Daisy, Latin American Studies 2019

This week I wanted to really analyze "To Roosevelt" as many of its references seemed rich although I couldn't understand them all. The first two lines seem to mean that the United States only responds to certain forms of political discourse; countries that share similar religious and political values are allowed into the political arena. Darío points out that much of the American identity is rooted in old colonial figures like George Washington, as Mexico often participates in a similar worship of dead political figures. This necro nationalism permeates both country's identities. Nebuchadnezzar is both a biblical reference but also a greater homage to hegemonic powers. The Babylonian king had expansive control and influence over the area; similar to the way that the United States' influence reached the entire world. Darío reprimands to the United States as too quick to use violence because they believe the "future is wherever your bullet strikes." This i...

I think this primary source was the most interesting yet for me to read. Having always thought of Díaz as a violent dictator, it was really fascinating to see an American account of how he was the democratic ideal. There were a few spots in the article that I found particularly compelling. The first was how Díaz referred to an opposing political party as "enemies." It seemed so obvious to me at this moment that he was incredibly disingenuous about his political processes. Democratic discourse is not a question of enemies but rather fair opposition. In light of the fact that he rigged the election against Madero in 1910. The second was the American sentiment that saturated the piece. As an American myself, there is often this sort of trope of someone who starts from nowhere and then picks himself up and becomes wealthy. I think the idea that Díaz came from little and was able to become the father of modernization in Mexico was particularly consumable to an American audience....

This week's reading posed an interesting comparison between North and South America. Initially, it seemed as though North America had some version of high ground due to the lack of participation in the slave trade in comparison to southern neighbors. Yet that seemed to be completely unaligned with the history I have learned about the United States. I found it really interesting how race and slavery were so intertwined. The United States created an impossible situation for people of color as their entire identity was based upon the history of slavery. When freed slaves visited Brazil they felt a better sense of equality than at home. I wondered what this actually looked like in practice. What was day to day life like for a person of color in Rio? While both were clearly immoral and abominable in the treatment of people of color it's quite interesting to try and understand each country in the context of the other. I also found it interesting to read Latin American feminist acco...

This week I was particularly interested in the Story of Santa Anna. As I am learning about him in the context of Mexican history, I have noticed how he is presented greatly differs from each source. In the context of Mexican history, Santa Anna is sort of a joke. His eleven sporadic presidencies, often weak and corrupt, portray Mexico as incredibly unstable. He was a president that was only present to achieve military victories; when it came to ruling he was absent, even giving leadership to his vice president while he still held the title of presidency. It seems that he is both so contrary to caudillo culture as he is representative. The idea of a caudillo is that he is a "strongman" who uses force yet exerts the most meticulous and paternal care to the people under his protection. Santa Anna as a leader was far from this, often being removed from office or having little control over Mexico. Yet during battles, he emulates the caudillo, fighting with utmost loyalty to protec...

Out of the three narratives we read for this week, I found Chavez' most compelling. Through the use of statistics and comparisons he is able to take a global and powerful stance on the damages of neoliberalism. In particular, I found it interesting how he was able to include other countries in his narrative of North versus South, mentioning Africa as another example of where neoliberalism failed left the country struggling. To me I think the Cold War is really an integral part of the story of Northern Paternalism and control. Chavez mentions 1945-1975 as a time where there was more growth than in modern day. This time period aligns with the democratic spring where following world war II, Latin American countries were developing their economies and their own governments before U.S. intervention. The story of neoliberalism begins with the control imposed by foreign governments afraid of the potential power that newly democratic Latin countries held. Chavez also incorporates the yout...

Catalina de Erauso is really a story of more than just gender, but she is also a story of the New World following the influx of conquistadores. Her ability to perform a variety of jobs such as lieutenant, merchant, and farmer reveal the pure amount of opportunity for Spanish men within the New World. As we have discussed many made the journey in hopes of becoming elite or wealthy as the social stratification within the New World was at its beginning phase. It seems as though there was a sort of desperation to create these old systems of order within new environments as the Casta paintings suggest. The detailed nature of the Casta paintings reflect a kind of desperation to have hierarchy as people are divided and subdivided into as many categories as possible. Of course these paintings favor the conquerer as the superior race yet I found it interesting how the indigenous woman was positioned higher in society than the African woman. It speaks to the intensity of anti-black racism but th...

As a child I sang a song in elementary school about Columbus' discovery of the New World. The catch was that "somebody was already there." While initially Columbus had a more neutral position in society, even sometimes positive, by the time I reached middle school my perception of him and his actions was entirely negative. Columbus' journal poses an interesting nuance. While he seems rather forgiving, kind, and well tempered I knew that in his later journeys he would create the grounds for the Taino extinction. In the context of knowing his later impacts on native culture and life, I found his attitudes to be disingenuous towards the Native people he interacted with. Let alone the capture of six individuals points to a sort of objectification of human life, as those people became disposable in his quest. We also know that in many native cultures, like the Aztec, although they interacted with Cortes later and not Columbus, they viewed the Spanish as gods or magical f...

Hi, my name is Daisy Sessions and I am a second year student in the Faculty of the Arts. I am planning on minoring in Latin American Studies as I have really enjoyed the history classes I have taken that focus on Latin American culture and society. Right now I am in the History of Mexico and it has been quite interesting already to see the overlap of information that pertains to this class. I found the student videos to be quite different and interesting ways of communicating the story of Columbus. My two favorites were The Meeting of the Two Worlds II and The Meeting of Two Worlds: Aztec addition as they were both the most engaging in my perspective. In particular the Aztec addition was really interesting to me as it highlighted how cultural differences actually spearheaded many of the losses throughout the time of occupation. The Aztecs' perception of the religion on the battlefield cost them often such as the feathered headdress that was supposed to scare the Spanish into retr...