The Colonial Experience

Both the readings gave very diverse views on the colonial experience in Latin America. I was especially drawn to Lieutenant Nun, which read like something right out of a novel. It gave the experiences of a somewhat common Spaniard woman and contrasted them to those of Spanish explorer in the New World. It was fascinating to see how those two worlds differed so greatly for example through their setting. Even when disgused as a male in Spain, Catalina experienced some hardships and was also constantly lacking adventure, which fuelled her life, and often led her to behave mischeviously.

Her narrative in Latin America was quite fascinating. She talked greatly of conquest as well as the significance the Spanish had placed on their own culture. There was little concern given to the locals, who were greatly demeaned. The encounter in Valdivia serves as a perfect example of such. Her pursuit of the Indian and his battallion that had stolen the flag showed how much the Spanish refused to be devalued by the Indians and how highly they held themselves in their own opinion. They would rather die in the battlefield, than have the natives believe they could defeat them. In conclusion, I found her experience very riviting and admirable. She sought out to be the best conquistador she could possibly be and she epitomized that role to the very letter. 

The Casta Painting article discussed how important the depiction of the colonial experience is through art. Castas great visual symbolisms of the intermarriage of the different cultures in Mexico as well as the socio-economic situation of the colonies. While there were some people who felt that placing mulattos and zambos on the same canvases as creoles and spaniards as demeaning, it helped in painting the bigger picture of the society they were a part of. 

One thing that stood out to me in the discussion concerning these images was the note concerning the social statuses. Never was a mulatto or zambo or any other racial class usually viewed to be at the bottom of a social hierachy pained as idle or drunk. Considering that this was such a popular view of many to use when describing them, this felt like a more honest representation of them and their work ethic. 

The Meeting of Two Worlds

Christopher Columbus' work is very important in the study of Latin America. He is the first documented explorer to discover Latin America. His journal sets a detailed account of all things concerning his travel. He spends a majority of it narrating his journey in great detail, from the starts and the weather to the people he met and cultural interactions.
Although his primary intention was to find a means by which they can convert the non believers to christianity, it seems not to be the case throughout his work. He goes on into great detail discussing the lands and all their marvel, including all the riches present in the Indies. Not only does divulging into the materialistic content of these new lands take away from his initial aim, but it also shows that he had alterier motives that went beyond conversion. One of the clearest examples within the text is when wrote about the "extents of benefits to be gained from this place"(127). This was a clear indicator that conquest and expanisionism of Spanish wealth would become a primary goal if the royals were to sustain his exploration.

The First New Chronicle and Good Government was a reading that in my eyes felt more objective in terms of describing the conquest and colonization of Latin America. By giving the example of the conquest of the Indies, Guaman depicts the brutality and greed of the Spaniards in their pursuit of gold. What appeared to have been a misunderstanding after the death of Columbus' companion and misinterpretation of his letters led to a gold chase. Every man in the Spanish kingdom who heard of the gold wanted a part of it. 

As they arrived in large numbers to Peru, they showed no regard for their leader or their customs. By using a kidnapped native who they had assimilated into their culture, they shadowed their ill intentions as merely men out to convert nonbelievers. When the slightest miscommunication happened, they jumped on the opportunity to launch a war on the people. 

To conclude, The First New Chronicle and Good Govenrment gave a more honest depection of the Spaniards arrival in the New World. It was hidden behind the facade of conversionism to shield their true intentions of expansionism. Columbus' journals were too subjective, due to the nature in which they were written and the audience they were appealing to, and hence were not the most impartial source of information concerning the Spanish in the New World.

2014 Videos

The videos made by the students last year were all very informative and based on interesting topics. There were however, two videos that stuck out to me as the most intriguing within the bunch. The first was The Terror. Visual engagement with an audience is key within a video, since it’s quite easy to lose viewers attention. I however I never felt like this was the case with their video. There was a lot of footage that set the scene for the events, and that played a great role in ensuring my attention was always on the subject matter. It also was quite case specific (focused on Peru) and that made it more detailed and concise. By focusing it down to a specific period and place allowed for the creation of a political timeline, which I believe, aided the flow of the entire video. The political timeline also helped create a mental picture of the political affairs of the nation at the time

Another video that stuck out to me was “Towards an Uncertain Future”. Although less specific than The Terror, it gave some tremendous case studies that were well detailed and documented. Their visual aids also helped greatly in not only keeping ones attention, but also in setting context for the events they discussed. There also appeared to be a great depth of research put into this video, as there were no brief overviews of each case study, but in depth analysis and recordings that backed up all their claims.

Two of my least favorite videos were Caudillos vs. the Nation State and Speaking Truth to Power.  Although both were quite informative, they lacked the element of intrigue. Both videos lacked any visual aids, besides the two narrators reading in each, which ended up taking from both the videos. There also was a lack of connection between the material and the narrators, which made the videos rather uninteresting to watch.

Introduction

Oi (Hi)
My name is Michelle Nzioki, I'm a second year in UBC who will hopefully major in Political Science. I'm Kenyan, but moved around a little so home doesn't have a fixed meaning in my vocabulary. I fell in love with Latin America in 2011 when my family and I moved to Brasilia. My three years there ended up being some of the most incredible years of my life. The food, the music and the people. You simply cannot beat the Brazilian experience. I took this course because I'd hope it would keep the memory of home alive, and also because I'm quite into Latin American culture.
Looking forward to seeing what the rest of this semester holds!