Latin American History Commons^™

Journeys To Others And Lessons Of Self: Carlos Castaneda In Camposcape, Ageeth Sluis

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Drawing on Michel Foucault’s concept of heterotopia, this article examines the importance of place and gender within constructions of race politics in Carlos Castaneda’s series on shamanism. Championing a “separate reality” predicated on an indigenous worldview, Castaneda’s lessons invited transnational middle-class youth to "journey" alongside him to camposcape—an anachronistic and idealized countryside—as a means to escape the bourgeois values of their homelands and find spiritual fulfillment in a timeless and "authentic" Mexico. Castaneda’s work proposed new viable spaces of difference in Mexico, yet inscribed these spaces with a masculinist discourse that served to neutralize the gender trouble within the counterculture …

Los "Popol Wuj" Y Sus Epistemologías: Las Diferencias, El Conocimiento Y Los Ciclos Del Infinito, Carlos M. López

Carlos M. López

In this book the author studies one of the documents contained in the Ayer MS 1515, commonly known as the Popol Wuj (or Vuh). This text constitutes a fragmentary but not necessarily coherent corpus of writings, however, it still is a very important piece of the cultural and epistemological discourse of some of the pre-colonial Mesoamerican civilizations. Another important characteristic of this text is the superposition of multiple re-phonetizations and translations to which the text has been subjected. This transforms it into a text written under conditions of coloniality that encompasses several layers of meanings intersected by Western concepts. The …

Agency, Structures And Peru: Action And In-Action During 1980-2000, Kimberly A. Protzel

Kimberly Protzel

The Shining Path along with Alberto Fujimori's presidency in Peru (encompassing the years 1980-2000) created a terrifying chaos that was wound up in both state and insurgent terrorism, corruption, and massacres. While this chaos is inextricably linked to Peru's history, I fear is being all too quickly forgotten. My main motivation behind this research has been to take a step towards increasing awareness of these events and the many reasons behind them: the agenic nature of some versus the lack of it in others, structures developed by colonialism, and most terrifyingly of all - willful ignorance. By understanding these reasons, …

How Do Latino Groups Fare In A Changing Economy? Occupation In Latino Groups In The Greater New York City Area, 1980-2009, Stephen Ruszczyk

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines demographic and socioeconomic factors of racial/ethnic groups in New York City between 1980 and 2009 – particularly the Latino population.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: Trends from 1990 continued in 2000, with numbers of Puerto Ricans in production dropping to only 14% of that group. More than a fifth of Puerto Ricans worked in management and professional …

Journeys To Self And Lessons Of Other: Carlos Castaneda, Indigenismo, And The Politics Of A New Age, Ageeth Sluis

Ageeth Sluis

During the 1960s and 1970s, Carlos Castaneda’s work on shamanism introduced a large international readership to Mexico at a time when the Americas saw pronounced socio-political and cultural changes: mounting social unrest, political instability, civil rights movements, the counterculture, and the sexual and other revolutions. While heavily criticized by contemporary scholars, Castaneda's work became instrumental in the construction of an imagined Mexico, which, in addition to drawing counterculture tourists, featured new ways of conceptualizing race and gender. Seeking to understand the Castaneda phenomenon within a larger transnational context, the study sheds light on how new conceptions of indigenous identity informed …

Operation Pedro Pan: 50 Years Later, Rita M. Cauce

Works of the FIU Libraries

This article was written to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of Operation Pedro Pan and the subsequent Florida International University Libraries’ exhibition. It chronicles the events in Cuba and in Miami leading to Operation Pedro Pan, the largest exodus of unaccompanied children in the Western hemisphere. A total of 14,048 children arrived in the United States through Operation Pedro Pan between December 1960 and October 1962. Approximately half of the children did not have family in the United States and were taken under the care of Miami child welfare agencies. The impact of this large influx on an unprepared Miami, …

The History Of Mining In Cerro De Pasco And Heavy Metal Deposition In Lake Junin Peru, Erin M. Delman

Honors Theses

Lake Junín covers 530-km2 and is located at 4,430-m in an intermontane basin between the eastern and western cordillera of the central Peruvian Andes. The lake sits between the large sulfide mining districts of La Oroya and Cerro de Pasco. Designated a National Reserve in 1974, Lake Junín drains northward to the Río San Juan, which joins the Río Mantaro within several kilometers of the lake. Dam construction by the Cerro de Pasco Copper Corporation on the Río Mantaro in 1932 caused the Río San Juan, the principal river draining Cerro de Pasco, to back up into the lake. Using …

Cartographic Conversation, Jordana Dym

Jordana Dym

In 2012, the John Carter Brown Library celebrated the 50th anniversary of its fellowship program. In addition to organizing a panel for the June 2012 conference celebrating the anniversary, I curated a website of essays by former fellows working with historical cartography as a "Cartographic Conversation" engaging their research questions. My own essay addresses "Coastal Visions."

Projecting Pornography And Mapping Modernity In Mexico City, Ageeth Sluis

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Drawing on Elizabeth Grosz’s and Doreen Massey’s insights that place and gender are mutually constitutive, this article examines the articulation among the embodied city, sexual desire, and changing gender norms in the wake of the Mexican Revolution. At this time, a newly governing revolutionary elite sought to reinvigorate and “civilize” Mexico City through a series of urban reforms and public works, partly in response to their concern over women in public as a social problem. By analyzing depictions of female nudity as conversant with urban landscapes in the banned magazine Vea, the author argues that pornography connected Mexico City …

Lobos Y Perros Rabiosos: The Legacy Of The Inquisition In The Colonization Of New Spain And New Mexico, C. Michael Torres

Student Papers (History)

No abstract provided.

"La Venus Se Fue De Juerga Por Los Barrios Bajos": Nacho López, Mass Culture, And Modernity, Jenifer L. Caneschi

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Party Of The Century: Juárez, Díaz, And The End Of The "Unifying Liberal Myth" In 1906 Oaxaca, John Radley Milstead

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I will analyze the posthumous one-hundredth birthday celebration of former Mexican president and national hero, Benito Juárez, in 1906 Oaxaca City, Mexico. The Juárez celebration took place during the lengthy presidency of fellow Oaxaca native and former political rival Pofirio Díaz (1876-1911). Even though the two men experienced an antagonistic relationship, Díaz embraced the celebration and emphasized his connection to Juárez and, by extension, liberalism, the dominant political ideology. By all accounts, people enthusiastically took part in this official commemoration. But the festivities hid three years of contentious preparations whereby people questioned the political legacy of both men and even …

American Propaganda, Popular Media, And The Fall Of Jacobo Arbenz, Zachary Carl Fisher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In June 1954, President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman of Guatemala resigned in the face of a coup led by Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas. While the United States publicly denied involvement, the coup was in fact the culmination of a plan called PBSUCCESS (CIA codeword), led by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Although PBSUCCESS lived up to its namesake, it was aided (both intentionally and unintentionally) by various U.S. media outlets. For the duration of Arbenz Guzman's regime, he and his country had been the subject of U.S. suspicions of undue Communist and Soviet influence. A general anti-Communist attitude permeated virtually all …

"A Single Finger Can't Eat Okra": The Importance Of Remembering The Haitian Revolution In United States History, Ashleigh P. Shoecraft

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis discusses the impact of the Haitian Revolution on the United States as a lens through which to view the transnational nature of American exceptionalism. It concludes with an articulation of the necessity of incorporating this relational nature of United States identity development into high school coursework, and advocates for teaching about the Haitian Revolution as an effective means through which to do this.

Canciones Del Movimiento Chicano/Songs Of The Chicano Movement: The Impact Of Musical Traditions On The 1960s Chicano Civil Rights Movement, Marisa B. Mendoza

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis analyzes resistance songs as key representations of the identity and political formation that took place during the 1960s Chicano movement. Examining particular musical traditions, this thesis highlights the value of placing songs of the Chicano struggle in national narratives of history as well as in the context of an enduring and thriving legacy of political and social activism that continues to allow the Chicano community to recognize and validate their current social realities.

Regulating Death And Building Empire : American Doctors And The Construction Of The Panama Canal, 1904-1914, Sarah Rhoads

Honors Theses

In May 1904, American engineers, doctors, nurses, and laborers arrived in Panama to begin work on one of the most expensive, challenging, and rewarding technological achievements of the twentieth century- the Panama Canal. At the time, the majority of Americans saw Panama as a wild tropical jungle, with dangerous diseases and a hostile climate. One of the most prevalent diseases in tropical regions, yellow fever, also known as yellow jack, was known to pose an enormous challenge to the success of the canal construction- the first mountain blocking Panama from successful U.S. intervention (see image above). In the popular U.S. …

Agencies At War: Marshaling Places, Objects, And Sonorities In The Alta California Missions, Naomi R. Sussman

History Honors Projects

1769, Spanish Franciscan Junípero Serra initiated the missionization of Alta California. To transform California into a Spanish territory, Franciscan missions evangelized indigenous peoples. While traditional Alta California mission histories emphasize either Franciscan abuses or saintliness, reifying Native American subordination, most contemporary scholarship accentuates mutual hybridization but minimizes colonial power dynamics. Through archival and secondary research, this thesis argues that spatial interplay expressed neither syncretization nor unadulterated domination, but instead competing agencies within a physical and social “contact zone.” In this Alta Californian “contact zone,” material and sonic culture reinforced the continuous struggle for authority in the missions.

Taking A Walk On The Wild Side: Experiencing The Spaces Of Colonial Latin America, Jordana Dym

Jordana Dym

The introductory essay to a special issue, which I edited, on spatial practices in colonial Latin America.

Voces Fabuladas Contra Estatuas Míticas: Francisco Herrera Luque Y Su Aproximación Literaria A La Historia Venezolana, Juan Vicente Ayala

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis postulates the narrative of Venezuelan psychiatrist and novelist Francisco Herrera Luque as one that demystifies the official historical discourse of his nation.

Our argument is developed through a two-part analysis. First, we present and examine the author's characteristic method, one that he called "fabled history", and the way it deals with elements of Venezuela's historical past. Secondly, we analyze the way Herrera Luque, while crafting an undoubtedly historical narrative, also analyzes many elements of the Venezuelan idiosyncrasy and identity through the illustration of colonial life in the nation, in particular within the oligarchic social class known as mantuanos, …

Naccs 39th Annual Conference, National Association For Chicana And Chicano Studies

NACCS Conference Programs

NACCS@40 Celebrating Scholarship and Activism
March 14-17, 2012
Palmer House Hilton

El Choteo En Cien Botellas En Una Pared Y Raining Backwards: El Gracioso Disfraz De Las Circunstancias Trágicas Durante La Revolución Cubana Y El Período Especial, Kristin Nicole Lisenby

World Languages and Cultures

This project attempts to explore the idea that the combination of tragedy and humor in Cuban and Cuban-American literature is a form of “choteo” or “no tomar nada en serio,” which demonstrates a coping strategy used by Cubans during hard times. In the case of Ena Lucía Portela's Cien botellas en una pared, and Roberto Fernandez's Raining Backwards, I believe that the two authors use his and her own personal insight into a Cuban's life during the Cuban Revolution of the 60's and the Special Period of the 90's, and that those personal experiences are reflected throughout the novels …

Twelve For The Price Of One: The Constitution Of Cádiz & Guatemala, Jordana Dym

Jordana Dym

On March 19, 1812, the Spanish Cortes promulgated the Political Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy, often called the Constitution of Cádiz. Two hundred years later, this document—which placed sovereignty “essentially” in the nation (not the king), granted citizenship to all Spaniards of European and American (but not African) origin, and established elected representation for Spain’s mainland and overseas territories at national, provincial and local levels—has received the royal treatment. Spain’s king marked the anniversary at a commemorative ceremony in Cádiz, and scholars interested in the independence of Spanish America are asking what impact it had in conferences from Boston to …

Transborder Problems: Mexico, The Us, And Central America In Historical Perspective, Ageeth Sluis

Ageeth Sluis

No abstract provided.

Agency, Structures And Peru: Action And In-Action During 1980-2000, Kimberly A. Protzel

Master's Theses

The Shining Path along with Alberto Fujimori's presidency in Peru (encompassing the years 1980-2000) created a terrifying chaos that was wound up in both state and insurgent terrorism, corruption, and massacres. While this chaos is inextricably linked to Peru's history, I fear is being all too quickly forgotten. My main motivation behind this research has been to take a step towards increasing awareness of these events and the many reasons behind them: the agenic nature of some versus the lack of it in others, structures developed by colonialism, and most terrifyingly of all - willful ignorance. By understanding these reasons, …

The Praxis Of Horst Hoheisel: The Countermonument In An Expanded Field, Juan Felipe Hernandez

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This paper examines the work of German artist Horst Hoheisel in Latin-America. I open the conversation by including Hoheisel’s provocative participation in the 2005 memory debates in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Here, I introduce the nature of Hoheisel’s reasoning and the dialectical self-reflectiveness that is at work in his artifacts. In each project, I look for the way in which Hoheisel lays down the “memorialistic substance” of a specific site together with the self-critical rationality that characterizes his creation. The second part of this essay attempts to construct the theoretical parameters for the expansion of the definition of the countermonument. This …

Writing Words, Wearing Wounds: Race And Gender In A Puerto Rican Neo-Slave Narrative, Radost A. Rangelova

Spanish Faculty Publications

This article analyzes Mayra Santos-Febres's novel "Fe en disfraz" as a modern subversive slave narrative that inverts racial and gender hierarchies and critiques contemporary Caribbean white male privilege. The analysis answers the following questions: How does the novel represent the racialized and sexualized female body? How does the novel's representation of racial and gender relations address the legacy of the Atlantic slave trade in the Caribbean? And ultimately, what does the novel suggest about (re-) writing the personal and the collective history of slavery?

Review Of John Charles, Allies At Odds: The Andean Church And Its Indigenous Agents, 1583–1671, Jason Dyck

FIMS Publications

No abstract provided.

Productivity Gains And The Limits Of Tropical Ranching In Colombia, 1850-1950, Shawn Van Ausdal

Shawn Van Ausdal

Contrary to the common assumption that Colombian ranchers were uninterested or unable to improve their cattle operations before the 1950s, this article provides evidence of slowly rising productivity indices from the mid-nineteenth century. These improvements were based on the diffusion of African grasses, new breeds of cattle, barbed-wire fencing, and better ranch management. However, despite such gains, Colombian ranchers failed to break into the international beef trade; their productivity levels did not rise sufficiently to compete against major exporters such as Argentina. Nonetheless, the gains they made suggest that this failure was not simply rooted in the backward and non-productive …

Museo De Aguas De Alicante El Agua En El Origen De Alicante Una Visión Histórico-Arqueológica Desde La Prehistoria Hasta La Época Moderna, Pablo Rosser

pablo rosser

A partir de restos arqueológicos, de documentación de archivo y de cartografía histórica, se hace una evolución sobre cómo el agua y su uso permitió el asentamiento de población en Alicante desde el neolítico hasta época contemporánea.

Sacrificio, Violencia Y Nación En Lituma En Los Andes De Mario Vargas Llosa, Cesar Valverde

Scholarship

No abstract provided.