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Anthro of LA
Latin American Identity - Midterm
19
Anthropology
Undergraduate 3
10/29/2011

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Term
Why does it matter how many people lived in the Americas before the conquest?
Definition
The idea of the pristine myth - that the Americas were an untouched virgin land. Makes conquest seem nastier
- idea that free market/development were not Europe's gift to the Americas,
- Columbian exchange
- environmental policies today
Term
Why does it matter if there were significant human interventions in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans, or not?
Definition
-them shaping and controlling their environment gives permission to people today to do it (in eyes of environmentalists)
-indians survived by exploiting their environments
-they changed their environments thru fires, terra preta creation
Term
Explain how divination, omens, and prophecies ordered the Mesoamerican cosmos.
Definition
"A person's life was fated from the moment of birth". unlikely events were interpreted as omens or prophecies, ex) omens in the florentine codex before the arrival of cortes
Term
according to the aztecs, why should a sacrificial victim or a soldier not be overcome by despair?
Definition
-must contribute to the order of their world
-they are fulfilling the role preordained to them
-idea of collective
Term
Todorov distinguishes between two forms of communication. Explain how in privileging the human-world type the aztecs weren't able to use human-human communication to defend themselves.
Definition
Moctezume ceased to speak, admitted failure. He went mute.
Term
Why did you think La Malinche was esteemed by SPanish conquistares, Cholulans, and Aztecs alike?
Definition
-loyal follower of Spanish
-crucial link between the two worlds
-Native's only way of communicating with the spanish, she was a person you'd want on your side (both sides wanted her)
Term
what did the spanish do that contributed to their victory, what did the tlaxcalans, cholulans and aztecs themselves do that contributed to the defeat of the aztecs?
Definition
The spanish allied with the other tribes, cortes promised to make them rich. moctezuma couldn't make up his mind and was a disadvantage.
Term
what impresses and what disgusts diaz del castillo in tenochtital?
Definition
impressed: wealth, grandeur, genorosity, jewels, gold, food, advanced urban planning, marketplace, causeways, bridges
disgusts: idol worshipping, human sacrifice, cannibalism, blood stained temples
Term
what specifically done diaz's reaction tell us about the spanish?
Definition
shock that spanish felt, thought to be 'wild,' not expected. impressed, compares it to spanish cities, use their standards as highest standards. ethnocentric
-only impressed by materialistic things, not art
-on mission: they are different, make ppl Christian
Term
"intransigence always defeats tolerance" explain.
Definition
monotheism of christianity prevents the spaniards from compromising in any way
-while aztecs were flexible and willing to incorporate the image of the christian god, spanish condemned multiple representations of god
-binaries oversimplify. not so simple
Term
cortes was a master of manipulation thru language, information, and spectacle. examples.
Definition
cortes = first to have political and historical consciousness
-exploitation of the native story of quetzalcoatl and his return
-never show dead horses
-charts and compass = magic
-massive weapons for show
-cempoala and tax-collectors
-bilingual pageboy spy
-material reward for info
Term
Why Alvarado's massacre puts in relief the effectiveness of Cortes
Definition
-Cortes's genius was that he was able to manipulate so avoided violence. Cortes manipulates Moctezuma so that he believes Cortes didnt have any part in it.
-made it so the aztecs lived in fear, didn't know who to trust anymore
-cortes had tried to keep a positive image
Term
the americas were continually recreated as pristine nature, edenic, pastoral. explain the principle characteristics of this ideological representation. what purpose did it serve?
Definition
New world as virgin landscape, full of bountiful resources, ripe and ready for the taking. managed to leave people out of descriptions (VOn humboldt)
-erased histories of people who lived there already
Term
the capitalist vanguard recreated the americas as backward and neglected. give the fullest critique possible of this representation
Definition
they saw unexploited nature as "troubling or ugly" and a sign of need for european intervention. idea of indigenous populations as lazy. remember: chinampas, Incas terracing, tenochtitlan.
-sought to industrialize America
Term
how are the representations of the americas elaborated by teh social exploratresses different than the former two?
Definition
the rejection of sentimentality and romanticism in both SE & CV
-CV = linear, conquest, goal directed narrative. reactive, judgmental
-SE = interprative cetripetal analytical approach
-"Since they were free of any religious, royal, or entrepreneurial interests they were able to view American from a perspective that did not involve regional potential or productivity but rather independent social empowerment
-role is empathetic rather than paternalistic, her intent is not to intervene
-idea of self-awareness, bourgeois women trend
-wrote about political events, focus on gaining knowledge
Term
Why do modern anthros take more from SE?
Definition
-gain knowledge
-self-awareness
-non-intervening
-free of religious or royal or entrepreneurial interests
Term
how does print capitalism come about?
Definition
1) print capitalism: vernacular bible, national novels, newspapers
2)education
3) pilgrimage and migration
4) class legitimacy
5) legitimacy of state power
Term
Bolivar believes America to be abyss of abomination. explain
Definition
-no good faith, treaties = scraps of paper, nothing taken seriously
-everything is decided by force or bribery
-only corrupt leaders
-seeks something "worthy of our people"
Term
describe the historical conflict between latins and anglo-saxons as vasconcelos presented.
Definition
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