This book was tragic and inspiring. Menchu’s voice will be hard to forget and I do not want to forget it. For the very beginning, on a personal level, appreciated the oral genesis of this book since so much of common life is built on those building blocks. The fact that she learned Spanish only three years before is something that I find very relative to my own idiosyncrasy since I too have been trying to learn it the best I can so I may tell my own story or to simply hear and understand the stories of my family by their own tongue.
Aside for the things mentioned above, I struggled with the reading because of the lack of humanity she spoke of, and of the colonial structures that took away so much for such a little price. But at the same time, I felt the necessity to hear her story in order to be educated more of the lives that I haven’t lived because I feel like here in Canada, we are so comfortable that some horrific stories that we hear of don’t seem real until we read about the details extensively and even then we are worlds away. At some of us, not all of us.
One thing that interested my train of thought was about her renouncing in way the ideas custom for women within her culture in order to defend more than her culture. I think after all the injustices she experienced, that is logical action to take but also a very hard one. I don’t think many people could do that but then again, not everyone is meant to be a leader.
After reading about so many injustices committed to innocent people and especially, such unique people customs as old as generations, it still never gets old to think how crazy the world is to justify and even try to debunk the cruelties of testimonials. It amazes me that people what to debunk cruelties against human rights and then sell them useless products in bulk. It is a world full of legal games with cheap victories and expensive debt; at least in this continent.
I do think that Rigoberta is playing a game with us as well. And why wouldn’t she? She a smart woman who knows that people only want to be entertained. That no one really wants to help. That the most we’ll do is write a blog post and speak about injustice, hardly without ever sacrificing something meaningful of ourselves in order to stand in solidarity. So, maybe there’s chance she gave us what we wanted. The question is are we gonna do anything about it?
My question is, if you’ve every experienced an injustice, how could you turn it into a greater cause without writing about it?
I like the provocative way that your post is acquiring towards the end, because it forces us to think again about the topic of the “traps” of the discourse. This goes beyond Ethics, or at least Ethics as it is superficially understood. What weapons does Menchú have to effectively influence a fight where her life is at stake, and that of her comrades in arms? Is the need to find international solidarity more pressing than historiographical accuracy in the account of one’s own life?
Hey there! You actually brought up a really really good point to the consideration around “discrediting” these experiences. In regards to your question, you write a very thought provoking one; I don’t know how you can expand a cause without expanding the awareness of it, and to increase awareness comes along with writing about it. I think if the injustice is a personal one, being the one directly involved allows you to understand the nuances of the context and understand where the solution would lie to some degree, so if you could somehow be involved in the solving process, that would be very valuable to the cause. In terms of turning it into a greater one, teaching what you know becomes integral, and that brings us right back to the necessity of awareness.
Your post is really insightful and intrigued me. To answer your question, I think it’s hard to turn injustices into a greater cause without writing about it as writing is an important form of self-expression and media. Some of the most powerful influences on human-kind and society has been from written sources. However, I think nowadays a lot is shared online, through social media and news sources to document injustices as it is a more powerful way to get a story across to thousands, sometimes millions of people. Social media has given a voice to almost anyone now, whereas before, writers had to work with publishers to get their work out there and recognized.
Thank you for sharing your insights into Menchu’s testimonio. I appreciate the way that you relate the effects that indirect and direct racism and colonialism has on oppressed peoples and communities. The effect that Rigoberta Menchu’s testimonio had on revealing the cruelty and barbarism that the Mestizo and White Guatemalan government had on Indigenous populations was profound, and I definitely think that it was necessary for her to learn non-traditional mentalities and languages like Spanish to be able to share her story to the rest of the world.
HI! I think your blog was super powerful–you have such an insightful way of highlighting your thoughts on this book!! I share your sentiment when you say you are amazed that despite such raw and real testimonies of many many many human rights violation cases and events, there are still some who try to debunk or detract away from the importance of them. For example, I am currently in a history of the Holocaust class and we have thus far researched the importance of testimony and memory and coinciding efforts from the perpetrators to diminish them. To answer your question, I think the power of spoken word could be incredibly powerful but I would see great difficulty in not being able to write about it.
Like others have mentioned, you did a great job of highlighting some of the traps of this discourse that relate to such intense pain and injustice. I like how you say that Rigoberta’s voice will be hard to forget; I couldn’t agree more. At the very least I think that is part of our responsibility to her as readers and witnesses to her pain, to not let ourselves forget her voice or her story.
Hi! I really appreciated your post. What you said about how we in Canada live so comfortably that some stories seem unfathomable until we hear and learn extensively about them really resonated with me. You bring up some really intense thoughts, that are completely valid, and it really is a reminder that we as humans are closer to animals than we think. In terms of your question, I feel like it is almost impossible to create change without some sort of documentation — especially in the world of social media that we live in today. I worry that without things in writing, history is destined to repeat itself. Society shapes literature, and in turn literature shapes society.
“That no one really wants to help. That the most we’ll do is write a blog post and speak about injustice, hardly without ever sacrificing something meaningful of ourselves in order to stand in solidarity.” this is such a powerful and resonating quote; it really hits the point. To answer your question, personally, I believe speaking about the injustice is as powerful as writing about it. Additionally, making sure that I myself is not a passive driver of those acts of injustice is also extremely important. So apart from writing, I believe spoken words and actions will be the best ways to turn injustice into a greater cause.
– Daniel C