Legend of the Singing Tablets-
I really enjoyed reading Austrias’ writing! I love all the imagery and his terminology created a Universe all its own! My thoughts are really choppy and my interpretation may be a little far fetched so sorry if this is kind of incoherent.
My personal favourite was The Singing Tablets, I became totally immersed in the beauty of the (dare i say it.. psychedelic-ish) (sorry) imagery in this story.
The elements of animism (inanimate (non-animal) beings considered as animate or conscious beings) were particularly intriguing for me because I like to imagine our Universe (or ecosystem) as one giant body made up of tiny bodies. In this society there is an implied natural intention or a collective consciousness i.e. their idea of god lives in everything. The nature seems to take on even negative or diseased animation that we would associate with people and is described as being insane and spastic at certain points (could it be reacting to it’s “cultivation” and extraction?)
At the beginning the Green-ness of the hills, and Utuquels hair (which is described as a kind of a living being) reminded me of the double or even maybe triple meaning of the word green. The obvious one the colour, to be innocent or inexperienced and the magical green Arthurian universe (my Eurocentric perspective coming out?? Or maybe cus I’m an English Major????) I found the contrast between the green of their world vs the introduction of the white at the end (which obviously holds both racial and secularly religious connotations) really interesting .
“The brunt of comic opera, must yield up his mock heart of chocolate.” The Comic and Opera being “high” artistic genres, (assertion of Euro cultural Value onto native context) the brunt, (or person who bears the burden of this “poetic war”) is described as yielding up his “mock heart” (representing the colonial view of indigenous people as being somehow less human or “mock” versions of themselves ) of chocolate (quantifying the value of the people based on what can be extracted and commodified- their worth= chocolate to be sent home.) They insert their alien concept of monetary value onto the (spirited) natural world describing it in terms of “epic” or using “high” or western notion of art to glorify while simultaneously stripping every member of this culture of their celestial integrity by claiming and objectifying them….. How horrifying!!
Utuquel says “to create is to steal.” Going on about how every work of “art” is appropriated and stolen from other places. In their “creation” of what we now know as Latin America the colonialists did steal a lot from the land and it’s inhabitants. They held a view of the land (and the people who call the land home) as material items to be won, understood (rather, re-interpreted), and commodified by them. The “poetic battle” is representing the contrasting the materialistic and ritualistic Catholic spirituality (which covers the once green land with the concept of “Milk White” purity) with the inclusive omni-present spirituality that existed there long before it’s “conquest.”
The Pongo’s Dream
This was heart wrenching, and the picture of the adorable real-life Pongos certainly didn’t help with that. This story more than any other provided a clear concise “moral” and though it did have spiritual elements there did seem to be a larger use of Catholic terms- “heaven” “angel” “the Our father” and “Hail Mary” as well as the appearance of St. Francis who is guardian of the poor etc. This reinforces the control the mean and nasty lord (or what he represents) has over all aspects of the Pongos life. For me the lesson at the end made me think of one (not so classy phrase) “Don’t shit where you eat” which on a literal level is some good advice, but can also mean don’t bite the hand that feeds you (another weird expression) aka don’t abuse those who you rely on. It also harkens back to the world in Austurias’ myths where every being exists in a cycle where they rely on the other. The golden honey may cover the lord’s (also interesting how he is “lord” and “father” while he also attempts to play god in his dominion over the Pongo) temporary earthly body, in heaven he is on equal level with the Pongo and must “taste his own medicine.” A thoroughly satisfying conclusion which allows us to feel a little less sick to our stomach about how the little boy was treated. And take pride in the resilience of men women and children who were able to sustain themselves and flourish even under such conditions. The meekness and piousness which the Pongo is seemingly punished for is ironically a direct reflection of Christian teachings, which the false “lord” clearly does not uphold. He listens to the Pongo recount his dream because it exists in HIS heaven and by HIS terms, but he is quickly proven to be an utter fool by his own standards!