Blog for Week of April 7th

 I enjoyed reading the first part about Rigoberta Menchu this week because it was something completely new for me to read about and enjoy. Something that I noticed in the book that kind of surprised me was how Menchu portrayed her culture to her readers. Although this sounds kind of obvious, Menchu was telling her own story as a Latin American woman. When I have learned about indigenous cultures or even Native American cultures here in the United States, I feel like many resources haven't accurately portrayed many aspects of history. After reading the first part of, Rigoberta Menchu, I was surprised to see how Menchu viewed her own culture and other cultures as well. Compared to what I have learned in history, Menchu is very honest and realistic whereas other resources now feel almost fake in a way. It's hard to describe how I feel, but this book has helped me better understand how America and Europe have influenced how we view Latin America sometimes even more than Latin America itself. It would probably make more sense by providing an example. One instance of this was how Menchu accepted Catholicism as a compliment to her Quiche traditions and religious practices. I had always been under the impression that indigenous Latin American populations or even Native American populations stuck with their traditions or completely changed their religion to some form of European-influenced Christianity. For Menchu, this was far from the truth as she accepted both forms of religion. Furthermore, Menchu had many unique and personal traditions based on her community. Menchu described many of these traditions and explained in detail why she participated in them. Previously in studying history, I feel like I've never seen the personal indigenous viewpoint that Menchu has provided. In the United States, Native Americans are constantly portrayed as being submissive to European religion and traditions. Additionally, native traditions are implied to be ridiculous or out of place; however, Menchu unintentionally points out many similarities to Native American culture based on religion and respecting tradition. The way that Menchu explains her lifestyle makes a lot of sense, and it makes me question how Native American history and tradition are taught in the United States. 

Comments

  1. Médar SerrataApril 17, 2022 at 12:25 PM

    Thank you for your post, Ben. I am glad you appreciate Rigoberta Menchú’s perspective and the way she describes her indigenous culture. I believe she provides a great example of what the concept of transculturation means. We had seen this concept before, in our discussion of Alejo Carpentier’s El reino de este mundo, but Menchú’s account of her personal relationship with Christianity makes it accessible in a way that Carpentier’s baroque language could not.

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