Latin American Studies

January 7, 2011

Blackboard Configuration

Do Now: Create a list of reasons on the board as to why Latin America catches “the postcolonial blues”

Objectives:1. Review homework2. Discuss the importance of the tortilla3. Begin discussing the postcolonial

blues

Homework: Bring in a current events article on Monday to present

Where did it come from?

What is it made out of?

◦ Traditionally made by soaking corn kernels in lime, and then grinding into a dough

◦ Dough is called “masa”

Staple food of Latin America

The “tortilla”

Previously…“The Gaze of

Outsiders”

Frances Calderón de la Barca—”[Mexico City was] one of the noblest-looking cities in the world”◦ “The common Indians, who we see every day bringing

their fruit and vegetables to market, are, generally speaking, very plain, with a humble, mild expression of countenance, very gentle and wonderfully polite in their manners to each other”

Yet, there was still a negative tinge◦ “When I say they read, I mean they know how to read;

when I say they write, I do not mean they can always spell.”

Positive Comments

The Postcolonial Blues

“…the first postcolonial generation saw Latin America going nowhere fast.”

What are the defining characteristics of liberalism?

“split personality of Latin America”

Concept of “legal equality for all citizens” vs. reality of hierarchy

Liberalism

Caste distinctions left legal records

Slavery receded

Formalized, but not formally practiced

Racial equality

“[Liberal leaders] had mixed feelings about ‘the people.’ They considered indigenous people and their lands a national problem, never a national asset.”

A National Problem

Challenged liberal agenda

Proclaimed commoners should know their place and allow elites to govern

Traditionalism

Issue of church and state

What did the conservatives think?

How do you make this concept into a reality?

Beginning of partisan politics—never had that before

Popular sovereignty

Silver mines wrecked Little external investment Lack of experience Lack of control of import/export trade Lack of transportation infrastructure

And overall…very little money!

Economic Devastation

Rebuilding governments No trust Lack of

authority/legitimacy

Strong armies, weak governments

“The rapid fall of Latin America’s first republican governments further undermined their legitimacy and set a tragic precedent, as one constitutional president after another was overthrown militarily.”

“Militarized societies where many had new guns and old grudges”

Punctuality

Preparedness—book, notebook, pencil, etc.

Participation

Presence—are you there and owning it?

Personal responsibility—homework, did you help others, did you make excuses, etc.

5 P’s—how’d we do today?

Current events article on your country to present on Monday

Homework