Blogs

So this week was focused on the Casta Paintings or grouping of people based on race. It was used for social control and often dictated someones role in the social system. Some defining characteristics depicted in the paintings were the clothes the people were wearing. Generally the “purer” European descendant wore the most elaborate and expensive clothing. So Spain during this time of colonization and expansions of the new world seemed to be having a sort of identity crisis in the homeland. They wanted to create a more uniform land....read more read full post >>

I was standing at a museum in Mexico when I learned for the first time of the names and titles given to all the mixture of races. I remember being baffled while I stared at the chart of names that seemed to continually grow. My mom explained that after the conquistadores came, the Spaniards and […] read full post >>

The idea of a “crisis of representation” was initially raised in the previous lecture video, about the “Meeting of Two Worlds.” It was mentioned in relation to the definition of Latin America, given the uncertainty that surrounds the general understanding of what Latina America actually is. As a set of complexities and challenges come about in trying… Continue reading Identities → read full post >>

The anxiety about our inability to communicate did not really make sense to me until I recalled the story of the False Creek Indians in 1913. Having been forced to evacuate their reserve and having had to load their belongings on a barge taking them away from their land, the Natives did not go far … Continue reading "WEEK 3: The Colonial Experience" read full post >>

Towards the end of the Casta paintings article the author states that there are many questions still regarding “the circulation, patronage, and reception” of the paintings. While I agree that there is much still to be determined and confirmed, I think that some inferences can be made. The article already gives examples for the reception. … Continue reading "Week Three" read full post >>

As always, the ignorance of those long dead, who were raised in a different time with very different ideals, does not fail to irritate me. Of course it's impossible to enslave all the Indigenous Americans because more than half the population has been ... read full post >>

I first clicked the Lieutenant Nun reading link on our LAST website and stared into the eyes of this man in this portrait. I thought nothing of it and continued reading the introduction to the story or article, whatever you want to call it. I finished reading the introduction and forgot about the portrait by …

Continue reading "The Colonial Experience"

read full post >>

I first clicked the Lieutenant Nun reading link on our LAST website and stared into the eyes of this man in this portrait. I thought nothing of it and continued reading the introduction to the story or article, whatever you want to call it. I finished reading the introduction and forgot about the portrait by …

Continue reading "The Colonial Experience"

read full post >>

First and foremost, I would like to say shoutouts to Jon's haircut in this one. It looks nice.Re: Religion as WeaponIn one of our previous classes, we discussed (briefly) the use and implementation of religion re: the new world. In my group, we discuss... read full post >>

First and foremost, I would like to say shoutouts to Jon's haircut in this one. It looks nice.

Re: Religion as Weapon

In one of our previous classes, we discussed (briefly) the use and implementation of religion re: the new world. In my group, we discussed that religion has the ability to be used as a weapon intended to indoctrinate people. One of my classmates in the discussion called himself a "recovering catholic", and never have I found a term with more relatability than that one. Upon leaving this discussion, I wondered if there was any room for spirituality in religious institution. It seems to me that in history (such as the Philippines, which was also a Spanish colony at one point), religious institutions are primarily used to instill certain morals and ideas in the best interests of the colonizers. The term "ethnic cleansing" comes into play in the lecture in pertaining to this, with the King and Queen of Spain made it clear that an unwillingness to concede to their religion would be punishable by death. I find it really tough to come up with a response to this aside from silence and a lot of lingering thoughts all pointing to "that's so wrong." Really depressing stuff.    

///

Re: Casta Paintings

Casta paintings are an interesting breed, as they function as art pieces, as well as a potential piece of anthropological and historical research for a shifting culture. I kind of see a lot of relevant contributions that casta paintings. The first being the aforementioned potential piece of anthropological and historical research of latin american culture during colonial rule. It allows us, as people who are looking into history and culture, to contextualize and peer into the ideals and societal perceptions of the spanish colonial elite on the growing society they are a part of, as well as how they perceived groups of people. However, that component is dedicated more to the future (us as observers) as opposed to the present of the casta paintings. I feel like casta paintings have the capacity to be construed as blueprints for to literally box in certain groups into certain stereotypes. And even as anthropological and historical research, they can get pretty unreliable at certain parts, like having certain groups of people labelled as "I don't know understand you are" or "a step backward". There are points when looking at and reading about casta paintings where it's remarkably easy to say "that's problematic".

read full post >>