having a significant impact on the remaining character, even years after her passing, because of the memories and recollections that each character associate with her, such as the construction and growing of the corn, beans and squash within the milpa. Luz and Emperor Umami, could be seen as existing outside the perception of linear time, and I believe that the format of the book clearly demonstrates this understanding of non-linear time.

11/9/23

Kneading Poetry

This weeks poems present how the act of food and intimacy can be used by queer Latin American women as a way to use traditional spaces and acts, such as making food, as a way to express themselves within and contrary to heterosexual expectations and prejudice. The poem that stood out the most to me, was Moro-Gronlier’s Compulsion: A Chronology, as the structure has a very specific syntactic structure, with each final line ending in a determiner phrase. The first six stanzas end in a first person singular pronoun (I, My) while the eighth and ninth stanzas end in a third person singular pronoun (He), with the final tenth stanza regaining the first person singular pronoun (I). The way that Moro-Gronlier structures this poem with the determiner phrases switching between a first person and then third person and finally first person again, gives the interpretation that the male heterosexual relationships that Moro-Gronlier describes takes away the joy and freedom that she experienced in her childhood and with feminine relationships, with food and intimacy and only when she takes back that intimacy with food and sexuality does she partly regain that freedom, but not completely.

I find the terminology that Moreno-Gronlier provides in the preface to her collection to be useful when analyzing the relationship between queerness and food within Latin American patriarchal societies. While the origins of the word “tortillera” may originally have been used as a a means to attack lesbian women, within Latino/Latinx communities, the imagery behind the word is also why it has been reclaimed by queer women. Since the space of making tortillas in the Latin American household was occupied by women, and is a space for women to gather, it is easy to see why the idea of a space and occupation created for women, could be used as a way for self-expression by queer and lesbian women. In Gaspar de Alba’s poem Making Tortillas, she uses the description of making tortillas to show  how intimacy can be created through shared touch. The descriptions of soaking and grinding the maize are woven between the act of spreading our the maize over the metate, which requires the use of the tortillera’s strength and entire body to create the tortilla, which could represent how Latin American queer and lesbian women show strength against societal prejudice, or how commitment to the lengthy process of making tortillas is similar to the creation and sustaining queer relationships.

10/4/23

Multilingualism and Language as Fertilizer – Week 5 Ak’abal poems

The first thing that I noticed when reading Humberto Ak’abal’s Here Was Paradise, was that the title was written in both Spanish and English. This use of Spanish and English with additions of K’iche’ Mayan made me realize that using multiple languages can make describing themes and experiences more easy and enriching for readers and learners. For example in the poem The Air, El Aire both the English and Spanish versions begin with a description of the actions of air, and the performances of air, but while the first line of the second stanza of the English version appears disconnected to the last line of the first stanza, this is not the case in the Spanish version. In the Spanish version of The Air, the noun “vueltas” ,which is the last word of the first stanza, is directly connected to the first word of the second line of the second stanza “vuela” which is a verb, so while the English version seems disconnected, this is not the case in the Spanish version which flows quite wonderfully, with its connection of “vuela” and “vuelta”.

I find Ak’abals inclusion of K’iche’ words within his poems act as a pause or point of attention, that do not act as distractors, but rather they act as the head of the overarching poem, with the English and Spanish being simply complements to the K’iche’. This relationship between the Spanish and English and the K’iche’, directly reflects the ongoing relationship between the Mayan and indigenous communities of Guatemala and the Mixed and European community. In the second portion of his book, Humberto Ak’abal ties the themes of agrarian and rural paradise where Mayan culture and traditions flourish, with the sickness and poison of the urban and Ladino areas of Guatemala. While in reference to the countryside, Ak’abal uses words like “dreaming” and “laughter” as descriptors, in his poems about urban settings, he uses words such as “poverty” and “injustice”. By using these words with contrasting themes and symbolisms, Ak’abal gives a clear explanation of the economic and cultural disparities which exist in Guatemalan society as a result of colonialism and racial prejudice.

Humberto Ak’abal’s poems use language to reflect the lived experiences of the K’iche’ community and through the use of poetic styles and structures to contrast and celebrate K’iche’ Mayan traditions with Western and non-indigenous cultures. As a question for discussion, why do you think that Ak’abal uses descriptions of animals and elements such as Earth and Air when describing the consumption and cultivation of maize?

09/11/23

I Am From Tomatoes

I am from tomatoes

from tall mountains

and Alouette and Pitt rivers

I am from metal pans,

versatile, tough

Smoky

 

From stay in the cool shade

From Pancho

and Bill

From eucalyptus

and blackberries

 

I am from the tortilla press

smashing, shaping

Corn

Cedar

and Rosca de Reyes with Fruit punch

 

Hello, my name is David (he/they), I am a third year student here at UBC, majoring in Latin American Studies and Linguistics. I would describe myself as having an amicable and affable, studious and quiet character, but I have been called sardonic and naïve by others in my life. I am taking LAST315, as I am hoping to major in Latin American studies because of my personal background as a dual Mexican-Canadian citizen, and I love learning and talking about new topics related to Latin America. I am looking forward to this semester, as I have both less and more time this semester compared to previous ones, and I am excited for new opportunities. Some of my non-academic pursuits include, woodworking, arts and crafts, musicals and opera and enjoying new foods!

I look forward to learning more about Latin America and Maize with you all.