El Silencio De Neto

El Silencio de Neto demuestra una perspectiva distinta de lo que yo esperaba. Me gustó que pudimos aprender sobre el impacto de la revolución desde la perspectiva de un niño imaginativo como Neto. Al experimentar los cambios en el país de aquel tiempo de esta manera, aprende sobre el impacto más con respeto a la familia que a la nación en si. Por éso me gustó la película.

Reading for Wednesday

Does anyone remember what the readings are for Wednesday?

Thanks,

Scott

Sandino's influence

Sandino's life and consequent mythology are very interesting to me. When I was reading about him and his ability to invoke fear in his enemies and hope into his people I couldn't help but relate it to the legends of America. For example, when reading about him made me think of all the stories and anecdotes of Lincoln and and Washington and how they had so much virtue and character. I've read a number of things about both and i can't think of any negative thing said about either of them. Along the same lines it seems like Sandino is just one of those once a generation people who have the charisma to continue influencing even after they've passed on. The only real negative thing said about Sandino is his relationships with women. Unfortunately that was a black spot for him, nevertheless, he's been able to help so many of his countrymen despite this one bad aspect.

Después De Las Bombas

I just finished this book by Arturo Arias, and loved it. It covers the political unrest in Guatemala beginning in 1954 and continues on into the early 1970's. It also covers the revolution in 1944 briefly. It's a really cool book. It uses magical realism to tell the story of a young kid growing up in war-torn Guatemala, and reveals the political instability of the nation, as well as the fear and very limited freedom of the people. Its really intense and often graphic, and although the violence and oppression is intentionally exaggerated, it definitely made me feel fortunate to have grown up in a time and place that is so relatively safe and peaceful. Its also a really fast and easy read (at least in english), and it's actually kind of funny (in an ironic and sometimes disturbing way). I think I'm going to write my final paper on this, and I'd recommend it if anyone is undecided on their topic.

Eye Opening Education

Its really interesting to learn about the history of Guatemala and its civil wars that its been having, particularly in recent decades. I had the opportunity to go there a few years ago and had no idea that the people had only recently been through so much civil warfare (and in many cases were still going through it). It was so apparent in the people’s humble faces that they had been through struggles in their life, but I had no idea to what extent their trials had escalated. Having learned more from reading these pieces of literature and seeing the documentary in class the other day are very motivating to go back to better appreciate what the people you meet have been through.

Agatha

¿Han visto la ira de la tormenta tropical Agatha en Centroamérica?  A propósito, los desastres naturales muchas veces han tenido efectos no previstos en la política y la historia de la región...

http://www.laprensagrafica.com/el-salvador/social/121145-tormenta-agatah-ya-toco-tierra-salvadorena.html

El Silencio de Neto

It was interesting to watch this movie and think about what it may have been like to live in Guatemala at this time. Seeing the different characters in the movie made me think on the different types of people in this time. From the father and the uncle having disagreements over the current political situation, the brother who becomes very politically active and ends up vanishing, and also the in the schools yards when the girls start teasing Neto, accusing him of having a 'revolutionary' for a father.

I thought this movie was very well done. When I first read what the movie was about, I basically thought it was just gonna be a movie based on the history of Guatemala for two hours. However the movie was very interesting and enjoyable to watch. The filmmaker did a great job in making a good story but also showing how it would have been to live in Guatemala during that time.

Class 5/26

I missed class on Wednesday, due to being in the hospital with some pregnancy complications, and am wondering if anyone would email me their notes from class and let me know what I missed!?!?  I would really appreciate it!

Thank you!
My email is: aubriesmyth@gmail.com

~Aubrie

El silencio de Neto y Cenizas de Izalco

Pienso que El silencio de Neto es una buena representación de lo que la clase alta pudo experimentar mientras vivían en Guatemala durante los años de los 40 y 50. Cierto que tiene su influencia “Hollywood” pero aun representa a la vida de esta sociedad. Toca un poco la situación de los indígenas pero no se sumerge en esa escena, pienso que hace bien en vez de abarcar mucho se enfoca en estas vidas de la gente de la ciudad. Es bastante similar con la novela Cenizas de Izalco. La novela y la película ciento que son mas atractivas porque no vienen pintadas de rojo comunistas, son sutiles en su mensaje y a la misma vez desarrollan personajes con quien yo me pueda relacionar. La escena de los niños en el billar fumando me recuerda de mi niñez más de lo que ustedes se pueden imaginar.

Excellent posts!

Excellent posting!  I just read through everyone's posts for the last week and am so pleased with your insights.

Miguel, I have been thinking about your question today about whether or not there are Central American texts published with conservative viewpoints about what has happened over the last century.  If there are, they have not made it into the canon, which, remember, is formed by academics.  I did think of a few conservative texts from the early twentieth century:  Pedro Joaquin Cuadra Chamorro (father/uncle to Pablo Antonio Cuadra, one of the founders of the Anti-Academia; also patriarch of powerful Chamorro family) published very conservative novels that served as comportment manuals for young Nicaraguan women.  These were _Las dos mujeres_ (192?) and three short novels, "El manto de Jesus", "El gobierno del hijo prodigo" and "Los tres azotes del diablo" (1927).  There was also a comportment manual, _La mujer y el hogar_ by Manuel Rosales (Guat) published in 1930 that was apparently well-received throughout the isthmus.  It was also common to see protests and complaints about the Nueva Mujer in periodicals throughout the 1920s and 30s.

In 1936, Somoza published a scathing biography of Sandino titled, _El verdadero Sandino_.  He meant to discredit the hero that he martyred.

Ediciones F & G in Guatemala published Odette Arzu's memoir in three volumes as a document of the privileged lives and perspectives of the Guatemalan oligarchy.  Although it reads like a novela rosa, this text has historical value in that gives us such a perspective in bound print.

I will have to think of and investigate more examples.

Enrich your FB experience!

Enrich your Facebook experience.  Become fans/friends of ContraPunto-El Salvador, Pnud-El Salvador, 400 Elefantes, Miguel Huezo Mixco, and others featured on the "Central American Links" of the Finzamos blog.

how much have we really changed?

I learned my Spanish while serving a mission in Costa Rica. Many of the people we would interact with lived in the banana fields or the coffee plantations. It has been very interesting reading Bananos y Hombres and comparing it to what I saw. Not much has changed. Obviously things are a little more stable as a country, but the poverty and working conditions are similar to what they were during the early 20th century. Children still work in the fields, these lowest class workers live in one-room shacks, and disease is still rampant. In a somewhat modern society it is easy to see and feel progress but stepping into the banana fields fells like taking a step back into a different world.

Another Point of View

It has been an interesting way of learning about the civil unrest in Central America via literature that was produced at the time, rather than from a text book of solid facts.  I have had a couple other classes dealing with similar issues in the area but have enjoyed looking at a single point of view rather than an outsiders trying to give a blanket overview of a situation that obviously effected many.  I mean, even reading Carmen Sobalvarro's poems (though they weren't very good) has been interesting in that her voice and face became such an icon.  It gives history a much needed personal touch.

Jake

Bananos y Hombres

Se que hable un poco de esto en la clase de hoy pero queria ensenarles una photo de bananos. Me hace pensar en como Carmen Lyra quise que los demas vieron que la naturaleza trata de proteger a sus "frutas" y que los humanos no hagan lo mismo por sus "frutas." Tristemente las cosas no han cambiado desde los 1930's. Hay mucha explotacion de personas. Aun hoy hay personas en los Estados Unidos que trabajan en los campos de fruta y verdurda por todo los Estados Unidos. I remember when there was a huge movement about helping the migrant workers, who were being paid poorly and maltreated, have better lives. People boycotted certain food establishments. There are probably many other things that we should avoid and boycott to help stop inhumane treatment of other humans. Not only do we have issues with cosas de agricola pero there are sweatshops and other types of labor in other countries that make the clothes we see in stores and on commercials. Even if we just treated each other fairly in doing business and other daily interaction the world would be better. Si todos apreciaramos y vigilaramos a los ceres humanos como la naturaleza a sus frutos, quizas tendriamos un mundo mejor. Lastima que las cosas no son asi. Entiendo mejor poque los periodistas, poetas y escritores ahnelaban una sociedad utpica.

U.S. policy in Central America

I didn't know very much about U.S. foreign policy in Central America over the past 100 years before this weeks readings (and I guess I still don't know very much about it), but after reading Bananos y Hombres and the reading by Whisnat about Sandino I understand why there are prevalent anti-american sentiments in Central America. I'm a pretty politically moderate guy, but it seems that U.S foreign policy in Nicaragua, and later Guatemala during the 20th century was strongly motivated by North Americas economic interests at the expense of Central Americas development. Its also unfortunate that the Central American civil wars (especially in Guatemala) seemed to occur at the height of the Red Scare in the U.S., causing the U.S. to come down harshly on anything that appeared to be associated with Communism. I know that any nations foreign policy is motivated by its own interests, but I think that U.S. intervention in both Nicaragua and Guatemala really retarded the progress of those nations. Also I got a book on Amazon about a week ago called Bitter Fruit:The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala, I've only skimmed it but it seems like good source if anyone is planing on writing their paper on the Guatemalan civil war.

Telegrafo

I found this story quite comical. After living in Central America for a short while, I realize this is the manera in which information travels. It didn't take long for news to travel between the group I lived with or in the community. I called them chambrosos. The chambres traveled quick, and as in the story most of the time the reports had been falsified to be more entertaining. It is much the same in the US with facebook, and twitter, a story can be told and retold until only part of none of it is true. I don't see the Central American way of life changing very soon, as it hasn't changed in the past century, since the story was written.

Clueless!

Bueno pues no sé si estoy escribiendo en el propio lugar pero ni modo, si no? Aprenderé. Entonces no sé exactamente de lo que habla las lecturas pero ay voy poco a poco. Es interesante ver la película que nos enseñó la maestra y ver como se presenta la información en dibujos de animales y otras formas. Es interesante porque en una programa se llama NOVA, tienen un historia documental sobre el código de los Mayas. En esta programa hablan acerca de todas las personas que han intentado traducir la lectura de los Mayas y el hombre que, según ellos, realizó esta meta. Si quieren verlo, les dejo el sitio de web.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/63741/nova-cracking-the-maya-code

La Loba

I really enjoyed La Loba as a story. I thought it was a great depiction of what that witch magic would look like. I liked the detailed description of when Kola vomited up her spirit into a flower pot. It actually made me sick to my stomach. It reminded me of stories that were told to me when I lived in Merida. They used to tell a story about the "Coco" who would come and eat bad children who had wondered away from their Mothers.

Popul Vuh

I have previously taken a Classic Maya class, and although we only went over the Popol Vuh for a short time, it was interesting to connect the dots from the video we watched in class to the aspects of the Maya.

Murals, carvings, and paintings have been found all over the Mayan region with depictions from the Popol Vuh. Depictions of Xibalba are often found, especially on tombs of the Mayan rulers. It is also interesting to see how many important aspects of Mayan life are in the Popol Vuh. For example, the ball game was very important to the Maya, and had a lot of religious implications. The stories of the hero twins also involve sacrifice, which was important to the Maya, and the stories also involve maize, which was very important to the diet of the Maya.

I am very glad we got to watch the video, although I have learned about the Popol Vuh in other classes, I was never able to see how the entire story fits together like we were able to do in the video. The video helped me understand parts of the Mayan life that I wasnt even able to fully learn in other classes dedicated solely to study the Maya.

Telegrafo

I actually liked the reading about the telegrafo. It was a fun read because it showed that the same problems being faced then are still being faced today. The differences lie in the amount of technology use. I asked the question as to whether our gossip problems are better or worse and I say that it is obviously worse. With better sources of communication comes better ways to gossip.

Popol Vuh

Lo que me llama la atención en el Popol Vuh es que estas leyendas me parecen muy semejantes a las leyendas de los indígenas del sur de Estados Unidos. Por eso, investigo un poco los imágenes que parecen en los artefactos. Mientras, por supuesto, hay diferencias en los cuentos y el juego con la pelota no existe en EEUU, el uso de las imágenes, especialmente la naturaleza y los animales, acerca el uso de los Hopi y los Navajo (por ejemplo). Sé que estas tribus compartían una ruta comercial, sin embargo, me sorpresa que los colores y las representaciones de gente, dioses, animales y plantas refleja las que he visto en el suroeste.

En caso de que ustedes quieran ver el video de la clase, está en partes en http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=993B4EACD2CEDCA0

La Loba

I was captivated by the introduction of Gavidia’s “La Loba.” From the depiction of El Salvador and how one man could have so much power, such as in the case of don Gerardo Barrios, I automatically put my sights on having this leyenda be another demonstration of the inequalities between the few in power in El Salvador and the majority living in poverty. I was pleasantly surprised on how the leyenda took a turn to the past and detailed how la loba came to be. I enjoyed so much how Gavidia unclothed the current El Salvador and took me on a journey back to a virgin land free from any European influence, architecture, religion, culture, etc. Gavidia at that point was then free to use any form of experimentation with unexpected words and images. Gavidia makes me want to be a better story teller and gives me ideas on how to be more captivating even when writing.

Punto de Vista

Reading the Leyendas de Guatemala by Migel Angel Asturias has been very different from other readings in Spanish I have done.  Usually when I read I put a lot of effort into piecing things together, be it plot, characters or even just sentences and paragraphs.  I have noticed with the Leyendas de Guatemala that this has been a bigger challenge than usual but I feel though that this is simple my point of view.  Reading something that is written with "surrealismo" has been different in that when I try to sync it with my reality, my thought process, it hasn't matched up.  In Los brujos de la tormenta primival, reading about how the world came to be and the separation of people from the gods exemplifies my struggle in that reading the story in any language would have been foreign to me.  There were however parts that came quicker, such as the problems that came with disobeying "las leyes del amor".

Leyendas de Guatemala forced me to trust what I was reading and to turn off my "nonsense" alarm that I have come to use when reading in my second language.  It was a stretching text, but in a good way.

Jake

Central American Links Added

I have added a working list of links to Central American news, culture and political sites that may be of interest.  Please feel free to make suggestions and enjoy exploring!  There may be content for final projects here...

CAFTA

What do you know about DR-CAFTA?  What are its benefits?  Who benefits?  Why has it been so controversial both among North American and Central American voters?