The Slaughterhouse

The short story El Matadero (The Slaughterhouse) by Esteban Echeverria is a reflection of the caudillo period in the 19^th century. El Matadero uses sarcasm and vivid imagery to convey his view points on the political systems of Buenos Aires during the dominance of Juan Manuel de Rosas. The story portrays the injustices, as a liberal view, imposed on the people of Buenos Aires by the church – which I believe represents Rosas and his ‘Holy Federation’. The story set in a time of Lent, a season of scarcity that the church imposed on the people of Rio de La Plata, restricting them of meat intake. The slaughterhouse is where the meat was produced and distributed through the caudillo. When the flood subsides there are 50 cattle that returned to the slaughter house which people of the town, in barbaric imagery, fought over the meat that returned to the town. Corruption is shown by the point that Echeverria makes that the gringos and the ‘Restorer’ had the first servings of meat and the rest was left for the proletariat. The bull, which is the last left of the returning cattle, is a compared to the Unitarian at the end of the story and represents the resistance of the Unitarian liberals. The author describes the rage of the bull and then immediately after describes the rage inside the Unitarian that they captured. This to me is an obvious linkage between the two and symbolizes the feelings of the Unitarians during the time of Juan Manual de Rosas. Something I found interesting in the story was the way in which the peole of the town were represented. There are two times were women were compared to “mythical harpies” and “ugly as the vigaros of legend” in the second description they were along side boys and in the first description they are compared with birds. This is interesting to me because I am not sure what the point of describing them in this way has to do with the main theme of the story? Perhaps I am missing something.

Introduction and Chapter One

I asked myself a lot of questions while reading chapter one of the text book. most of them are in regards to power relations between the criollos, Spain, and the communities of people who held little power in the realm of the colonial states. I agree with the notion that history reflects the view of those in power. Even within the textbook, the three documents provided were composed by people in powerful positions. Is this because, at the time, those who were not in power were mostly illiterate? I suppose this would also be a form of dominance imposed by the criollos. Another question that came up for me is, when did the Spanish elite form an identity that was inclusive of the indigenous peoples of  the new world? was this because of the rise of numbers in of people with mixed race? was this sense of unity authentic? or was it for political purposes only in the interest of the criollos? the text books states that Simon Bolivar revised his vision and "opposed slavery and proposed the distribution of land to those who fought for independence, but also favored heavy restrictions on suffrage and believed in a strong, almost dictatorial presidency". I am also curious, when the criollos felt they were being mistreated by the powers in their mother land, did they then begin to consider their own imperial dominance towards certain communities of the colonies? it is difficult for me to imagine life as it was at the time of struggle for independence. Certain texts like the ones presented in the textbook open a window to a small portion of understanding of what was going on. I agree with the author that history is fragmentary. I don't think that we can form an understanding from only one side of a multitude of experiences and power struggles.

Thoughts on the Casta Paintings and the memoir of Catalina De Erauso

The memoir of Catalina de Erauso and the Casta paintings both speak to social norms/values of the colonial period in Spain and in Latin America. The Casta paintings depict the status quo of the colonial time when mixed ethnic families were emerging in Latin America. although one may not agree today that the Casta paintings portray an image of Latin America to be inferior ( I personally find them beautiful and celebratory of diversity), I think Miranda was correct in his fear that Spain would see Latin America as inferior. I think that this was probably the thinking of Europeans or at least of Spain at the colonial time. - Perhaps if Miranda's fear is not evidence of think thinking it is at least evidence that the Spanish of Latin America felt a that they were inferior to Spain as they struggle to maintain a "Europeanness" throughout the colonies of Latin America. I quite liked the memoir of Catalina de Erauso because it tells a story of success for women's and/or human rights with regards to sexuality and gender. It is even more great because the positive outcome (the acceptance for Catalina to maintain her identity as a man and also to be rewarded for her efforts overseas) is surprising, given the era in which it happened. During the time of conquest in the "new world", or at least in the time of Columbus, religion was such a powerful institution. In Catalina's memoir, I think one would typically assume that the pope would punish her for her sexuality, but instead she was rewarded and accepted. To me, demonstrates the social values of that time. Was conquest in Latin America such a priority that it gave relief to certain social injustices like discrimination? however, this seems the case in regards to the memoir of Catalina de Erauso, but not in terms of race or ethnicity when it comes to the Casta paintings in Latin America. 

The Journal of Christopher Columbus and Guaman Poma

  The Journal of Christopher Columbus shed a great deal of light on colonialism and its eurocentric attitude. I knew of this previously to reading the journal, however, to read such discourse written in the first person was enlightening. I found it interesting how quickly Columbus seems to understand what the natives are saying. I wonder how much of this communication was reality and how much was based on assumption. Columbus seems to be a person who was quick to assume. Especially when it comes to the native people. He automatically assumes that they have no religion, and interestingly, he also assumes they think that he comes from heaven, or the sky. To me, it seems obvious that they have some form of worship however Columbus seems to ignore this, and put more importance on his own flattery. This same assumption of superiorty of Christianity is evident in the pages from the Guaman Poma reading. Fray Vicente say’s to Atagualpa that he should worship god and nothing else. To imagine the world so long ago is made easier with Columbus's description of the land. I envision his eyes widening at the sight of this land he has just set foot on and quickly claims his own by each footstep he takes.  The lush forest and the tropical fruits he describes makes me think of how the search for a pristine, ‘untouched’ paradise is still happening in our current culture. It makes me think of the photographs we see in tourism posters or magazines of seemingly unpopulated stretches of beach.  Is there still some evidence of colonialist behaviours or ideas in our society today? Perhaps not as extreme? In the Guaman Poma reading, and in the journal of Columbus, I got a strong sense of confidence from the Spaniards compared to the native people. Perhaps because they come from a more advanced civilization in regards to technology- they have more weapons. and they are not very quick to trust. The natives, although they are intimidated, seem somewhat trusting of their invaders. I almost find their trust to be more brave than the Spaniards who come armed.

Hello everyone! My name is Erika. I am very excited to be taking Latin American studies at UBC. I have been studying the spanish language for years and have travelled to Spain but I will admit that I don't know very much about Latin America. I plan to travel to at least a couple countries in Central and/or South America once I graduate so I am happy to have my studies align with, and complement, my passion for travel once again.