March 2023 – Topics in Hispanic Literature

March 19, 2023

I, Rigoberta Menchú: an Indian woman in Guatemala by Rigoberta Menchú

I really enjoyed this week’s reading I, Rigoberta Menchú: an Indian woman in Guatemala by Rigoberta Menchú. Although the stories she disclosed were very sad, the testimonio was written in such a way that was very easy to follow along with while still being interesting. The first-person narration and straightforward, conversational nature of the stories/interviews made it feel as though Menchú was personally reciting them.

Throughout the book we learn about her experience as a member of the Quiché community in Guatema, their struggles with the Ladinos as-well as their oppression as third-class citizens under the Guatemalan government. During all of this, she also talks about the generational efforts of the community to preserve their traditions, secrets, and culture from the assimilation efforts from the powerful minority Spanish speaking society.

Among the details of her life, she chooses to disclose some of the teachings of her parents, their work, and few Quiché traditions. While she discloses some of these things, she also refers to certain “secrets” which she doesn’t share. At times she mentions that these secrets are what allow them to preserve their Indian culture and prevent it from being taken away. Their importance to Quiché culture is clear, as she mentions parents make a promise on their children’s behalf to keep the secrets of their people once they are born and pass down their traditions. Without telling us what they are exactly, she leaves the reader to assume. I found that the repeated references to these secrets highlight the resilience of the Quiché community while also being a reminder of the persecution and fear they live under that warrants this need for secrecy to protect themselves. As a reader, their mention definitely kept me interested in that I wondered what they may be referring to or she would open up and eventually let us in on the secrets. Initially I thought it would be their warfare tactics or certain traditions but these are things that she did discuss so I was left quite confused about what these secrets were actually referring to, perhaps more specific details.

It was brought up in lecture that upon investigation, an anthropologist discovered that Menchú may have made up certain things like the burning of her brother and included errors in the story. Finding this out ruined it a little as it brought doubt to her credibility in calling this a testimony. My question for discussion is: how did knowing this detail affect your reading and take away?

March 13, 2023

Mario Vargas Llosa, Captain Pantoja

This week’s reading, Captain Pantoja and the Special Service by Mario Vargas Llosa was interesting but pretty confusing. I found the style of writing to be interesting and pretty easy to follow along with compared to other readings this term. The authors use of multiple narrators to tell the story from different perspectives through personal letters, memos, radio broadcasts, news reports and accounts written by various characters provided a more complex and complete understanding of the story. I think the shifting of perspectives, made the story more personal and exciting than it would have had it been written from the point of view of a single narrator reciting the chronological events of this army operation.

Pantoja’s growth into his position in the army and as the leader of the special service taking his life over was the overarching narrative that stood out to me as most events connected back to his story. Although originally apprehensive against the idea of it, he signs on to lead the special service for the benefits it will provide his family. Overtime, he grows more entrenched in his work, his morality skews, his wife finds out about his affair with one of the prostitutes working under his command who later dies and the operation ends.

I watched the lecture prior to reading the book and the mention of dark themes like the death of Pantoja’s mistress had me wondering how the novel would unfold to be a comedy as mentioned. After completing the reading and watching the film I’m not sure I share the same definition of comedy or let alone know how to define this style of comedy. Sure, there were comical elements like the girl named knockers, referring to project as the “special service” and various other innuendos but the main themes of the story were more tragic than funny. Maybe there’s some comedy in the ridiculousness of solving the problem of rape in the town with an army sanctioned brothel but even then, the dark implications that come with it like violence and death make it hard to laugh at. I feel like I might be missing something when it comes to the humor in Mario Vargas’ writing but it was surly entertaining and hard to put down.

My question for discussion: What did you believe would make this novel a comedy? Is there anything you found particularly funny throughout your reading?

March 7, 2023March 7, 2023

Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years II

In the later part of Gabriel García Márquez’s’ “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, we see the once simple town of Macondo struggle with disruptions brought over by the shiny new train. This comes in the form of modernization and capitalism which begins to take over with the start of industry in the banana plantation and later the towns dependence on it. I wonder if this is supposed to be commentary on colonialism and western industrial technology brought to Latin America. The issues associated with the modernization of Macondo play out throughout the end of the novel which notably is plagued by constant deaths, war, and total collapse. At one point Garcia Marquez draws a pretty vivid comparison to the corpses from the massacred piled up “in the same way in which they transported bunches of bananas”. I think this line is really indicative of the dark fate Macondo experiences during the turmoil and collapse of their major industry after the deluge.

It wasn’t until the end of the book where I finally realized how much of the history of Macondo and the lives of its inhabitants had already been prophesized by Melquíades’ closely following the history described throughout the parchments. It seems like every generation repeated the mistakes of their ancestors (e.g., the Buendia family’s tendency for solitude and involvement in wars and revolutions) seemingly without much progress in terms of new approaches or even much attempt to alter their fates. For these reasons, I believe the fate of Macondo was inevitable and doomed from the outset.

Originally, I thought the intention of novel may have been to provide further commentary on the circular nature of time and inevitable repetition within human nature like we’ve seen in other readings this semester like Borges’. However, after getting through more of the novel it seemed like it was more about the influences of the outside civilization and the ailments that come with progress leaking into Macondo like we’ve seen happen with Western Nations leaking into Latin America. My question for discussion is how has “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel García Márquez influenced your understanding of progress and change? Is the search for progress and improvement all that productive considering all of the unforeseen possible outcomes that may come as a result of it?