Sobre el autor y su obra
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Paz
o
Mexico,
1914-1998
o
Writer,
poet, and diplomat
-
This is one of his most famous works; a
collection of nine essays that are predominantly concerned with the theme of
Mexican identity and demonstrate how at the end of the existential labyrinth
there is a profound feeling of solitude.
Comps Example Questions
-
Discuss the relationship between Latin American
and Latina/o literature by choosing three representative authors/works. For
example, similarities and differences between Paz’s Laberinto de la soledad and Anzaldúa’s Borderlands. (Works
to consider: Paz, C. Fuentes, García Márquez, Vargas Llosa, Allende, Anzaldúa,
J. Álvarez.)
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The development of Spanish American identity and
issues of race, class, and gender in numerous authors, from modernismo to the present (although they
occur earlier as well). Authors: Agustini, Arguedas, Argueta, Storni, Burgos,
Castellanos, Cardenal, Ferré, Berman, Álvarez, Williams, Puig, Barba Jacob,
Sarduy, Menchú, Alzandúa, Paz, Fernández Retamar, Galeano, Rama, etc. Some
suggested readings: Foster and Altamiranda, Cornejo Polar, Meyer, Castillo,
Stabb, Martin, Kaminsky, Beverly and others under testimonio.
What Franco says, Chapter 11 (pg. 326)
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Essays exposed the flaws in the Mexican character
that stood in the way of national development
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Influenced Fuentes, as well as several other
writers
Summary / Basic idea of this collection
(Wikipedia)
The essays are predominantly
concerned with the theme of Mexican identity and demonstrate how at the end of
the existential labyrinth there is a profound feeling of solitude. As Paz
argues:
'Solitude is the profoundest fact
of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone, and the
only one who seeks out another. His nature -if that word can be used in
reference to man, who has ‘invented’ himself by saying ‘no’ to nature- consists
in his longing to realize himself in another. Man is nostalgia and a search for
communion. Therefore, when he is aware of himself he is aware of his lack of another,
that is, of his solitude.’ Paz observes that solitude is responsible for the
Mexican’s perspective on death, ‘fiesta’, and identity. Death is seen as an
event that is celebrated but at the same time repelled because of the
uncertainty behind it. As for the fiestas, they express a sense of communality,
crucially emphasizing the idea of not being alone and in so doing help to bring
out the true Mexican that is usually hidden behind a mask of self-denial. This
represents the way in which the Mexicans have inherited two distinct cultures,
the indigenous and the Spanish, but by denying one part of their identity they
become stuck in a world of solitude. From the essay ‘The Conquest and
Colonialism’ onwards, Paz makes a detailed analysis of Mexican history
beginning with a look at their Pre-Columbian culture and in particular
reflecting on the 1910 Revolt. In his analysis, he expresses how the humanists
take a primary role as the intellectuals of the country. His major criticism is
that to be an intellectual it is necessary to distance oneself from the subject
that you are studying so that the argument remains critical yet rational and
objective. As the intellectual gets more involved with the political
environment, his arguments can often become influenced by other factors such as
political motivation and pressure to conform.
“Los hijos de la Malinche”
Main, most important points
-
Mexican is closed and hard to understand,
repelling to all
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Powerful words that are unique to each country –
for Mexico: chingar/chingón/chingada
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Two possibilities for the Mexican – be the
chingón, or be the chingada
-
Explanation of machismo
-
Idea of Mexicans as orphans; have rejected their
origins and cut off ties with their Mother
General Notes
-
Mystery of the Mexican from outside perspective
o “our
suspicions keep us at a distance”
o Chilling
reserve that disconcerts the outsider
o Image
of Mexicans as insecure and unpredictable
-
Mexican peasant
o Remote,
conservative, traditional
o Holds
a fascination for the urban man
o Embodies
the occult, the hidden
-
Woman
o Seen
as an Enigma – symbol of both creation and destruction
o Representative
of knowledge and mystery (Rubén Darío)
-
Working class
o Never
the hero, always in the background
o The
worker represents the death of an old society and the birth of a new
o Modern
worker has no individuality; “capitalism deprives him of his human nature… by
reducing him to an element in the work process, to an object”
o Idea
that the totalitarian regime enforces the laborer/working class mindset in
which everyone works but without individual creativity, rather working towards
a common goal decided by the leader, without any free thought on the workers’
part
§ Reinforced
by propaganda
§ Emphasis
on mass production
-
Terrorism
o Comparison
with the world of mass production, very material
o Lines
between persecutor and persecuted aren’t clear, can easily change as it becomes
generalized
-
Mexican worker struggles with falling into mass
production scheme because he takes pride in his work in each individual
component, takes more time for him to become a “good” worker in the mass
production sense
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“The Mexican is always a problem, both for other
Mexicans and for himself”
-
Idea of Mexican as a subservient being in some
way
o Always
wearing a mask
o Fear
of the master
o Suspicion
of the equal, who could be a traitor
o Can
only be himself in solitude
o Way
of freedom = alcohol, to forget condition
-
Idea that the situation of the colonial period partially
explains the closed, unstable attitude of the modern Mexican. History (since
colonial times) of the use of violence and the abuse of authority by the
powerful, and the resignation of the people.
-
Both upper and lower social classes struggle. Lower
classes (servants, slaves, victimized races) struggle against a concrete
reality, while upper classes struggle against imaginary entities.
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“the Mexican does not want or does not dare to
be himself”
-
Powerful, bad words that are unique to each
country. These words are uniquely Mexican; they affirm Mexican identity.
o
“Viva
México, hijos de la chingada!”
-
Chingada
o
The Mother
o Mythical
figure, one of the Mexican representations of Maternity
o The
mother who has suffered the corrosive and defaming action implicit in the verb
that gives her her name
-
“Chingar”
o Has
innumerable meanings, all dependent on tone
o “chingón” – in business, politics, crime, or
with women
o Always
contains the idea of aggression
o Sexual
connotations to word; tone of violence
o Chingón
is active macho male while chingada is passive, defenseless female
o The
word is prohibited, not to be used
casually in public, justified only by great emotion
-
For the Mexican there are only two possibilities
in life: be the chingón or the chingada
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Chingada – Mother forcibly opened, violated or
deceived
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Hijo de la chingada – offspring of violation,
abduction or deceit
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Contrast between Spain and Mexico: “To the
Spaniard, dishonor consists in being the son of a woman who voluntarily
surrenders herself: a prostitute. To the Mexican it consists in being the fruit
of a violation”
-
Mexican traditional humiliation of mother and
affirmation of the Father
o Phrase:
“I am your father” – imposes superiority and humiliates
-
Macho – superior, unpredictable, cruelly humorous,
powerful, indifferent to offspring
-
Parallel between Mexican macho and Spanish
conquistador
-
“Mexican Catholicism is centered about the cult
of the Virgin of Guadalupe”
o Virgin
is the Mother of orphans
-
Symbol of Conquest’s violation of Mexico is La
Malinche, the mistress of Cortés
o She
represents all the Indian women who were fascinated, violated, or seduced by
the Spaniards
o She
embodies the “chingada,” the open
-
“When we shout ‘Viva México, hijos de la
chingada!’ we express our desire to live closed off from the outside world and,
above all, from the past. In this shout we condemn our origins and deny our
hybridism”
-
“The Mexican does not want to be either an
Indian or a Spaniard. Nor does he want to be descended from them. He denies
them. And he does not affirm himself as a mixture, but rather as an
abstraction: he is a man. He becomes the son of Nothingness. His beginnings are
in his own self.”
-
Reform movement = great rupture with the Mother
-
Feeling of orphanhood – “Mexico is all alone,
like each one of her sons”
“Todos los santos”
Main,
most important points
-
Fiesta as a temporary escape from solitude and
reserve that binds Mexicans normally
-
Explanation of the nature of death as a reflection
of life
General
Notes
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Mexicans are a ritual people, love fiestas
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Fiestas are the only luxury of a poor people –
replace theatre and vacations and other types of entertainment that the poor
can’t afford
-
Fiestas/celebrations/ceremonies are a chance for
the reserved, closed Mexican to open up a bit
-
“Mexican does not seek amusement: he seeks to
escape from himself”
-
Idea that the fiesta “occurs in an enchanted
world” – sense of time changes for a while, chaos overrules order; fiesta is a
sort of temporary revolt
-
“the fiesta is a social act based on the full
participation of all its celebrants”
-
“The frenzy of our festivals shows the extent to
which our solitude closes us off from communication with the world”
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Death defines life, “Each of us dies the death
he is looking for, the death he has made for himself”
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Explanation of death for ancient Mexicans
(indigenous ancestors) – didn’t think that life or death really belonged to
them, it was all carved out by destiny
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In both old indigenous religion and in
Christianity, death is a kind of transition, not a final thing
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Modern Mexican’s indifference towards death,
along with indifference towards life… “Life and death are inseparable, and when
the former lacks meaning, the latter becomes equally meaningless.”
-
Day of Dead celebrations
o “our
popular images always poke fun at life, affirming the nothingness and
insignificance of human existence”
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Differing nature of murder in North America and
Mexico – has more significance in Mexico, whereas it’s cold in North America
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“The Mexican does not transcend his solitude. On
the contrary, he locks himself up in it.”
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“the Mexican shuts himself off from the world:
form life and from death”
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