Week 12:

It is often said that the worst thing one can experience is the loss of a child. Listening to The Madres of the Plaza de Mayo of Argentina, it becomes clear that the torture of not knowing if your child is passed is at least equal. The mothers and grandmothers in this video clip plea to an unknown person begging for answers, hopeful for the best, but as long as they know where their child is. Where there child's child is is the bear minimum. Considering this as a part of Latin America's long history of genocidal acts, both overt and subtle, being both inflicted upon and inflicted by, it's evident that this fits in here. The tearing of children from family, from identity, from culture fractures everyones' roots. The children have had their past ripped from them; the family, the mothers have had their future torn away. The desperation goes beyond the transfixed power of the mothers in this short clip and echoes in volumes when they speak of the "anguish" they feel because they don't know if their children "are cold, if they are hungry". When the doors that supposedly stay open for everyone, even the most violent, close their doors to childless mothers, where should they go look? When should they stop?

Week 10: Power to Peron

Examining the different interpretations in translating Eva Perón's speech (August 1951), where her apparently moving words reached over a million people, where "she discovered the power of the crowd" (176). This happens to be the opposite of what is often seen in areas where there is such a strong and vast history of political turmoil and tension, Perón's speech that evening reached so many ears in a variety of ways that there is no unifying point of it except for the power it arose from it's audience. As Perón addressed the crowd as the head of the Peronist Women's Party of Argentina despite her failing health it became evident that the people wanted not only to support her, and have her support her husband, but they wanted her. Their continuous interruptions reportedly made it impossible for anyone to settle the crowd, let alone finish her planned speech, it went from a lecture to a conversation. Maybe this is one of the reasons the crowd loved her so much, they wanted someone to not only talk for them, but to listen to them. The dissenting opinions from journalists covering this story underlines the conflicting views not only held about Latin America from other nations, such as the New York Times anti-American representation of Perón's speech, but also within Argentina. This being the 1950's where women's rights were limited internationally also marks upon an important turning point in women's involvement in politics both domestically and internationally. The representation of her talking in this conversation further represent the journalist, and by extension their nations, differing views of powerful women in politics, one with many interruptions and missing key paragraphs in the recording might signal her silencing. It alternatively my be paying respect to the nation's fierce support for such a powerful First Lady.

Week 9: Taking Literary Stock

Examining the levels of respect currently held for Indigenous people globally, we have to remain conscientious of the methods in which we interact and pay respect to the cultures of the people's who's land we reside on. In Latin America this is truly evident with the historical to present portrayal of the Indigenous people, we go from castas paintings to Disney, with an advancement unprecedented in its lack of actual speed. This so called advancement is called into question by Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart by their calling out of the "Noble Savage" in their essay From the Noble Savage to the Third World. Depicting Disney's representation of the Indigenous people in Mexico, "Aztecland", and representing Indigenous cultural identity through gross appropriation and racism. The essay continues to analyze the harmful stigmas that are represented through the framework which the "Noble Savage" is represented. Although this essay is from 45 years ago, its criticism are as valid as they were then, the frame which Indigenous people of Latin America area "allowed" to exist and represent themselves and their ancestral identity is influenced heavily, if not dictated, by the oftentimes shallow perspective of mainstream media.

Week 8: Rubén Darío's To Roosevelt

Reading through Rubén Darío's To Roosevelt (1867-1916) makes it clear the attitude against President Roosevelt and the United States' actions during his years as president (1901 - 1909). The emotions and the principles addressed by Darío within this poetic article are themes that, unbeknownst at the time, would remain relevant for years to come. Darío contextualizes the hypocratic irony of America having such a progressive leader, for example animal rights or opposition to Tolstoy (L10), Darío goes on to acknowledge Roosevelt's "cultured" and "skillful" (L10) state. To an extent, Darío uses Roosevelt as synecdochal for the whole of the United States. The mastery in the fight for equality on subjects that directly concern the people's immediate interest. Rubén Darío describes the United States' as a "future invader" (L6) of states not void of Indigenous people, in particular, Central America. He further depicts a historically ironic insult that the United States "lack[s] one thing: God" (L51), even though the United States is rich, and is godly in it's presence, it lacks the relation to God through their natural surroundings which Darío reminds the audience has an expansive and lively history that Euro-United States hasn't been long involved in which makes Central America superior in the conduct and affairs of it's proper business.