Fanon's Three Stages Related to the Indigenous People of Chiapas
The passage Shadows of Tender Fury by Subcommander Marcos of the
Zapatista Army explains that the people of Chiapas are currently facing a period of revolution. The Zapatista army (consisting of Chiapian campesinos) has risen to combat the intolerant system of oppression by the Mexican government and has attempted to create a better lifestyle for the campesinos of Chiapas. Frantz
Fanon's three stages to national culture; assimilation, self discovery, and revolution, relate to the struggle of the campesinos of Chiapas. In the last
500 years, the indigenous people of Chiapas have faced all three of Fanan's stages during their struggle for the development of a national culture.
Five-hundred years ago when the first Europeans came in contact with the
Mayan Indians, the first stage of Fanon's theory, assimilation, began formalizing. Throughout history the colonizers of Mexico were more technologically advanced than the natives. The Europeans had guns, cannons and massive ships. Not only did these possessions enable them to have greater brute force, but it took the white man to the level of the gods in the eyes of the natives. The colonizers could easily take advantage of this reverence. Fanon states "The effect consciously sought by colonialism was to drive into the natives' heads the idea that if the settlers were to leave, they would at once fall back into barbarism, degradation, and bestiality."(Fanon 211) The colonizers, believing the natives were savages that needed enlightenment, forced
European culture upon them. The Europeans believed that to assimilate the natives to European culture was to help them progress. Therefore, to return to the old ways would have been regressing. When the natives objected to the forced assimilation, the colonizers smothered the rebellious efforts with stronger, more lethal weapons. Fanon compares the colonizer to a mother who restrains her "perverse" child so that he will not commit suicide.(Fanon 211)
The analogy implies that the colonized must be protected (by the colonizer) from self-destruction. In the minds of the European colonizers, this idea of protection justified forcing assimulation onto the natives.
Although the native campesinos (the poor people of Chiapas) haven't fully assimulated, they have adopted particular aspects of European and present day Mexican culture. The campesinos have learned the Spanish language and joined the catholic religion. An example of Fanon's first phase is when the colonizer tries to calm the angry, poor and exploited colonized people by promising social reform.(Fanon 207) These reforms promise things such as employment, welfare and education. According to Fanon, the government rarely follows through with pledged social reform. They find it easier to simply
It had previously been the policy of the American government to remove and relocate Indians further and further west as the American population grew, but there was only so much...
In the article "Sacred Sustenance: Maize, Storytelling, and a Mayan Sense of Place," the author, Leah Alexandra Huff, is arguing that Ethnographers should pay more attention to stories because they allow for a deeper understanding of cultures. To support her argument, she uses the example of the significance of maize in the Mayan civilization as well as their sense of place. Huff first describes the importance of place in building and maintaining a community and developing it identity. She explains that place was important for indigenous communities such as the Mayans because land was part of their cultural and spiritual systems. Huff then goes on to detail the importance of storytelling. She argues that storytelling helps create identity,
into the flow of settlers, and it was considered a wise move to have the
The Native Americans were the earliest and only settlers in the North American continents for more than thousands of years. Like their European counterparts, the English colonists justified the taking of their territories was because the natives were not entitled to the land because they lacked a work ethic in which shows that the colonists did not understand the Native Americans system of work and ownership of property. They believed the “Indians seemed to lack everything the English identified as civilized” (Takaki, Pg. 33). Because the settlers were living far away from civilizations, to ensure that they were civilized people, the settlers had negative images of the Native Americans so that they would not be influenced and live like the how the natives do, ensuring that these groups are savages who are uncivilized. Many began to believe this was God’s plans for them to civilize the country in which many would push westward and drive the Indians out to promote civilization and progress. While the United States was still in its early stages of development,
Colonists believed in “private property” (Cronon page 1179) and individual ownership of possessions. On the other hand, the Indians had a nomadic lifestyle that included “move[ing] from habitat to habitat” (Cronon page 911), and not taking ownership of the land they resided in, and instead living as guests of the area they happened to habituate at the time. On the contrary, after European settlement, according to Cronon: “Indians were living in fixed locations on a more permanent basis. Earlier subsistence practices which had depended on seasonal dispersal were gradually being abandoned, with important social and ecological effects” (Cronon pages 1739-1740). Cronon states that the Indians adapted to the changes brought upon by the colonists and adopted the lifestyle of owning and settling in a specific portion of land. This major change in the Indians’ lifestyle also had consequences with the environment. Permanently settling into the densely populated forts aided the “spread of infectious diseases” (Cronon page 1740). Similarly the dense population also affected nearby “hunting and planting areas” (Cronon page 1741), which the Indians used as their source of food and resources once they were pushed into the heavily populated areas. The overpopulation of the Indians in specific areas also had a huge contribution to the depletion of that area 's resources. This was also a direct fault of the
America was expanding at such a rapid pace that those who were in America before us had no time to anticipate what was happening. This change in lifestyle affected not only Americans, but everyone who lived in the land. Changing traditions, the get rich quick idea and other things were the leading causes of westward expansion. But whatever happened to those who were caught in the middle, those who were here before us? One of those many who roamed the land before Americans decided that they owned it were the Native Americans.
Amir is Pashtun, this is the more accepted and prosperous ethnicity. Hassan is a Hazara boy, this being an ethnic group that is looked down upon by Pashtun citizens of Kabul. “In the end, I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shi’a, and nothing was ever going to change that.” (Hosseini 25). Throughout his childhood, Amir is put down regularly by neighborhood kids for befriending Hassan because of his ethnic background. Amir realizes that no matter what he may do, or no matter how Hassan may try to alter the situation, Hassan would always be too different for people to accept. This embarrasses and frustrates Amir. This frustration is one cause for Amir to slowly but surely push Hassan out of his life. Although it is not the most obvious reason, it is an underlying one. This is a mistake on Amir’s part because Hassan does so much for Amir, being the loyal friend that he is, and for Amir to push someone of such good moral and character out of his life, is a tremendous mistake on his behalf. It is quite obvious that Hassan would give his life for Amir, but, because of where Hassan comes from, Amir struggles throughout his childhood, to find a way to accept the friendship Hassan gives
In the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir and Baba struggle to find a way to bring their relationship closer. They try to bond, but these childish activities do not mature Amir in the way Baba wants. Baba yearns for Amir to grow up and stand up for himself and for others. Amir finally learns how to be a man by taking the examples Baba has modeled in Afghanistan and applying them in America.
The hardships that life reveals can either affect a person in a negative or positive way. They can strengthen or weaken the development of one’s character. Khaled Hosseni’s The Kite Runner is a novel that tells the story of two boys – Amir and Hassan, his childhood friend and servant– who spend their lives attempting to overcome their obstacles. These obstacles create experiences that will shape them for the rest of their lives. Firstly, Hassan and Amir share similar hardships, however Hassan learns and grows from them, and Amir lingers over the negativity, allowing it to destroy his life instead of moving forward. Secondly, Amir is always rescued, which allows him to feel a sense of entitlement, while Hassan fights his own battles, resulting in a greater amount of inner strength. Lastly, as Amir and Hassan become adults in opposite ends of the world, they battle hardships that are very different. The differences within their adulthood continue to show who is the more honourable character. Ultimately, in Khaled Hosseni's The Kite Runner, Hassan is a stronger character than Amir, despite the fact that they both battle similar hardships.
Comparing the cultural dimensions of the United States with Guatemala’s the two biggest contrasting dimensions are power distance and uncertainty avoidance. The other dimension that has some kind of lesser comparison contrasting is individualism. Guatemalan’s score high when it pertains to power distance, which means that their individual’s societies are not equal as compared to the United States. Guatemala score high depicts a society that believes that iniquities amongst people are simple the way of life. The score addresses the cultural power by groups or individuals at a given time mandating the way of life. The power dimension reflects on their low score in individualism, which is explained by power related basis of groups or individuals.
In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, there is an ever present barrier between the main character Amir and his father, Baba. Growing up, Amir always felt like he lived in the shadow of his servant-friend, Hassan. Hassan was everything Amir was not. He was athletic, responsible, and independent, and Baba adored him for it. Amir, on the other hand, was the book-loving, non-athletic, attention-seeking son that could not please his father no matter how hard he tried. To Amir, it seemed as if his father wished he wasn’t his son, but in Baba’s point of view, Amir reminded him of his dead wife. Baba constantly saw Amir “through [a] cloud of smoke”, meaning that in his eyes, he saw Amir through a jaded lens as a reminder of everything he had lost (31).
In the novel, “The Kite Runner,” the author, Khaled Hosseini, frames the scenes in the same way one would typically envision the circle of life. The novel is ultimately about family, both lost and attained, old and new. It is of beginnings ends, problems and resolutions thereafter. This vivid imagery of Amir’s past works to identify the internal conflicts he experiences, furthering the redemption that takes place in the end of the novel.
Amir finds it difficult to comprehend Hassan’s adherence to him because he is unsure how to love properly himself, and Baba is rather hard on him, so he constantly tests Hassan. In addition, Amir exposes his jealousy of Hassan on more than one occasion because Baba often pays more attention to Hassan who possesses the same interests and athleticism as him. Furthermore, Amir’s resentment was at its fullest potential when he watches the town bully rape his closest “friend;” he refrained from helping Hassan out of not only fear but selfishness as well because he wanted his grand prize as a souvenir to win over Baba. It’s Amir guilt that eats at him, forcing him push Hassan away at the thought that seeing less of Hassan will ease his
I have always thought that Honduras, the country where my family and I were raised, has changed a lot. There is a vast amount of differences between my generation and my mother’s generation. Honduras has had significant changes during the past couple of years. My mother was raised in the mid-1970s; progress and globalization came to Honduras starting in the late 1990s. How people used learn, live and to communicate were completely different from nowadays. Compared to my mother’s generation, education, communication, and lifestyle has had a great impact in Honduras and its society.
Firstly, the loyal friendship between Amir and Hassan is developed, gets corrupted and then ends. As Amir States, “I never thought of Hassan and me as friends…history is not easy to overcome. Neither is religion. In the end I was a Pashtun and he was a Hazara, I was Sunni and he was Shi’a, and nothing was ever going to change that. Nothing.”(27) Despite the fact that Amir has spent his entire life in Hassan’s company he does not consider Hassan to be his friend. This is because of the social class, Hassan’s religion is seen to below Amir, and this why they will neverbe able to be friends. They grew up together and learned to crawl together. But history and religion takes over all of the factors in the relationship of Hassan and Amir, and Amir decides that he does not this relationship more than a master and his servant. Amir expresses, “I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into the alley, stand up for Hassan –the way he had stood up for me all those time in the past . Or I could run. In the end. I ran.”(82) Amir was always trying to please Baba, to make him proud, to seek his approval. Ami...