Blogs

First and foremost, I found this week’s lecture and readings really confusing, which is actually quite funny considering everything we’ve talked about regarding the crisis of representation. I watched the student video made by Anna Shannon and Nisa Brennan followed by a recommended CrashCourse video on Latin American revolutions–John and Hank Green have helped meContinue reading "week 4: independence narratives, past and present" read full post >>

This week’s lecture video offered ideas and viewpoints I couldn’t see by reading the text on my own and found it very enlightening.  Also, Mr.Alexander Dawson’s text gave me a better understanding of the reason behind our inability to determine when Latin America came to exist or came to be its own. In this week’s […] read full post >>

The readings brought up a lot of interesting topics that I’ve delved into a bit before, albeit for different regions. Having heard from the video about the many allegories Martí weaves into his work “Nuestra América”, especially via imagery of clothing, one segment caught my attention. Martí decried the elites for flaunting “epaulets and judge’s […] read full post >>

I thought this week’s content was very interesting, I was most intrigued by the idea that at the time of colonialism Latin America was a “hotbed of diversity” yet was also dreamed of being a land of ethnic/religious homogeneity by those who colonized it. It was a very interesting dichotomy to examine. In the 1490sContinue reading "Week 3: The Colonial Experience" read full post >>

Looking at the extra resources on the syllabus, I came across the Calle 13 music video Latinoamérica. As soon as... read full post >>

To be completely honest I had a very difficult time writing this week’s blog. I found the topic and readings to be confusing and convoluted. I had trouble following the various varying and contradicting perspectives/narratives spread out through time and place. The confusion of this week seems to be part of a recurring theme ofContinue reading "Week 4: Independence Narratives, Past and Present" read full post >>

For this week’s blog post I want to focus on the “Our America” essay by José Martí. This essay reflects José Martí’s reaction to the situation that Cuba was in back when it was still under Spanish occupation. I did a little bit of research into the history, and I found out that Cuba was […] read full post >>

This weeks reading on Catalina de Erauso left me very conflicted on how I feel towards her. I say her... read full post >>

I really enjoyed the readings this week, in particular I found Catalina de Erauso’s diary particularly engaging and surprising with it reading like a soap opera at times! 

What struck me most about Catalina’s story was that she received no punishment when her identity was revealed but instead was honoured by both the Pope and the King. I found this so surprising as even in Europe today queer people are not always accepted by the Catholic Church – in Italy gay marriage is not legal due to the Catholic Church’s controversial influence over the country’s politics. The fact that she was so readily accepted would perhaps suggest that the Church and the King were not aware of her sexuality but only saw her as a woman who had dressed as a man for the sole purpose of serving her country and not as a way of expressing her own gender identity.

 

Furthermore, I was surprised that the highest powers at the time, the State and the Church, both recognised that a woman was capable of doing a “man’s” job to a high level. I had believed that the wide spread notion of women being capable of “men’s” work only came into fruition during World War One when women were forced to step into these types of jobs so it was interesting to see how in the patriarchal society of the time Catalina wasn’t criticised for her actions but praised for them.

 

The Casta Paintings also intrigued me as I would have presumed they would have written down this social hierarchy as a numbered list and not in the form of a painting. However, I can see how a painting may be more effective in portraying the nuances of this hierarchy with each category being dressed in different clothes and with a different background. In one notable example those with “purer” blood were depicted as closer to God.

 

I also noticed that some of the paintings differed on a “definition” for each of the groups with some paintings showing very different images for the same group. This would perhaps suggest that this was not a ‘clear-cut’ matter and that the lines between groups were very blurred, especially given that many people at the time managed to pass as another group.

 

Discussion questions

 

Can you think of any historical figures like Catalina that defied the gender norms of the time?

Do governments use a figurative Casta Painting to categorize citizens into a hierarchy today?

read full post >>

I really enjoyed the readings this week, in particular I found Catalina de Erauso’s diary particularly engaging and surprising with it reading like a soap opera at times! 

What struck me most about Catalina’s story was that she received no punishment when her identity was revealed but instead was honoured by both the Pope and the King. I found this so surprising as even in Europe today queer people are not always accepted by the Catholic Church – in Italy gay marriage is not legal due to the Catholic Church’s controversial influence over the country’s politics. The fact that she was so readily accepted would perhaps suggest that the Church and the King were not aware of her sexuality but only saw her as a woman who had dressed as a man for the sole purpose of serving her country and not as a way of expressing her own gender identity.

 

Furthermore, I was surprised that the highest powers at the time, the State and the Church, both recognised that a woman was capable of doing a “man’s” job to a high level. I had believed that the wide spread notion of women being capable of “men’s” work only came into fruition during World War One when women were forced to step into these types of jobs so it was interesting to see how in the patriarchal society of the time Catalina wasn’t criticised for her actions but praised for them.

 

The Casta Paintings also intrigued me as I would have presumed they would have written down this social hierarchy as a numbered list and not in the form of a painting. However, I can see how a painting may be more effective in portraying the nuances of this hierarchy with each category being dressed in different clothes and with a different background. In one notable example those with “purer” blood were depicted as closer to God.

 

I also noticed that some of the paintings differed on a “definition” for each of the groups with some paintings showing very different images for the same group. This would perhaps suggest that this was not a ‘clear-cut’ matter and that the lines between groups were very blurred, especially given that many people at the time managed to pass as another group.

 

Discussion questions

 

Can you think of any historical figures like Catalina that defied the gender norms of the time?

Do governments use a figurative Casta Painting to categorize citizens into a hierarchy today?

read full post >>