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Independence Narratives, Past & Present

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This week, the first topic I wanted to touch on was why we turn to history. History has many uses. The average person may develop an interest in history for any number of reasons. I think that in a way, as humans, we find comfort in history. While the future is untold, and many people would agree, unpredictable, history has already occurred, been recorded, and observed by many. We can of course, still be cynical regarding the actions taken by historical figures, but I think we find a sense of comfort in reading a story in which the ending is concrete, and understood by many. Someone like a politician, or lawyer, however, may look at history for a different reason. For instance, a lawyer may look to history for precedence regarding a case they’re working on. To create a stronger argument, they may draw your attention to a similar case that already happened. A politician, may look to history to draw a quote from a great historical figure. They may even compare themselves to said figure, like Alexander the Great, Winston Churchill etc. To me, a politician looks to history to brand themselves. There are so many uses for history beyond just another course for students to take. My discussion question for this topic is how does the way we study history impact the way we understand it?
 
The second topic I wanted to cover was why Martí writes the way he does. As covered in the lecture, his letter is chock-full of metaphors and allegories. I think the reason he uses so many allegories is because he thinks it’s the easiest way to get his point across. Often times, people of a high intelligence, while they may be smart, struggle to teach, or communicate their thoughts. I think the way he communicates that the Americas are a “sleepy hometown” helps to emphasize the point he’s trying to make. Communicating through letters can also bring more struggles than talking to someone. While you have more time to perfect what you’re saying, it’s not always as easy to predict the other persons response. I think his excessive use of allegories is meant to paint a picture of Latin America. Sometimes, however, I think that the overuse of allegories can hurt more than help. For eventually, the entire text becomes an allegory, and it gets harder to understand rather than easier. My discussion question for this section is how do we balance out the amount of metaphors/allegories used so that our text still makes sense?


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Week 4: Independence Narratives, Past and Present

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This weeks lectures all focused on independence and how each story is individualistic and unique. The idea of independence is not a static concept but rather one that is imagined differently by each individual. Independence therefore varies from each country, to each story. There is no one way to achieve it or maintain it. AdditionallyContinue reading "Week 4: Independence Narratives, Past and Present" read full post >>
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Week 4: Independence Narratives, Past and Present

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The part that stood out to me the most from the lecture was in fact the very begining. I was equally suprised as I was impressed by hearing the comparison between the two versions of the word “representation”; The two being aesthetic representation and political representation. When I first heard the distinction between the two,Continue reading "Week 4: Independence Narratives, Past and Present" read full post >>
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4. Independence Narratives, Past and Present

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Through the readings of Bolivár, Martí and Chávez, I think I was able to gain a better idea of the mentality that existed in Latin America before and during the battles for Independence. 

I think all of them were quite similar in their ideas and desires. Both Bolivár and Martí highlighted a desire for an independent, united Latin America. Both questioned the Spanish rule by asking how could someone who didn't know the nation and its people govern them? While I think Martí was criticizing the colonial rule with a desperate tone that illustrated the resentment that had been arising throughout Latin America, I think Bolivár had a rather optimistic attitude. He had clear visions for the future of Latin America, and he was certain that the Spanish rule was going to come to an end. However, I was left quite surprised at the end where he says: 

"The Indians living there can be civilized, and our territorial possessions could be increased with the acquisition of the Goajira Peninsula. This nation should be called Colombia as a just and grateful tribute to the discoverer of our hemisphere. Its government might follow the English pattern, except that in place of a king there will be an executive who will be elected, at most, for life, but his office will never be hereditary, if a republic is desired."

For the entire letter I had thought that he didn't support the colonizers and their legacy. However, from this excerpt I got the idea that he admired the achievements of the Europeans and the colonizers and instead of preserving the Indian cultures he wanted to "civilize them." Furthermore, he spoke a lot about how someone from the Europe cannot come and implement a structure of government, since no one really knows what kind of societies are going to be formed. Controversially, here he suggests an English pattern of government. This left me very confused. 

More parallels could be observed between Bolivár and the speech of Chávez. He gave his speech in 2004 but similar concerns yet exist. He says "The history of our countries tells us that without doubt, passivity and grieving are useless". Both Bolivár and Martí described Latin America as passive, hurt and vulnerable. Chávez mostly criticizes the neo-liberalism that has failed Latin America. Even if the nations of Latin America have been able to gain independence from their colonizers, they are still being dependent on the North and their economic systems.  Finally, I think his final claim was the most powerful one: "In the South we are victims of the media monopoly of the North." In my opinion, this reflects the crisis of representation and struggle of the Latin American identity.



Question: Do you think Latin America will be able to gain the independence it strives for?
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4. Independence Narratives, Past and Present

Posted by: feedwordpress

Through the readings of Bolivár, Martí and Chávez, I think I was able to gain a better idea of the mentality that existed in Latin America before and during the battles for Independence. 

I think all of them were quite similar in their ideas and desires. Both Bolivár and Martí highlighted a desire for an independent, united Latin America. Both questioned the Spanish rule by asking how could someone who didn't know the nation and its people govern them? While I think Martí was criticizing the colonial rule with a desperate tone that illustrated the resentment that had been arising throughout Latin America, I think Bolivár had a rather optimistic attitude. He had clear visions for the future of Latin America, and he was certain that the Spanish rule was going to come to an end. However, I was left quite surprised at the end where he says: 

"The Indians living there can be civilized, and our territorial possessions could be increased with the acquisition of the Goajira Peninsula. This nation should be called Colombia as a just and grateful tribute to the discoverer of our hemisphere. Its government might follow the English pattern, except that in place of a king there will be an executive who will be elected, at most, for life, but his office will never be hereditary, if a republic is desired."

For the entire letter I had thought that he didn't support the colonizers and their legacy. However, from this excerpt I got the idea that he admired the achievements of the Europeans and the colonizers and instead of preserving the Indian cultures he wanted to "civilize them." Furthermore, he spoke a lot about how someone from the Europe cannot come and implement a structure of government, since no one really knows what kind of societies are going to be formed. Controversially, here he suggests an English pattern of government. This left me very confused. 

More parallels could be observed between Bolivár and the speech of Chávez. He gave his speech in 2004 but similar concerns yet exist. He says "The history of our countries tells us that without doubt, passivity and grieving are useless". Both Bolivár and Martí described Latin America as passive, hurt and vulnerable. Chávez mostly criticizes the neo-liberalism that has failed Latin America. Even if the nations of Latin America have been able to gain independence from their colonizers, they are still being dependent on the North and their economic systems.  Finally, I think his final claim was the most powerful one: "In the South we are victims of the media monopoly of the North." In my opinion, this reflects the crisis of representation and struggle of the Latin American identity.



Question: Do you think Latin America will be able to gain the independence it strives for?
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Week Four: Independence Narratives, Past and Present

Posted by: feedwordpress

Having studied the French revolution and the Napoleonic empire for the last two years I was excited to find out what had happened in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies beyond my limited knowledge that they had sought independence shorty after Napoleon’s victory. However, I was sad to learn that in the case of Brazil this was done in an effort to avoid the abolition of slavery. Whilst it was not uncommon during the period for the elites to favour slavery as it benefitted them greatly, in all the revolutions I had previously studied the poor so greatly outnumbered the rich it was possible for them to overthrow the regime. Therefore, I was disheartened to learn how during a time of global revolution liberalism was crushed in Brazil in favour of the arguably dated idea of a constitutional monarchy.

After reading José Martí’s “Our America” a concept that particularly stood out for me was governing specifically for the place being governed. It is the familiar idea that no one size fits all but having read this passage it made me think of governments today and how instability arises because the government does not act in the best interests of the people. Martí’s other point that “those unacquainted with the rudiments of politics should not be allowed to embark on a career in politics” particularly resonated with me given the upcoming US election. I believe that Martí’s commentary on governments is still relevant in today’s political climate and that without the support of the people and a competent leader nothing but instability will ensue.

The third point of Martí’s that particularly interested me was that of placing more importance on studying the history of the region you are in than studying that of Europe. I found this especially interesting given recent discussions in the UK over the whitewashing of history taught in schools. In the phrase “our own Greece is preferable to the Greece that is not ours; we need it more” Martí’s highlights that both America and Greece are equal which was not the view of the European colonisers and that the people of Latin America deserve to hear the history of their ancestors over a history they have no relation to. I believe this is still a problem today with children all around the world focusing on European history over their own national history and agree with Martí’s that European history should not be valued higher than the history of any other region.

 

Discussion questions:

Do you think history taught in schools should include more global history or national history?

What history did you study when you were at school?

 

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Posted in: Blogs, Week 4

Week Four: Independence Narratives, Past and Present

Posted by: feedwordpress

Having studied the French revolution and the Napoleonic empire for the last two years I was excited to find out what had happened in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies beyond my limited knowledge that they had sought independence shorty after Napoleon’s victory. However, I was sad to learn that in the case of Brazil this was done in an effort to avoid the abolition of slavery. Whilst it was not uncommon during the period for the elites to favour slavery as it benefitted them greatly, in all the revolutions I had previously studied the poor so greatly outnumbered the rich it was possible for them to overthrow the regime. Therefore, I was disheartened to learn how during a time of global revolution liberalism was crushed in Brazil in favour of the arguably dated idea of a constitutional monarchy.

After reading José Martí’s “Our America” a concept that particularly stood out for me was governing specifically for the place being governed. It is the familiar idea that no one size fits all but having read this passage it made me think of governments today and how instability arises because the government does not act in the best interests of the people. Martí’s other point that “those unacquainted with the rudiments of politics should not be allowed to embark on a career in politics” particularly resonated with me given the upcoming US election. I believe that Martí’s commentary on governments is still relevant in today’s political climate and that without the support of the people and a competent leader nothing but instability will ensue.

The third point of Martí’s that particularly interested me was that of placing more importance on studying the history of the region you are in than studying that of Europe. I found this especially interesting given recent discussions in the UK over the whitewashing of history taught in schools. In the phrase “our own Greece is preferable to the Greece that is not ours; we need it more” Martí’s highlights that both America and Greece are equal which was not the view of the European colonisers and that the people of Latin America deserve to hear the history of their ancestors over a history they have no relation to. I believe this is still a problem today with children all around the world focusing on European history over their own national history and agree with Martí’s that European history should not be valued higher than the history of any other region.

 

Discussion questions:

Do you think history taught in schools should include more global history or national history?

What history did you study when you were at school?

 

read full post >>
Posted in: Blogs, Week 4

Week Four: Independence Narratives, Past and Present

Posted by: feedwordpress

The lecture “Independence Narratives, Past and Present” was very informative and thought provoking. For this week’s blog, I would like to focus on to focus on two discussion questions. Politicians seem to reference the past during speeches, campaigns, etc because it shows how much or little the country has progressed. When you look back at […] read full post >>
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Week 4: Independence Narratives, Past & Present

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This week’s content was very eye opening as to recognizing the different independence narratives that exist within within Latin America. When we choose only one narrative to tell, we silence the others. Each region has its own rich history and reasons and ways in which they came into independence- others more simple and others moreContinue reading "Week 4: Independence Narratives, Past & Present" read full post >>
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Week 4 – Independence Narratives, Past and Present

Posted by: feedwordpress

After completing the readings, a sense of inconclusiveness lingers over me. Honestly, it’s an impressive mix of feelings.  From my... read full post >>
Posted in: Blogs, Week 5