The Course Thus Far

In general, up until this point, I have thoroughly enjoyed the course material and differences in literary pieces that we have studied. I liked how Cumanda focused on the difference between the distinct indigenous culture of Cumanda’s family with that of Carlos'. Mama Blanca was a good contrast, although not as exciting, in that it enabled us to learn more about family life and interaction within the hacienda.

Moreover, I also found it interesting how Mama Blanca revealed destruction with the progression to modernization, while Piedra Callada was the opposite which really emphasized their differences.

My favourite piece would be Veinte Poemas by Neruda since the style of writing and chronological format of the poems appealed to me greatly. Piedra Callada was another piece I liked a lot because it was action packed and full of drama and the character of Eufrasia was quite extreme. The one reading I was not fond of would be Las Hortensias because the story was just too bizarre, weird and a bit creepy for my liking. I didn’t like how the story revolved around dolls which feed Horacio’s and Maria’s imagination and obsession.

I have never read Cien Años de Soledad so I am looking forward to starting the book and learning more about it!

"Piedra Callada" by Martha Brunet

“Piedra Callada” by Martha Brunet was an eventful, attention-grabbing yet violent story which mainly revolved around the conflict between Eufrasia and Bernabe.

In my opinion, Eufrasia’s violence was rooted in her love for her daughter, Esperanza, and how she wanted better for her child’s life. She was opposed to their marriage from the start, threatening her that she would no longer have a mother if she married this beast. As the story continues and conflict and violence grows stronger between the mother and Bernabe, she says “Claro que otra como la Esperanza no va’hallar.” This makes me feel that all her violence is coming from the hurt inside of what has become of her daughter and how she deserved a husband that could offer her more in life. Furthermore, I think this story is a good example of “Mother knows best” since if Esperanza never married Bernabe, this mess would have never occurred between the two families.

In the beginning, I felt somewhat sorry for Esperanza because she whole-heartedly loved Bernabe and wanted to marry him, but her mother was completely opposed to her wishes. “Ambicion de madre que tal vez queria un hombre con mayores posibilidades para marido de la muchacha…” (36). It’s interesting how different in personality and physical appearance the mother and her son in law are; Bernabe is described as a “bestia…con un nez enorme…y una frente estrecha” and often answers with a grunt (40), while Eufrasia is seen as cold and firm. As the story develops, I begin to sympathize with the children; they become victim to the violence and furious behavior of the family and have Bernabe as a father, and after all, in the end, they are left without a mother or father.

Teresa de la Parra: Las Memorias de Mama Blanca

I didn’t exactly like “Las Memorias de Mama Blanca” by Teresa de la Parra as I found it very boring, rather tedious and confusing to follow. I didn’t find it exciting or interesting at all and wouldn’t recommend it to others. But, on the upside, I did learn more about the culture and upbringing of Parra and her family on their hacienda and their life as an upper-class, privileged family.

I liked how this book was realistic and showed different sides of Mama Blanca. From the first Chapter, I got the impression that Mama Blanca was a very caring and harmonious individual as “su trato hospitalario, [es] una muestra natural de su amor a los humildes.” Although poetic and emotional in character, in the later chapters, her strict, rather narracistic and beauty-consiencious side was reaveled by Parra.

This family was not a typical family as non-relatives played a large role in the family’s life. Evelyn seemed to engage the most with the girls, caring for them and she was favoured by Mama Blanca due to her love for order and strictness. I found it rather sad the mom left for Caracas often and the Dad was not very warm to his children as he hoped for a son to begin with.

The children seemed rather spoiled, as Mama Blanca says “no sean tan desobedientes!” and since they played games and had a lot of leisure time, which I suspect was not the commonality of children at that age at that time, but I’m not quite sure.

I liked the character of Vincente because I found it gave the book a different dynamic and showed the life of the servants and other less-privileged workers on the Hacienda and their interaction with the family. Parra describes him to be passionate, full of heroism, faithful and basically an individual of excellence. The dad’s character was revealed when Parra made a parallel of his interaction with Vincente with a Christian persecution, since the father was cruel and intolerable. Parra uses rather harsh words and descriptions when addressing her father; “se abrio la puerta con violencia y lleno de arrogancia,” “cruel” “[el] dijo terrible” are examples of words and phrases associated with her father.

On a whole, I did not enjoy “Las Memorias de Mama Blanca” as it was boring, somewhat hard to understand and follow, and tedious to get through. Hopefully the next book will be better and more eventful!

Pablo Neruda: Veinte poemas de amor y una cancion desesperada

I definitely enjoyed reading “Veinte poemas de amor y una cancion desesperada” by Neruda as I found it romantic and enjoyed the storyline of the poems. I liked how the poems progressed and really showed the change of the author’s feelings towards his love. The first demonstrates his strong physical attraction towards this women; Neruda states, “cuerpo de mujer, blancas colinas, muslos blancos” (31). The first few poems seem to show his passion towards her mystery, allure and beauty. The feeling of the author seems to slowly shift from passion and intrigue to love and sadness. At the very end, I found his style of writing to be very effective, using repetion and word choice, to make the reader (at least for me) feel sorry for him and better understand his sorrow.

This last poem (page 109) was my favorite because of the repetition (“puedo escribir los versos mas tristes esta noche…”) and his dramatic change in mood to sadness, frustration and loss. “Ya no la quiero, es cierto, pero tal vez la quiero…aunque este sea el ultimo dolor que ella me causa, y estos sean los últimos versos que yo le escribo” (110-110). I also noted that this was quite a dramatic switch from his mood in poem 18 when he says “y como yo te amo, los pinos en el viento”.

I also liked reading the poems because they showed how infatuated and intrigued he was with this woman by his words, which in turn showed how well he can express his feelings and make the reader sympathize with him.

After reading the poems, I feel that perhaps he was infatuated with the woman and adored the excitement and secrecy of their relationship opposed to the actual woman . Page 67 states, “nadie nos vio esta tarde con las manos unidas” and page 32 , “me sed, mi ansia sin limite.”

Spanish 365: The Second Half of Cumanda

The second half of Cumanda, in my point of view, was much more eventful than the first. There were many more elements of suspense, for example at the end of chapter 11 when “Cumanda contuvo el lloro por atender y observar,” intriguing the reader to continue. Moreover, I found myself wondering how the novel would end and knew something tragic would result with the constant references to death and the several attempts made on Carlos.

The theme of relations among different cultures was a main focus of “Cumanda.” It was interesting that the love between Carlos and Cumanda was an exchange and sharing of different cultures, for example the sharing of the Christian faith and cultures of the indigenous people (for example, during the Fiesta). At the same time, this novel portrays the difficulty of mixing different cultures together and the problems they face to be accepted by the other, and moreover by society. Mera showed, through this novel, the Indian societal norms and views at that period and how the intrusion of “el blanco” was shunned upon and not accepted.

The second half of the book continued to portray Carlos’ poetic and romantic nature of speech, for example on page 190 (“jamas abandona al que pena y llora…fiemos en sus manos nuestra suerte, y vamos, vamos, Cumanda”) and on page 267. Although nice to read at times, I found it a bit tedious to read through. Futhermore, I found the events around the brother/sister or incestuous relationship between Cumanda and Carlos a rather surprising development to the storyline.

This book was a typical romantic-tragedy, but I did enjoy it since it revolved around main characters, an interesting plot, and personal matters such as the family and ethnic relations. In this sense, it was much different that previous novels I have read in Spanish 364, for example “Brevisima relacion de la destruction de las Indias” by Las Casas, which took on a completely different point of view.

Spanish 365: Cumanda, Chapters 1 to 10

Cumanda, by Juan Leon Mera seems to be a very interesting, descriptive and informative novel which is based around a love story between an Indian girl, Cumanda, and a European, Carlos. After reading the first ten chapters, I have gained more knowledge about the lifestyles, scenery and nature which the indigenous people flourished in. The author does a great job of describing the scenery and portraying it not only as miraculous, but foreign to the Europeans inflicting “peligrosos y sopresas” (Mera, 89). He uses a lot of exaggeration to get across his point, for example “millones de millones de arboles” and “palmas que parecen gigantes” (Mera, 90).

I appreciate Juan Leon Mera’s use of poetic devices in his descriptions, such as metaphors, and detailed descriptions of customs, towns (such as Andoas) and nature (the rivers and the forests) because I am able to imagine what it would be like for the European explorers. From his descriptions, I can imagine the scenery as heavenly since he emphasises the abundance and diversity of flowers and scents found in the area. Chapter three was interesting in that he describes the Tongana family as harmonious and mutually cooperative, enabling readers to understand the indigenous lifestyle and culture better. Furthermore, Leon Mera does a great job in describing his observation of the different nomadic tribes, and how travelling among them can be dangerous and necessary precautions must be taken.

My favourite part thus far would be the exchange of words between Cumanda and Carlos when they profess their love for one another due to the romanticism; “tu presencia me transforma” (Mera, 111). I like Carlos’s poetic nature as he has a “corazon de poeta” (Mera, 136). I also liked Chapter ten's use of poems and events around Cumanda y “el blanco.”

Overall, I have enjoyed the first ten chapters, since they are interesting and descriptive in my opinion, and I am fond of Leon Mera’s style of writing.

Spanish 365: Assignment 1

Spanish 365: Assignment 1
The Relationship between Literature and Family

Literature is a principal method of expressing ones feelings and insights, but it also reflects society and culture by the stories or accounts the author documents. Authors may write about stories of family interactions and what is the norm for the family structure in the given time period and culture. Furthermore, we may also use literature of different time periods to infer what the typical family structure of the past was or how society and culture played a role on the family system. In a cultural sense, families differ from region to region; they may be groups tied by genetics or just by a common area, such as a town, and literature portrays their existence and illustrates their differences. Many stories describe everyday routines a family faces and the roles of the family members.

Moreover, literature often tells stories of extraordinary families to spark interest to readers and make the piece interesting in order for it to be successful. It may describe struggles the family faces in life in order to develop the story and make it of interest. Families in literature may be compared to one’s own to determine what makes a happy, dysfunctional, strange or exceptional family according to the author, and it enables the classification of one’s family.

Literature can describe the relationship between the genders, such as between husband and wife, and therefore, reflect societal views and norms in that given period. It also describes cultural differences of family types and norms; for example, various pieces demonstrate relationships between members of a community, such as a town, as a family system. In this type of family, each member of the community plays a different role (such as the income earners and caretakers). In this sense, readers gain knowledge of how different family systems function and exist.