Thursday Class 3/17/2016
The Country Under My Skin
Before discussion:
A brief historical view of pre-revolutionary Nicaragua, the video explains a bit about the involvement of the United States and how its intervention in Nicaragua eventually lead to the formation of the Sandinistas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuBNV3lpdZY 2:25 – 9:25
Discussion Topics:
Do we, as a class, think that The Country Under My Skin is a revolutionary text?
First we must define what a revolutionary text is
pro vs against
-Her looking back on her experiences in the revolution and her moving to the United States, P.367: “I realize that for me the Revolution….”
– Lack of belief that the FSLN would win the election after the revolution, P.353: “I wasn’t as sure as my companeros that the public would vote overwhelmingly in favor of the FSLN.”
How does being alienated from the decision-making process of the revolution affect her dedication to the cause?
-She is always sandinista, but more skeptical of planning, people, ways of handling things: P.156: “Of all the Sandinista leaders I had met, Humberto Ortega was the first who really troubled me.”
P.165: “I was upset. I didn’t understand why, at the last minute, they had decided to use me. It seemed like a lack of foresight, a troubling symptom of their tendency to improvise.”
-However, this can go both ways, as she often describes how other Sandinistas might regard her with suspicion:
P.257:”Sandinistas who came from upper-class backgrounds felt too intimidated to point out this policy of exclusion, at the expense of agreements that had been made during the struggle. We were afraid to be eyed with suspicion.”
Is Belli disillusioned in regards to the revolution? If so how does the reality of the revolution counteract her ideals for it?
-Her reflection on the structure of the revolution in regards to other revolutions, P.276: “We wanted a new kind of revolution that would be original and open, the product of a tropical, irreverent left-wing movement.”
-Her ideals for the true goals of the revolution, P.178: “The revolution sought not only to bring about political change, but also to instill ethical values.”
Does the conflict between her ideals and reality cause Belli to distance herself from the movement? Or does it lead her to fight more to be part of it?
What do we think that Belli’s role was within the Sandinistas? Was this role influenced by her class or gender in any way?
– Modesto’s opinion of Belli, P.197: “But Modesto felt I was the best person to deliver money, messages, and sensitive documents between Costa Rica, Honduras, and Panama, because he thought my upper-class looks would protect me from the usual scrutiny at airports.”
Does having a female narrator offer us a different understanding of the revolution compared to the male narrators?
- “ if iconic figures such as Che Guevara have imagined the revolution as something that takes place far away from home, the women of Latin America in particular have claimed a place for themselves on the battlefield as well as in bed. Their insistence that the revolution begins at home is familiar turf for feminists, as are their effort to continue the revolutionary process in the public sphere.” – Gregory Stephens in “Gioconda Belli on Women in Love and War: Unfinished Revolutions in the Revolutionary Process”
- “Who really cared about Che’s love life? History didn’t linger over such details” – Gioconda Belli in The Inhabited Woman
How does Belli’s drive for fulfillment affects her relationships with everyone around her?
-Does Modesto’s approval of her work have an affect on their relationship, P.200 “Sergio was always criticizing what I did, while Modesto praised me and made me feel valued.”
-overwhelmingness of the her fulfillment, recognized for more than just gender
How do relationships with other women and their shared experiences within the revolution affect Belli?
-Concerning her relationship with Charlie Castaldi:
“Would I be a woman in love or a revolutionary? Would I let my emotions rule or choose to be a “new person”, that utopian, Che Guevarista paradigm, ready to renounce everything for the love of country?” P.321
, 340-341
Do we see any interesting similarities/differences between this book and Cartucho?
Reflections:
José: Overall I think that our class presentation went pretty well overall, I think that as a class we were able to go through Simon and mines lesson plan very well. The discussion that took place on the different aspects of the book were ones that created new ideas that I feel were not discussed in class on Tuesday. The concept of whether a revolution is successful or not was brought up, also, the idea of what a revolution truly means to an individual was brought up. I do think that we got a bit sidetracked a couple of times which limited our ability to talk about other questions that we had prepared for class. Even still though I thought that the degree of conversation that we were able to have was very positive. If there was more time I think I would have liked to talk about how our knowledge of Belli’s personal life affects our relationship with her as a guerilla, a revolutionary, and as a narrator. Although we discussed her revolutionary lifestyle in depth I feel like that we somewhat grazed over her personal life a bit, even though her personal life may not seem as relevant to the topic of revolutions, I think it would have been a good discussion to have.
Simon: I completely agree with Jose that this class discussion went very well, and I think that we as a class managed to make some very interesting points on both The Country Under My Skin and revolution in general. Before presenting I was concerned that Belli’s memoir was perhaps too different from what we had seen before, or too potentially contentious to easily bring about an insightful discussion, but in the end I think that it was actually thanks to these things that the discussion ended up being so interesting. I also think that relying a more on free discussion than some of the previous classes also helped really explore the questions we had. Debates and going around the class can definitely lead to some thought-provoking comments, but they also lose in spontaneity. As Jose also mentions, I do think we got a little side-tracked on some of the questions, which I suppose is the inevitable flip side of allowing free-flowing discussion. I do think it’s a bit of a shame that we didn’t get to cover all of the questions we had planned, especially the one on Belli’s importance as a female narrator of the revolution. However, we did cover all of the other main topics we had prepared, including social class which I found particularly engaging.