January 2023 – Topics in Hispanic Literature

January 23, 2023April 3, 2023

Nellie Campobello, Cartucho

After reading the rest of Nellie Campobello’s novel Cartucho I am left with a pretty dark impression of what it was like to grow up during the Mexican revolution. She provides us with vignettes of short stories about the people in her life and their involvement in the revolution. I think two major things this book accomplished was bringing a face and life to some of the lesser-known characters of the Mexican revolution, those that Campobello grew up around or was exposed to through her mothers role in the community. As well as view the revolution and the parties involved from the untainted eyes of a child to provide a new perspective against the one that dominated after the war.

I really enjoyed her vivid and visual descriptions of the setting and people; I think they really helped animate the book. However, it was difficult to follow. I had trouble keeping up with all of the different characters and quick pace of the stories. After getting a sense of who these people are, their stories come to an end either because they die, or the narrator moves on to the next one. Getting to know a bit about a character and then end to their story within a page maybe two made it seem like their lives were somewhat short lived and interrupted. I also found her descriptions of the gruesome deaths in an unattached, matter of fact way also made it difficult as a reader to get attached to characters and make connection between them. This made it difficult to try to grasp at an overarching narrative.

I think adopting the point of view of a child through these stories was like starting with a clean slate. At the beginning there was a sense of hope and curiosity, two scenes that stand out are her introductions of the men of the north and her curiosity when it came to something odd like generals bright red guts. Over time things became less exciting and some form of tragedy was to be expected. Through her less increasing less playful descriptions, it seemed like she was growing up, becoming numb and more disconnected from everything that had happened. I know reading the story, knowing it was from the perspective of a child made it different from other recounts of the revolution. Do you think the story would have been as popular had the author taken a different approach?

January 17, 2023January 19, 2023

Teresa De La Parra: “Mama Blanca’s Memoirs”

‘Mama Blanca’s Memoirs’ tells the story Blanca Nieves. One of “Six Little Girls of the Big House.” She was the Black sheep of the family – darker than the rest of her sisters and her hair was not naturally curly. Her mother would go to extremes length to curl it regularly and ensure her daughter Blanca fit in.

In her memoir she writes about the pivotal people, places and events that transpired during her life and influenced her up-bring. She frames their stories in a way where we see what she admired about them, the role they played in her life and the lasting impact they had on her that would reverberate through later chapters like her last encounter with Vicente Cochoco.

A part that seemed interesting to me that I don’t fully understand, is how she meant to portray her father’s relationship with her and the rest of her family. She recounts more interactions between her father with characters like Cousin Juancho and Vincent than with her and her siblings, it seems the only influence her father seamed have on his daughters were his values around health that were enforced upon the girls by Evelyn. Ironically, she mentions something about her father having everyone avoid crowded cities for fear of disease and illness. However, when his property Piedra Azul had to be divided amongst his brothers, he thought it would be a good idea to move to Caracas to start his own practice and for the girl’s education, his initial values around health were no longer at the forefront and Aurora would end up dying from measles.

Towards the end of her memoir, I think a main point emerges, contrary to decision to publish the memoir. After years they decided to take a trip back to the plantation. During the decision-making process her mother tells her “It is dangerous to go back to the sights and scenes that form the basis of our memories”. Having been disappointed by all of the changes made by the new owners and with the passage of time she comes to a similar conclusion stating, “we should fold away our memories within ourselves without ever venturing to confront them with things and beings that life changes”. Although against Blanca’s Nieves’ explicit desires as well as a large realization in the story, Teressa de la Pera publishes the book as a memoire preserving her memories because such was admittedly “in fashion” at the time. I wonder if someone has interpreted this differently? Is it right for her memories to not have died with her if that’s what she desired?

January 17, 2023January 19, 2023

Introduction

Hello,

My Name is Diana. This is (*hopefully*) the last semester of my IDST degree (combined areas of study; sociology, geography, and Spanish). My favourite activities are traveling, snowboarding, and playing games. I don’t really ever find myself reading anything outside of required course material (rarely novels) since it’s already a lot but I’m really excited to be able to take time away to try to enjoy consuming literature at my own pace, by my own choosing and paired with a relevant drink.

Throughout this course I expect to familiarize myself with some of the most influential works across Latin American literature and explore the ideas and perspectives brought forth by their authors. Additionally, I hope I can better understand how these works became regarded as influential to this day. I also expect to better my approach to understanding a story and learn what reading a book “well” really means.

I hope that the readings chosen as a part of this course will teach me about the social context and culture of their authors as well as different ways of understanding/approaching stories. I don’t have much experience with literature let alone Latin American Literature. I took SPAN280: Unfinished Revolutions, not long ago so my current idea of Latin American literature is heavily based in texts that are responding to revolution like Cartucho. I believe looking at Latin American literature will expose me to the different struggles and experiences of Latin Americans. From this I imagine I will be able to learn about the different approaches they took in their work and life. I anticipate a reading of Latin American literature will offer an insider’s perspective on a culture different from my own, a version/perspective of historical events or perhaps an important account of an event.

When the idea of influence comes up in the video lecture, it seems that it is built off of the influential writers who came before and served as inspiration. My question for discussion is: What else is it about a story or an author that makes us regard it as influential?