Power and Dictatorship in Latin American Literature

Last Post..

2008-04-06T21:20:00.001-07:00

Another semester gone just like that. My first impression of this course was the amount of reading that it assigned. Not that I can really compare, given that this is the first literature course that I have taken at UBC (besides engl 110). Overall, I feel satisfied with the way the course was structured in terms of the blog, wikipedia and midterm. To my advantage, I highly enjoyed the material that the novels covered. The literary elements of power, dictatorship and writing that were analyzed throughout the course were brought to my attention.

My favorite novel? Unlike other students, regardless of its poetic nature, Facundo could be one of my top favorite. The historical background that Sarmiento presented was at times repetitive. What I liked the most were the purposes the book served for its time; a cultural guide to the non-Argentinean, an economic guideline to foreign investors, a political handbook for future Latin-American rulers, a historical account of Argentina... and its attempt at undermining dictatorships. Putting all this in one book, subject to an arbitrary interpretation(be it more literary or historical) resulted in a brilliant piece of work. Domingo Sarmiento sets the foundation of Latin America's aspiration to achieve a civilized society while preserving and innate cultural identity.

About Wikipedia... I personally enjoyed working with this web-page. At time it seemed close to impossible and very time consuming to find accurate sources on a topic. In the end, if the effort was there so were the results. Its definitely nice to know that over 50,000 people take a look at a project that you put together. And as our professor said, we are essentially not being graded by UBC, its all up to Wikipedia to decide whether we do well or not. In this sense, the standards are pretty well outlined from the beginning of the course, giving students sufficient time to work on the project. In my group's experience, a good article was attainable if, as I mentioned earlier, the effort and time were there.

Feast of The Goat II

2008-04-01T19:27:00.000-07:00

After reading about Trujillo's assassination I was expecting the regime to simply collapse. Rather, this novel suggests that Trujillo is so deeply engraved in the country's cultural, societal and political environment that his death is the beginning of the fall of the Trujillista empire.

I personally consider this dictator the most deranged out of the six previous dictator novels. In terms of paranoia, he might not be as crazy as Dr. Francia. But several events in the narrative show that Trujillo also suffered from the impossibility of total control, as other dictators did, and this attempt at trying to keep a constant eye at the regime provoked the dictator to act highly unreasonable. For example, Trujillo complains about the President Betancourt's opposition to his regime. Apparently, Trujillo tries to assassinate President Betancourt, and in the end, the assassination attempt enrages the OAS, leading to economic sanctions that devastate the country. The fact that Trujillo tries to hide his cancerous prostate also shows the dictator's weakened position. Further, when during a gathering of people, when he mistakenly thought to have urinated himself shows his inner struggle of either surrendering to humiliation or pretending to tip a glass by accident to cover up for the urine. The first chapters of Trujillo describe the dictator as highly workaholic. Vargas Llosa's portrayal of the dictator waking up before sunrise further reminds of Trujillo's intend to reign over the country. It would seem that he was the first Dominican to wake up on a daily basis, showing the dictator's superiority over other individuals.

I highly enjoyable novel, and I quote Mike from class: the cars, Ramfis the spoiled playboy, the sex... the luxury and the mentioning of famous celebrities makes this novel as graphic as a movie. Now I really feel like watching Feast of The Goat, also since the cast seems to be quite good.

Feast of The Goat

2008-03-22T05:23:00.000-07:00

Could my judgment be biased given that I am researching on the novel's author for Wikipedia or is it the way MVLL illustrates the Caribbean setting that reminds me so much about the beaches back home? Halfway into this novel, and I think this is my favorite out of all the previous ones. There is something about Vargas Llosa's style that hooked me from the beginning and did not let me stop reading. The 3 different stories that take place in the novel, and in different times is definitely a big plus. The dictator's discontent towards Cabral is one of those conflicts that hooked me into reading more to understand the underlying reason for Trujillo's sudden dislike for such a loyal Trujillista. In MVLL's portayal of a paranoid Trujillo, I found a resemblence with I the Supreme's Dr. Francia. In other instances, the dictator's ignorance and ruthlessness towards Cabral and other characters in the novel remind of El Senor Presidente.

I found the novel quite slow and dense but still enjoyed MVLL detailed description's of the character's lives, something that appears quite often in this book. I believe that gender is a central topic of this novel. MVLL chose the main character to be a woman, unlike all the previous novel's we have read. MVLL's shows women's suppresion and mistreatment a lot in the first half especially through Trujillo's desire to sleep with any Dominican woman he wants.

How much of this novel is history compared to The General and his Labyrinth? If it has a strong background then MVLL probably did as much research As Garcia Marquez did. There so many generals, government officials, senators, etc, that I wonder how much of that is actually history or simply the author's imagination.

The General and his Labyrinth II

2008-03-17T02:55:00.000-07:00

After reading this novel, I feel empty. The predictability of the novel's end with the General's death made me say... So what. The more I read the novel, the weaker, smaller and pathetic became of the General. Garcia Marquez continually degrades the General's image as we perceive the struggle between trying to stay alive and surrendering to his death in the second half. And yet the weaker the general seemed to be, the harder it was for him to disbelieve the idea of a united Great Colombia even though he continuous to lament himself and of what has become the political situation in the region. I think that this inner struggle that the general copes with in the novel as a whole can be shown when he gives some final orders to his generals regarding Urdaneta's coup in Bogota. On one hand the general wants to flee to Europe and forget about what has become of his country and abandon his dream of unification. On the other, we can still perceive how he refuses to detach himself politically as he still tries impose the bit of influence that he has left.

I felt deeply sorry for what I thought was the General's greatest loss in this novel. The death of Marshall Sucre. The General would mention him as his successor and would talk about his aptness to rule Colombia as president. Garcia Marquez makes it very clear in his narration that the General was devastated by this loss as he illustrates Bolivar puking blood. Actually this is one of those historical facts that I remember when studying history in highschool! :) According to one of my profs, Bolivar's health was seriously deteriorated shortly after the news about the Sucre's death.

The General and his Labyrinth I

2008-03-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

I have met the General Bolivar with great surprise having read three dictatorship novels where the ruthless and almighty dictators executed absolute power with the intention to grasp as much of it that they could handle in a lifetime. In The General and his Labyrinth, the General presents himself as a hopeless and defeated man trying to endure the last days of his life with the impossibility of a dream that consisted of the unification of the American colonies that he so tiresomely liberated. The point in the novel when Congress turn their backs on the General's candidacy for president establishes the indifference of the people towards a man that I would consider as on of the most enlightened and accomplished figures in Latin American history.

I have read this first half with compassion towards the General and main character, in contrast to the previous three dictatorship novels. Garcia Marquez portrays the Liberator as a man of words and argument, not of orders and lashes. The General has this insatiable lust for women that brings about in him a charm and pleasantness that he lacks in most parts of the novel. The general irradiates a great deal of humility and dignity throughout instances in the book such as his conversations about politics with Palacios and the Frenchman. More so, when he is boarding the ship that navigates in the Magdalena river. The event in which the General eagerly names a dog Bolivar, made me want to go back a few pages and closely look at Garcia Marquez's description of the wounded animal that did not surrender even though "he was covered in blood and his throat had been torn open." I believe this incident mirrors the life of The General that never surrender to his ideal of kicking out the Spaniards from the American territories.

I thought the novel had a weak beginning, but as the plot moved on with the General's decision to leave the country and the narration of facts and anecdotes related to historical events in the life of the General, the novel interested me a lot. Santander and The General's communication between letters is the best illustration of writing and power that I find in this book. It shows how through writing, the power of The General is implicitly transferred to Santander, as well as conveying the General's weakness of being a dictator or should I say the General's unwillingness to govern by force. The tables have turned quite drastically in this novel relative to the rest that we have read. At first I thought that the citizens are the ones that have the power rather than the dictator or the General Simon Bolivar. But I guess that the General's greatest anxiety and discomfort comes from the fact that he liberated part of South America that becomes subject of a different kind of tyranny, that of the demagogues and "caudillos" like Jose Antonio Paez and Santander.

I am glad that this novel has subtly refreshed the Venezuelan history that I studied back in high school. The familiarity of many of the characters of the story brings some nostalgic thoughts I must say!... Coincidentally I want to add that we are reading this novel in a time when Venezuela and Colombia's diplomatic relations are not going so well. What would The General think if he was alive?! Anyhow, glad to know that diplomatic relations have been reestablish between the two countries as I read while I was typing this blog.

Finishing At Last!

2008-03-06T00:55:00.000-08:00

I have finally paid my debt to Roa Bastos and managed to devour the second half of this novel. I am glad to say that whether I liked the book or not, I feel comfortable arguing with anyone that this could probably be one of the best Latin American novels given the way it is written, the elements of power, writing and language, just to name a few, as well as other interesting features that left me perplexed.

My favorite aspect of the book is the Supreme's paranoia and obsessiveness when it comes to dictatorial power. As the novel narrates the last days and the illness of the Supreme, Dr Francia is unable to accept the fact that he was seriously ill and then later blames his physicians inefficiencies not only on his sickness but on the illnesses of the army's soldiers. How far is this paranoid individual willing to go? I asked myself. In one of his dictations to Patino, The Supreme justifies his dictatorship as his enslavement to power and duty to keep order in society. That sounded so ridiculous I had to laugh.

In essence, the Supreme's discomfort and restlessness stems from the fact that human beings are impossible to always have under constant scrutiny. Roa Bastos's constant referral to animals in the novel leads me to believe that the Supreme's ideal mandate would be to rule a kingdome of animals. Not really animals, but individuals with no symbolic sense of self that do not pose a threat to his holding of absolute power. Individuals that do not have memory, as the dictator complains so much in the beginning of the novel. This relates to when the Supreme is trying to teach Patino the secret of writing. In this sense, what he is trying to teach him is to behave with the same trustworthy relationship when it comes to writing what the dictator has to dictate, as how Dr. Francia would relate to his dog Sultan. It seems that this unbiased way of writing, with no interpretation of his own, and no memory, is what Dr Francia wants Patino to do. Some excerpts of the text I which the Supreme praises animals are when the Supreme mentions a parrot that had learned to recite better than a priest. The Supreme's desire to impose this instinctive animal behavior in the citizens of Paraguay is then another factor that contributes to his paranoia and impossibility of always being in control, because of course, humans unlike animals do have a symbolic sense of self.

I The Supreme

2008-02-28T22:46:00.000-08:00

By the time I finish this book, not only will I have read the "best book in Latin American Literature," but also the most difficult and painful book that I have ever, and probably will ever set my eyes on. A book with no chapters!? When can I take a break without suddenly being confused... well this book confuses me a lot actually, chapters or no chapters. OK now... I The Supreme. I was not expecting this sort of novel at all. A dictator that dictates to his secretary for 400 pages. An interesting feature of this novel is how Roa Bastos is actually the mind of the Supreme, leading us to the fact of how and why the Supreme behaves in such and such manners. Through this particular way of narrative, I unexpectedly find that the dictator or the Supreme, is actually afraid. Not really the case of other novels, or the general conception that one has of dictators. Now quoting a little bit from class, the impossibility of being always in control and of being too careful if one is to be betrayed contributes to the Supreme's paranoia and his aroused state which stems from the beginning of the novel with the page found in the cathedral. When I started to read the novel, it occurred to me that this was a possible threat of some sort coming from an opposition that planned to set up the Supreme and take away his position.

I admit that I found the book to be slightly humorous in the dialogue between Patino and the Dictator. One of the many times that the Supreme interrupts Patinio, this one time, the Supreme tells Patinio, Don't just chase after female-hairs as is your usual habit. Don't like the fellow who opened a cupboard door one night instead of window... come tell me that it's dark and smells of cheese because you've stuck your nose somplace you should not have, instead of nosing where you should have" Ok I might have a weird sense of humour, but I found this dialogue to be oddly funny!

For now I must leave you and continue to read this long and painful book so I can comment further and maybe about something a bit more interesting. I don't consider myself a slow reader but this piece of art will certainly take some hours to finish!

Finishing The President

2008-02-04T21:13:00.000-08:00

What a novel! I have to say. First I would like to point out how captivated I was by the chain of events that appeared in the second half such as Canales's upbringing against the state, the illustrative romance of Angel Face and Camila, and the pleading and unstoppable wife of Cabral that suffered the unjust lost of her husband. I must say that the novel's descriptiveness, its magical feeling and vividness are all highly enjoyable elements that appear throughout the narrative.

Another feature of this novel which I find so compelling is Asturias's particular interest in portraying and writing with such detail about women's suffering. The first heavily tortured character is Fedina, which I state in the previous blog. In the following half, Cabral's wife and Camila are portrayed with immense suffering and pain for the loss of their husbands. Cabral's wife appears as a non surrendering individual to try and achieve all that is possible in her will to save her husband. Even when the death of her beloved one seems to have happened she continually begs to speak to the President so that she can have the privilege of burying the body. Camila shares the same misfortune. I think that this is the most adequate expression, as I said previously, of the brutality of dictatorships. What makes them so evil and unholy, I think, is the regime's willingness to end the bonds of the most sacred thing on earth, which is family. The regime, or I specifically state, the President does this from the beginning to the end of the novel, starting with Rodas's family and ending the novel by ending the powerful loving bond that Asturias describes so profoundly between Miguel Angel Face and Camila.

I also want to refer about the revolution that was briefly depicted in the novel. As discussed in class, Asturias develops the novel on different hierarchies of society. The part where General Canales encounters the Indian plus when the general murders the doctor who would ask for the Indian's money, I believe, shows how these different social classes share and assimilate the same hardship and suffering that the dictatorship has inflicted in them. So not only are the lowest classes of society in jeopardy, as shown with the initial narrative of the beggars, but anyone under The President's regime is bound to live by his inhuman authority, even his favorite!

Chaos and Distress: The President (first half)

2008-01-27T21:54:00.000-08:00

I have come upon a striking feature of the narrative's first half. I first would like to assume that the setting is characteristic of a totalitarian regime ruled by the President, hence the novel's title. It follows that a political figure such as the President has the power to rule as he pleases. If a man of such power can influence the individuals under his rule, whether they live or die, he must surely have the power to arrest and imprison anyone. Therefore, following the president's orders, the police frame a general's death on another general in the beginning of the novel. Based on this nature of dictatorships, the president has literally influenced the course of the novel from the start by generating a chain of chaotic events that disentangle from his first appearance in the novel. I find interesting how the president, being such an influential figure in the narrative's plot, has barely appeared in the first half, and yet his underlying presence can be felt with the passing of every page.

Angel Face has been so far my favorite character of the story in part for the altruistic personality he has shown in the first 150 pages of the novel. It would not surprise me if he ends up betraying the President and becoming the nation's liberator of the oppressing and suffering state that this society finds itself in. I enjoyed the way he was introduced into the novel as a compassionate individual that coincidentally helped the man guilty for murdering the general and then going to meet the President himself. Later on though, I must note and I am not quite sure at the same time; when he reveals his attractiveness for Camila, the thought of sexually engaging her passes through his mind, even if it means by force. So I thought maybe this character is not as good intentioned as I thought he was. On the other hand, the idea of gender bias also went through my head, given that the novel takes place in Latin America. So even though Asturias portrays this man with positive characteristics, forcing this girl to have sex with him would be considered as a general occurrence in the 19th century. Inferring that the novel could have also taken place during the early 20th century, the idea would tend to be similar.

Until this half I have appreciated Asturias's vividness in illustrating scenarios in the 3rd person with such intensity. I was shocked, disturbed... outraged! I might say by the scene when Fedina was tortured by the Adjuntant General's blows, threats and screams. I felt so sorry for this woman that unhesitatingly tells the truth to the filthy and brutal General who then proceeded to ask her the impossible question. The point were the woman's baby was brought into the scene, and the juxtaposition of the baby's never ending cry and the passing of time, shocked me even more. Leaving the starving baby and her mother in prison is the greatest demonstration of the ruthlessness and brutality of dictatorships. In my opinion, this descriptiveness in illustration and narrative makes Asturias such a good novel writer. Interesting again, how this scene is a sort of repetition from the previous torture of the beggars. Lastly, I note that Fedina, in all her agony and with the image of her suffering son in front of her, does not try to lie or make up some false identity so that the general grants her freedom. If she had lied, would she have actually been freed or would her destiny imitate the Mosquito's unwanted fate?

Facundo II

2008-01-20T19:35:00.001-08:00

As I continue on my quest to finish this novel, I feel somewhat perplexed by Sarmiento's narrative. Some of the issues of Argentina's transition between barbarism and civilization are quite intriguing. On this aspect, I actually think Sarmiento's narrative is fascinating. On the first half, I recall that Sarmiento wrote extensively on the skills, abilities and personalities of the different "gauchos" or Argentineans of the countryside which I inferred them as a barbarous race. I related many of this great characteristics of the primitive gaucho to what I call the "supreme" gaucho of the novel, Facundo. In the chapter of La Rioja, Sarmiento presents Facundo's evil doings and his authoritative personality which I think seems to transcend from the image of Facundo to that of Rosas. Is Sarmiento really writing about Facundo, or does this chapter illustrate the barbarous image of Rosas and his unjust imposition over Argentina? I really enjoyed this type of narrative which prevails throughout the text.

Further on, the description of social life in Argentina illustrated interesting facts on civilization and barbarism. I pictured Cordoba as an enlightened city on the path to civilization. Not enchained to barbarism, but in a transition. Sarmiento shows that people in Cordoba might not be as progressive in terms of economics and politics as their rival, Buenos Aires, but they have a qualified University and the population acquires a high level of education. The social class that inhabits Cordoba is more interested in discovering and knowing than in the establishment of a well-ordered society, say in terms of infrastructure. On the other hand, Buenos Aires is the one city in Argentina that has been heavily influenced by Europe and in these terms, is regarded as part of civilization.

The rivalry of Rivadavia and Facundo reminds me of the eternal struggle between civilization and barbarism. Which one will prevail? Which one will govern the country? The chapter on Social Life starts by showing some of the negative views that Sarmiento's presents towards Europe. Even though Rivadavia basically governed Argentina in the most progressive, moral and European manner, these ideals were not sufficient to organize the social structure that agitated the country. Right towards the end of the chapter, Sarmiento recognizes that a "powerful hand" such as Facundo's is necessary to rule and establish the order that Argentina lacks. Referring again to my earlier conception of the "supreme gaucho," Sarmiento somehow combines all the characteristics of the primitive gaucho and channels them in Facundo toward ruling the country. So even though Sarmiento does not agree with this form of governing, he appreciates a gaucho's knowledge of ruling instead of the using European politics. It is striking how Sarmiento, such an advocate of Europe in general, writes as if surrendering to the fact that Argentina at least in the current state of which the book illustrates, is in need of barbarism to organize its society.

I have been posing the following question as I continue to read the novel and I still cannot find a concrete answer in Sarmiento's writing to my inquiry. What characterizes an ideal Argentinean culture in the eyes of Domingo Sarmiento? If anyone has comments on this, it would be greatly appreciated :)

Facundo..

2008-01-10T07:58:00.000-08:00

After reading the first half of the novel Facundo, I find that Sarmiento's progressive, unitarist and european ideals aimed at attaining his nation's well being, seem to collide with the portrayal of Argentinean "American" characters that lived in the nineteenth century. The nation's capital, Buenos Aires, the only city regarded as a modern and an organized place, is characteristic of European modes and is unstained by the barbarism that is present throughout the rest of the country. Sarmiento explains that populating Argentina's outskirts and remote cities with a European society could resolve the nation's backwardness and resemble the capital's structure. European ideals, customs and culture would replace the primitive and barbaric customs that Sarmiento views as inhibiting the republic's progress and development in becoming a civilization.

Unlike the European class, viewed as a pure race, capable of establishing progress and development in the country's societal structure, Sarmiento describes the melting pot of primitive races that he addresses as Americans as a non progressive and barbarous tribe that by instinct, tradition and antecedents seem to preserve a status quo in society. "Moral progress... is thus here not only neglected, but impossible." Further through the novel, Sarmiento proudly illustrates Argentinean characters with extraordinary skills. He illustrates a gaucho rastreador as God's willingness to create a man of his image and likeness. The baqueano’s knowledge is also a crucial element in military strategy, considering that neighboring countries do not have such gifted individuals. These unique gauchos that Sarmiento describes are part of that backwardness in society and of that preservation of the status quo that inhibits barbarism to develop into civilization.

An ambivalence then arises between Sarmiento's patriotic feeling for his culture which struggles with his inner values and perspectives that he considers as essential factors in conforming a civilized society in the republic. Further on, In Chapter XV, the author admires Facundo murdering a group of Argentineans, regarding this savagery as an honorable act. Sarmiento emphasizes that a man like Facundo who came from a wealthy and educated background, would succumb to barbarism in this lower class of society as part of his upbringing and experience that would help him to rule the country later on. In this sense, I find that the inter mixture between barbarism and civilization shapes the society that Sarmiento hopes will become of Argentina. In one hand Argentinean culture is preserved while on the other, the culture itself is immersed in European moral progress.