This past week has brought me closer to my culture. After reading Gloria Anzaldua’s piece about the different languages, I learned some things about the Mexican American culture that I didn’t know. I am familiar with standard Spanish and Chicano Spanish but I have never spoken with somebody that speaks pachuco or speaks Spanish with a northern Mexican dialect. There were words like “cookiar” and “rapiar” that I have never heard of and I wish I could hear some people speak these dialects. I feel like it will bring me closer to the Latino culture in America, which is all over this country. One dialect that Gloria talks about more that the others is Chicano Spanish. I grew up hearing this dialect from my parents, siblings, friends, relatives, movies, and music. It does represent a way of life and only few understand it.
The Spanish in the I, The Worst of All was not like I was used to. I understood most of the movie but sometimes the characters spoke a little too fast. Luckily there were the subtitles for me to stay on track.
I felt sorry for Sor Juana. Here is a woman who has an amazing gift but the church would not allow her to expand it any further. Coming from a Catholic background, I can see why certain members of the church reacted to Sor Juana’s intelligence. Men hold power in Catholicism. For a nun to have an effect of people like Sor Juana did is unheard of during this time. All the leaders of the church in the movie responded to Sor Juana by forcing her to give up her gift. Seeing this troubled me because she has a special gift from God. She should embrace and share it with others in the name of the Lord. Why should she be stopped? It just isn’t fair and seeing the ending made a nice story turn into a sad, depressing story.
I liked this past week. I felt personally connected to everything we have read and discussed about. It feels good to be in a class like this and I look forward to having another good week.
Tavo, it's great to be in class with you and to hear your opinions and experience. It's interesting to compare my experience to yours... and then even farther back to Sor Juana. It's even more interesting when I realize how similar they are.
ReplyDeleteI also feel sorry for Sor Juana. It seems ridiculous to me that the Catholic church refused to let her use her gifts... In the church I grew up in, children and teens were encouraged to share their talents. Girls and boys were equally encouraged. I remember people always asking me to play piano, and then older adults thanking me afterwards. What changed happened between Sor Juana's world and mine?
There are some really great thoughts here, Tavo. I especially liked hearing about how you interacted with the different dialects of Spanish we've been exposed to in this class. Different forms of Spanglish really fascinate me, even though I never really grew up using it. I also find it fascinating how so many Chicanos have held on to a distinct linguistic identity even after many generations, as opposed to--for example--Italian Americans, and even many other Latino American ethnicities that are less likely to retain this distinction.
ReplyDeleteI also find it pretty appalling how Sor Juana was treated in the movie. Like you said, Sor Juana had an amazing gift that she was attempting to use in service to God. I find it frustrating when the institutional church silences the voices of people who have so much to contribute.
I agree with your thoughts on coming up from a Catholic background Tavo, I understand that men had and still have vital roles in a lot of religious denominations today and it is frustrating that in the past the sex of the person had a lot to do with the credibility of their statements.
ReplyDeleteIt is also interesting how you can become closer to your heritage through Latino Literature that is extremely old. A lot of the same types of problems and successes are still going on today, and connecting with your heritage in anyway possible helps give insights and power over these problems.
Tavo, I'm glad you are enjoying the class, and finding a your culture represented as well as learning new things about it. I also appreciate your willingness to share language and culture from your perspective. Your reflections on forms of Spanish are illuminating and reinforce Gloria Anzaldua's observations about the great variety of Spanish dialects in America. Also interesting to hear from you that the Spanish in _I, the Worst of All_ is actually very, well, Spanish. I wonder whether in Argentina everyone speaks a more Castillian Spanish, or whether that is just true of Argentinian literature and film. It seems that one of the contributions of Latino literature in the US is to praise the vernacular and honor the language mixing--Spanglish--that is part of the Latino experience.
ReplyDeleteYou sympathy for Sor Juana is eloquent. The systems that structured her life trapped her. For a long time she was able to find a "space" in which to use her God-given gifts in a liberal abbey, but once she came under scrutiny she was quickly silenced. The film illustrates very well how artists, writers, and thinkers are dependent on the power structures to support and affirm their freedom--otherwise their voices are squelched and they are not able to contribute to the renewal of the cultural and the creative exchange of ideas.
I'm thinking that the Argentinian filmmaker, Maria Luisa Bemberg, would have been aware of repressive dictators in Argentine history, as well as in neighboring Chile, and wonder whether she is using some of that experience to interpret the plight of Sor Juana in her film.
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