Amigos Mexicanos & Mayan Dusk – By Juan Villoro “Amigos Mexicanos” and “Mayan Dusk” are fictional stories written by Juan Villoro. Both stories had many similarities mainly with both of them having unnamed protagonists as well as both being written in first person. These stories show a different side of Mexico and Mexican people. This approach taken by Villoro as well as his style of writing and use of humor gives quite some insight into Mexican life and Culture. One of the first things that I’ve noticed whilst reading these short stories was Villoros interesting use of pronouns. Which was evident more so in “Mayan Dusk”. The author starts of by using “we” which gives a sense of unity. However, as the story progresses the pronouns seem …show more content…
Cinema of Latin America – By Deborah Shaw “Contemporary Cinema of Latin America” by Deborah Shaw explores two contrasting genres of Mexican film; in the extract Shaw was able to give critical insights as well as reasons to “ Like Water for Chocolate” and “Amores Perros” success in national and international box offices. Shaw then goes on to describing the somewhat unpredictable success of these films as well as the responsiveness of international audiences, by giving great historical and cultural insight. “Like water for chocolate” and “Ameros Perros” were some of the first internationally acclaimed Mexican films. Shaw was able to equate the success of these films to the new and unconventional approaches taken by the directors, which mainly showed a more watered down version of Mexico and its culture in order to attract international audiences. This was seen in “Like water for chocolate” in its portrayal of Mexico as an “ideal” and “tourist- friendly” Mexico. However, in “Amores Perros” Shaw believed the vast success was also attributed to the director’s focus on making the characters relatable and …show more content…
Monsivai goes into great detail whilst describing the fragile, yet important structure that religion gives Mexican people. Monsivai also stresses in many occasions that the biases of religion stems from the underling issues with Mexican people and their imminent feeling of suffering and hopelessness. Monsivai then uses his historical insight as well as a gradual, and almost chronological series of events that help shaped an understanding of Mexico’s religion and utopian aspirations. Monsivai’s goes into great detail whilst describing the construct of utopia as theses ever changing ideas that somehow always seem impossible to reach. The way the author was able to construct interesting visuals of how these utopias ought to be, but as not to let the readers get far into this ‘mythical’ idea he would follow these constructs with what made them irrational and simply concepts the Mexican people can aspire to but will never
His central aim is not just to provide one example of a legitimate, contextual (Hispanic) perspective. He also is eager to show that embracing different theological perspectives from around the globe is a necessary and unavoidable aspect of the church’s catholicity. González makes his case in the introduction.
Through the use of pathos, schemes, and tropes, Rodriquez offers his conflicting feelings about California and Mexico. By contrasting Mexico and California with these styles of writing, he sets up
Throughout our life’s each day we communicate with each other through the exchange of information. Our verbal and nonverbal communication skills are used to process this information. Speaking, listening, and body language are our ability to understand the meaning of communication that we develop throughout our lives. This brings me to understand why we develop new things every day and learn the reasons for different things. However, in the Hispanic/Latino literature they express spirituality, magic, and myth play as an important role in their literature. For
By way of illustration, Fuentes’ descriptions of Mexico City are generally basic and lacking in any expressive or idiomatic language. The protagonist, Felipe Montero, does not pay any particular attention to the details of
The movie “El Norte “is the one of the most successful and influential movies to represent the immigrants state. Director Gregory Nava’s gives the story of Guatemalan siblings Rosa and Enrique’s journey in a melodramatic way. The movie is divided to three main parts, Guatemala, Mexico and United States. The story of Rosa and Enrique’s shows us community, the power of language and culture in different countries.
Caminero-Santangelo, Marta. 2007. On Latinidad: U.S. Latino Literature and the Construction of Ethnicity. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.
With a great reputation for its historical significance, ‘Los olvidados’ (1951), a film shot in Mexico City, directed by Luis Buñuel, endorsed the defining point of his profession. Having studied the given excerpt of the script from a scene of the film, this report will not only portray intriguing political, historical and social aspects, but also the phonological, morphological and lexical aspects and how they influence the given content. The geographical location of this film has also proven to be of relevant influence. Buñuel succeeded to attract the wider world's interest into his work as it was his intention to make everyone realise the truth. Ironically, Buñuel being a surrealist director, Los olvidados was not a surreal film. It was the first film directly addressing not only the issues identified with the Mexican society but also Mexican cinema itself. From here, the attributes of Mexican cinema were perpetually replaced.
The author argues that the Spanish were completely at fault for the total destruction of the Aztec Empire. In Broken spears, the author explains how many factors other than Spanish power contributed to the downfall of the Aztecs. Not only did the Spanish have many advantages over the Aztecs, but also they also exploited them and took advantage of the cultural difference. The main key aspects to the Spanish victory, is that the Spanish were viewed as gods at first because of their appearance, the Aztecs welcomed the Spanish with gifts and festivities, which showed the Spanish had total control of people. The Aztecs also held a ritual ceremony for the arrival of the “god” that included a human
In the film “Mi Familia,” we follow the story of the Mexican-American Sánchez family who settled in East Los Angeles, California after immigrating to the United States. Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas introduce the story of this family in several contexts that are developed along generations. These generations hold significant historical periods that form the identity of each individual member of the family. We start off by exploring the immigrant experience as the family patriarch heads north to Los Angeles, later we see how national events like the great depression directly impact Maria as she gets deported, although she was a US citizen. The events that follow further oppress this family and begins separate identity formations. These
“The moment I understood her hatred, my family had not been personally hurt by Trujillo just as before losing my baby. Jesus had not taken anything away from me. There was the Perozos, not a man left in that family and Martinez Reyna and his wife murdered in their bed and thousands of Haitians murdered at the border. Making the river they say still red. I had heard but not believed. How could our all loving father let us suffer? I looked up challenging him and the two faces merged” (Alvarez 53).
To Maria, Mexican culture revolves all around your family, morals, and traditions and religion. “You have to be proud of where you come from, Mexican culture is about being proud of who you are” said Maria. “My Father taught all of my brothers and sisters to look out for one another because with out family you have nothing.” Ever since Maria born her family has been very religious. She was baptized in a church is Guadalajara, but she
The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela is arguably the most important novel of the Mexican Revolution because of how it profoundly captures the atmosphere and intricacies of the occasion. Although the immediate subject of the novel is Demetrio Macias - a peasant supporter of the Mexican Revolution -, one of its extensive themes is the ambivalence surrounding the revolution in reality as seen from a broader perspective. Although often poetically revered as a ‘beautiful’ revolution, scenes throughout the novel paint the lack of overall benevolence even among the protagonist revolutionaries during the tumultuous days of the revolution. This paper will analyze certain brash characteristics of the venerated revolution as represented by Azuela’s
Throughout “The True History of The Conquest of New Spain,” Diaz criticizes Nuhuatl religions through his denouncing tone and use of repetitions. His repetitions of “cursed,” such as the “cursed idols” (149) and “cursed temples” (149), and of
Taken (Pierre Morel, 2008), as a film considered to be under the action genre, incorporates elements into the plot that are considered to be defining traits of action films. However, the film also uses certain elements in various ways, so that Taken is also not a typical “action” film in many ways. Overall, Taken is largely a “progressive” action film, which deviates from many generic conventions in typical action films. However, different aspects of the film can be considered either “status quo” or “progressive”, depending on the characteristics that are analyzed and considered. For the purposes of this paper, three specific dimensions will be considered in how Taken fits into, or diverges from, the action genre: characterization of race/ethnicity,
An epic style, with an intensely personal focus, Squalevella’s “Like Water For Chocolate” narrates the story of Tita De La Garza, a daughter, youngest in her a family living in Mexico. Each chapter of the story begins with a recipe. The author describes Tita’s sensitivity to onions. She uses the relationship between food and body as a means of communication and transferal in this novel. Firstly, the kitchen is a site of birth, heritage, and nourishment which provides a significant link between body and food. Throughout the novel, Tita uses food to convey her emotions to others. In one dish, she communicates her longing and sadness to Rosaura and Pedro’s wedding guests. Passion and emotion in this context are used to show the basic needs of the body. The structure of the physical work relies mostly on food which helps to narrate and put into focus the memories and lives of the De la Garza family. Setting the primary thesis of the book as “food and body”, Squalevella clearly depicts the kitchen as a place where children are born, fed, and raised, and the family food recipes and stories are passed down to future generations.