Preguntas IV

Ch. 5 The Conquest and Colonialism

1. While there are some real problems in the premise that "the arrival of the Spaniards seemed a liberation to the people under Aztec rule," Paz does present an interesting argument on the subject, which illuminates the power of Christianity as an organizing element of society. The fact that the indigenous people were granted access to religion and society in a way that they had not been before meant that a critical mass of people could be gathered under Christianity's influence, and feel a part of something. There is also the interesting concept that the "death" of Aztec society was essentially built in to its world view through their cyclical conception of time, and led, according to Paz, to acceptance in the face of the conquest. Did this acceptance save the indigenous world from disappearing completely, and allow it to persist under the superimposition of Christianity? Is this part of what makes the Mexican culture so rich and deep? 

2. "I want to understand [colonial society] as a living and therefore contradictory whole." p 103

I think this sums up Paz's whole approach to the world. He seems to revel in these contradictions even more than he is seeking answers or clear theses. I also love this: 

"History has the cruel reality of a nightmare, and the grandeur of man consists in his making beautiful and lasting works out of the real substance of that nightmare .[..] in freeing ourselves from the shapeless horror of reality -- if only for an instant -- by means of creation."  p 103

This love of complexity and contradiction might be why he is so fascinated by a character like Sor. Juana (and me too!) She too, was fascinated by subjects which could not be reconciled, and she didn't feel the need to do so. 

3. "...The principles that ruled society were immutable and untouchable. Spain no longer invented or discovered: she extended her rule, defended herself, enjoyed herself. She did not want to change, what she wanted was to endure." p 104

Reading this, I couldn't help but draw a comparison with the U.S. today. The situation is obviously quite different because of the Catholicism that defined Spanish society, but I wonder if the same process of petrification is not happening here in a different context. At the end of the chapter Paz introduces European rationalism as the next epoch. This, I would say is true here as well. And while rationalism was at first exciting, both spiritually and intellectually, it seems that it could be becoming "dry and immobile," just as Catholicism did. (p.109) What will replace it?

el caballo blanco

I found this wonderful anecdote about Chavela and Jose Antonio and thought it was a lovely image of two people who share the same world, at odds or 'al reves' from everyone else. Maybe this world hovered between reality and dreams, altered by alcohol and their artists' hearts. But also I think it's important to realize that their drinking was not necessary all darkness and dependence. As Carlos Montsivais wrote, in that time, "There were no critical replies to the idiocies and ignominies of machismo, and being a drunk was a feat that undermined the conformity of people enslaved by respectability.”

I tried to paint this heroic escapism and  the friendship it fostered into this scene of the trip that inspired Jose Antonio's song, El Caballo Blanco.

Dos Fuentes

Listening to the the formalized and popularized songs of Ponce, and then the gritty recordings of Cuarteto Coculense I was thinking of how art evolves and grows, and what it gains and what it loses in the process. These songs stick and persist because their lyrics and melodies say something essential or touch upon our shared humanity. Of course it is natural that the same themes (here, lots of love and heartbreak) get interpreted again and again through different lenses. It is especially interesting to see what happens when the same art form moves from the place and time that created it, and into a new and different world. From this to this.

La Paloma Negra

 

This draft presents a dichotomous comparison of heartbreak and la parranda as thresholds, with the power to transform. In both La Paloma Negra and Cuccurucucu, Paloma, the protagonists become symbols through what befalls them. Both echo the idea that love can live on as a ghost. These stories present a darker side of love while leaving its primacy unquestioned.

Preguntas III

Ch. 3 The Day of the Dead

1. "The fiesta is a cosmic experiment, an experiment in disorder, reuniting contradictory elements and principles in order to bring about a renascence of life." p. 51


I'm intrigued by how the apparently explosive nature of the fiesta might be a reaction to/expression of the mix of Spanish and indigenous cultures, a sort of affirmation and denial of aspects of both. Also in looking through the Toor book, I was amazed by the myriad masks worn in these fiestas, which reminded me of the the previous chapter. That there might be a mask within a mask thing going on here. 

2. "Modern death does not have any significance that transcends it or that refers to other values." p. 57

Is this the greatest legacy of the scientific revolution? 

3. "When we explode we touch against the highest point of that tension, we graze the very zenith of life. And there, at at the height of our frenzy, suddenly we feel dizzy: it is then that death attracts us." p. 58

He seems to be painting a picture of Mexican culture of one of extremes. Would this be a symptom of his theory about the mask, or the reason for its existence? 

máscaras

a graphic interpretation of the third quotation below, a meditation on the coming of the silence

Preguntas II

Ch. 2 Mexican Masks

 "This predominance of the closed over the open manifests itself not only as impassivity and distrust, irony and suspicion, but also as love of Form."  p. 32

This made me consider Form not only in terms of ceremony, formula and order, but also in terms of physical form. It reminded me of something I read about the pre-Columbian architectural forms of Mexico in Ancient Origins of the Mexican Plaza by Wagner, Box and Morehead: 
"Unlike the European tradition of architecture, the Maya did not create their structures with the primary aim of creating interior space. Instead, public architecture functioned like gigantic stage set to serve as the backdrop for huge processional rituals, dances and public dramas." 
 Could the idea of the mask be extended to all forms of art (including music) and design as well as social patterns? 

"Womanhood, unlike manhood, is never an end in itself." p. 36

This section brought up a lot of questions for me, including how much these social moors persist today. I wonder what a similar list of ideal attributes and analysis of North American women would look like both then and now. Through his description of the long suffering woman, I came to understand a bit more about how a personnage like Frida Khalo could come to exist. At the same time, I wondered where and how Chavela Vargas fit into all these clearly defined gender roles. 


"This circle is closed and the shadow of Nobody spreads out over our land, choking the Gesticulator and covering everything. Silence - the prehistoric silence, stronger than all the pyramids and sacrifices, all the churches and uprisings and popular songs - comes back to rule over Mexico." p 46

What is he talking about here? What does he see the outcome to be?