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A short history of Latin American literature
Reflection of latin american literature
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Recommended: A short history of Latin American literature
Ghost and Spirit have haunted human existence for decades but nevertheless they have evolved into different types of entities throughout time in Latin American literature. These entities have gone from scary apparitions to messengers that help understand socio-culture realities. In this course, Latin American Fiction: Ghost, Spirits, and Traumatic Hauntings we were provided with numerous of reading and films so far. I will be focusing on two sources that have similarity but yet are different in their own way.
Religion plays a huge part in both of these sources. The novel “Of Love and Other Demons” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the film “Goya’s Ghost” directed by Milos Forman give a great illustration of the complicity of church and state, especially the overview of the Inquisition. The inquisition was a court established by the Roman Catholic Church that trialed case of heresy and other offense against church. Those convicted would be punished, tortured of even executed. In the case of the novel “Of Love and Other Demons” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the story takes place in Cartagena, Colombia. In the novel GGM describes Cartagena, as a beautiful city by the sea that was constantly being imported
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When Ines was imprisoned her family went for help to Goya a family painter. Ines’s father asked Goya to set a meeting up with Brother Lorenzo, to help get information of his daughters’ imprisonment. Goya tries to help Ines by setting up at meeting for her father. Before going to meet up with Ines’ family Brother Lorenzo got to visit Ines in prison to see how she was doing. He later went to dinner with her family and Goya, where he informed the family of her condition and that she was “put to the question”. Ines’ father was furious and didn’t agree with Brother Lorenzo beliefs on being “put to the question”. Ines’ father argues that anyone would confess to anything while being
The story “Tumba,” by Mira Canion, is about a boy named Alex, who lives in Ciudad, Mexico. He is very nervous about the upcoming holiday, Dia de los Muertos because his Abuela speaks to spirits, which come out during Dia de los Muertos. The story follows him and his friend, David, as they explore the Day of the Dead traditions and even meet some of the ghosts his abuela talks to. Alex es inteligente y simpático. Le gusta arte. David es Alex’s amigo. Él es atlética y paciente. Le gustan deportes. Alex’s Abuela es reservada y misteriosa. Le gusta música. Alex’s hermana, Nora, es atrevida y sociable. Le gusta sus amigos. Sergio es cruel y agresivo, no le gusta Alex.
In 1949, Dana Gioia reflected on the significance of Gabriel García Márquez’s narrative style when he accurately quoted, “[it] describes the matter-of-fact combination of the fantastic and everyday in Latin American literature” (Gioia). Today, García Márquez’s work is synonymous with magical realism. In “Un Señor Muy Viejo con Alas Enormes,” the tale begins with be dramatically bleak fairytale introduction:
"New Mexico: Ghost Stories and Haunted Places." Haunted New Mexico. Retrieved 5 Apr 2005 http://hauntednewmexico.tripod.com/id1.html.
of the native tongue is lost , certain holidays may not be celebrated the same , and American born generations feel that they might have lost their identity , making it hard to fit in either cultures . Was is significant about this book is the fact it’s like telling a story to someone about something that happened when they were kid . Anyone can relate because we all have stories from when we were kids . Alvarez presents this method of writing by making it so that it doesn’t feel like it’s a story about Latin Americans , when
Sandra Cisneros’s short story “Never Marry a Mexican” deals heavily with the concept of myth in literature, more specifically the myth La Malinche, which focuses on women, and how their lives are spun in the shadows on men (Fitts). Myths help power some of the beliefs of entire cultures or civilizations. She gives the reader the mind of a Mexican-American woman who seems traitorous to her friends, family and people she is close to. This causes destruction in her path in the form of love, power, heartbreak, hatred, and an intent to do harm to another, which are themes of myth in literature. The unreliable narrator of this story was created in this story with the purpose to show her confusion and what coming from two completely different cultures can do to a person, and what kind of confusion it can bring.
Giants and Angels roam the pages of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s stories, “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings”, and “The Handsomest Drowned Man In The World”, creating the perfect scene for magical realism. Many of the elements within these stories coincide with each other; this has everything to do with the overall component of magical realism, which binds together similarities and sets apart differences. The theme of each story can be found within the other and can stand by itself to represent the story it belongs to, the settings are similar in location and the ability to change but different in their downsides and the writing style is so similar it is complicated to find any differences. Marquez is a master story-teller whose works of art can only be compared with each other.
Simpkins, Scott. "Sources of Magic Realism/Supplements to Realism in Contemporary Latin American Literature." Magical Realism. Theory, History,
This does not, however, dismiss the reality of torture in Chile nor soften Cavanaugh’s criticisms of “distinction of planes” ecclesiologies. Church paradigms such as Maritain’s New Christendom have led Catholics in Chile and elsewhere to buy into a “devil’s bargain” wherein the Church confines itself to the social, or spiritual, realm and allows the state to dominate in the political, or temporal, realm (196). Such ecclesiologies simultaneously facilitate the Church’s disappearance as a societal body and strip the Church of any tangible ability to counteract the actions of oppressive governments. The Chilean church’s ecclesiology had real, disastrous consequences for Chileans under the Pinochet regime – consequences that perhaps could have been mitigated under a different ecclesiological
Style: The typical Magical- Realistic story of García Márquez placed in a familiar environment where supernatural things take place as if they were everyday occurrences. Main use of long and simple sentences with quite a lot of detail. "There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather took away and sense of grandeur he might have had" (589).
Family is one of the most important institutions in society. Family influences different aspects of a person’s life, such as their religion, values, morals and behavior. Unfortunately, problems may arise when an individual’s belief system or behavior does not coincide with that of family standards. Consequently, individuals may be forced to repress their emotions or avoid acting in ways that that are not acceptable to the family. In the novel The Rain God, written by Arturo Islas, we are presented with a story about a matriarchal family that deals with various conflicts. One major internal conflict is repression. Throughout the novel the characters act in strange ways and many of the family members have internal “monsters” that represent the past that they are repressing. In his article, “The Historical Imagination in Arturo Islas’s The Rain God and Migrant Souls”, Antonio C. Marquez’s implicitly asserts a true idea that The Rain God is a story about repression. Marquez’s idea can be supported from an analysis of secondary sources and a reading of the primary text.
El “cucuy” supposed to eat the kids that don’t listen to their parents. La llorona iIs one of the most hispanic famous legends, back then “la llorona” was a beautiful young lady who's had two kids, a girl and a boy and she killed them to be able to be with his husband that she loved and when he rejects her she ends up killing herself and according to the legend she's looking for kids to kidnap them. “La llorona” and “el cucuy” are very popular legends on the hispanic cultures they both are similar because they both are about a supernatural figures that appear on the dark and both look for kids. These legends reflect the culture with their terrifying s Most hispanics know these legends and can relate with them because their parents scared them throughout their childhood. What values are evident in each?These legends have a huge value on the hispanic culture because this was a way for parents to keep their children out of trouble or bad behavior. Throughout the years people have been talking about these legends and people have assume that they have seen “la llorona” or “el cucuy” around
ures of death. The Ghost Dancers show evilness, power and control among all; always winning and never giving up or letting anyone stand in their way. This dance choreographed by Bruce educates audiences about the South American political battles in history, but more about the lives lost so uncaringly and unnecessary within their country. Overall it has a positive effect and outcome from creating this work. This work is a very influential and educates people on the social and political battles within South America and the world’s issues.
Sosa, Cecilia. "On Mothers and Spiders: A face-to-face encounter with Argentina’s mourning." Memory Studies 4.1 (2011): 63–72. Sage. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
Flores, Angel. "Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction." Magical Realism. Theory, History, Community. Ed. Lois Parkinson Zamora and Wendy B. Faris. Durham, N.C.: Duke UP, 1995. 109-116.
As one of the most important authors of the Magical Realism movement, Marquez gave his short story all the hallmarks of the genre, as stated by Naomi Lindstrom’s definition found in Twentieth Century Spanish American Literature. The fine line between the magical world and the reality was blurred as the children played with the dead body as if the sign of Death brought no feeling of the uncanny. Even when the villagers found out the dead body on the shore, the reason of his death was not the first thing they concerned. Otherwise, they quickly conjectured a theory about why he weighted more than other man they have ever seen. The ability to keep on growing after death became part of the nature, not the opposite as usual, of certain drowned man. The surprising theory that has shows no grind of day-to-day living was conveyed in a conversational tone. The characters, therefore, quickly carried on with the flow of the story with the acceptance of the supernatural elements blending into their lives without questions.