The imposition of a hierarchy is essential to the colonial operation. It sets up a “perfect” to rule over the “imperfect”. How then does a previous colonial state move away from this embedded hierarchy? Slavery is a clear example of the colonial caste system in Latin America. It distinguishes a class of people as propertyContinue reading “Week 6: Citizenship and Rights in the New Republics”
As they say about the Cuba and in state of the nation: Cuba is still in a state of euphoria due to the revolution. I am paraphrasing and the phrase, presently, is only applicable to very few Cuban’s, if any. I see this euphoria as similar to the identity of South Americans. In my opinion, […]
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”
Looking at the extra resources on the syllabus, I came across the Calle 13 music video Latinoamérica. As soon as…
A conversation with Max Cameron (video)
week 4 lecture (video)
After watching “Power to the People” my first impression was how familiar the content looked to me at first glance. This student video displayed black and white clips of political meetings, marches and speeches which -displayed as they were, without colour and audio- could easily have represented almost any European or American country in the mid 20th century. Before beginning this course I was aware that I had an incorrect perception of Latin America as an exotic, idealistic paradise, but this video struck me particularly because I learnt it is not at all as far-removed from my own culture as I had thought. This video was on populism in Brazil, and the political, historical narrative surrounding it. Additionally, the background music of “Power to the People” made it seem extremely professionally produced. The video “Brazilian Slavery and Abolition” had a similar impression on me, in the way that the actions and series of events in that section of history are not unfamiliar to my understanding.
Watching “Independence Narratives, Past and Present” helped me gain a brief understanding of one of the reasons possibly why these countries are grouped together as Latin America – they share a common history. From what I gathered, they were fighting for freedom from colonial bonds at roughly the same time as each other. This reminded me of learning about how European countries all rebelled against feudalism at around the same time in the 1700s because each revolution triggered another. Further research showed me that tomorrow is Mexican independence day!
Finally, watching “A Revolutionary Process: The Cuban Revolution in the 1960s” was very entertaining and also really interesting to see a subject of more modern history. At school I had briefly learnt about Cuba’s involvement in the Cold War, but I had never connected that history to the concept of Latin America in my mind, as I had learnt from a Western perspective -not talking much about the Cuban people themselves at all. Interestingly, when the student stated “…the United States viewed Cuba as a back door…” It made me think of the things I have read about their modern views of Mexico, and the alleged dangers brought by Mexican immigrants and connections to drug cartels.
Overall, I really enjoyed watching the student videos. Even though not all of the content was about things I am specifically interested in, it was great to see brief introductions to some of the course content and I was surprised by how much I learnt from them.
After watching “Power to the People” my first impression was how familiar the content looked to me at first glance. This student video displayed black and white clips of political meetings, marches and speeches which -displayed as they were, without colour and audio- could easily have represented almost any European or American country in the mid 20th century. Before beginning this course I was aware that I had an incorrect perception of Latin America as an exotic, idealistic paradise, but this video struck me particularly because I learnt it is not at all as far-removed from my own culture as I had thought. This video was on populism in Brazil, and the political, historical narrative surrounding it. Additionally, the background music of “Power to the People” made it seem extremely professionally produced. The video “Brazilian Slavery and Abolition” had a similar impression on me, in the way that the actions and series of events in that section of history are not unfamiliar to my understanding.
Watching “Independence Narratives, Past and Present” helped me gain a brief understanding of one of the reasons possibly why these countries are grouped together as Latin America – they share a common history. From what I gathered, they were fighting for freedom from colonial bonds at roughly the same time as each other. This reminded me of learning about how European countries all rebelled against feudalism at around the same time in the 1700s because each revolution triggered another. Further research showed me that tomorrow is Mexican independence day!
Finally, watching “A Revolutionary Process: The Cuban Revolution in the 1960s” was very entertaining and also really interesting to see a subject of more modern history. At school I had briefly learnt about Cuba’s involvement in the Cold War, but I had never connected that history to the concept of Latin America in my mind, as I had learnt from a Western perspective -not talking much about the Cuban people themselves at all. Interestingly, when the student stated “…the United States viewed Cuba as a back door…” It made me think of the things I have read about their modern views of Mexico, and the alleged dangers brought by Mexican immigrants and connections to drug cartels.
Overall, I really enjoyed watching the student videos. Even though not all of the content was about things I am specifically interested in, it was great to see brief introductions to some of the course content and I was surprised by how much I learnt from them.
Source Reference: Dubois, Laurent. “Why Haiti Should Be at the Centre of the Age of Revolution – Laurent Dubois: Aeon Essays.” Aeon, Aeon, 12 Nov. 2019, aeon.co/essays/why-haiti-should-be-at-the-centre-of-the-age-of-revolution. While discussing the Independence of Haiti it is of great significance to note that it was one of the first slave led rebellions in a revolution that wouldContinue reading “Video Project: Source Research No.2”
Source reference: Bethell, L. (Ed.). (1993). Argentina since Independence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511609480 Our Video Project will be focusing on Week 4: Independence Narrative, Past and Present. One of the primary sources we will use focuses on the Independence of Argentina from colonial rule. The source is called ‘Argentina since Independence’ and was written byContinue reading “Video Project : Research Source no.1”
