Literature Review #5

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Citation:

Joann Furlow Allen. “SEEKING SAFE SISTERS: SANDRA CISNEROS’S USE OF THE SOURCE OF THE MYTH LA LLORONA AS SISTER FIGURE.” Journal of Intercultural Disciplines, vol. 7, National Association of African American Studies, 2007, p. 9–.

Summary:

Joann Furlow Allen's article "Seeking Safe Sisters" describes the overall narrative of the Latin Woman. In this article, Furlow Allen provides insight on the Mexican American writer, Sandra Cisneros in order to gain a perspective of the life of a Chicana. Within the article there is a common theme of using La Llorona as a sister that is relevant in the life of a Latin female through ideas such as "La Gritona" (a more positive interpretation of La Llorona's cry). To further positively influence La Llorona's image, there is discussion on the lack of a positive relationship between Latin women themselves.

Author: Joann Furlow Allen

Dr. Joann Furlow Allen is an English professor at Oral Roberts University who works specifically in the English and Modern Language Department. She has a background speaking at conferences and giving lectures pertaining to women of color and diversity in regards to many cultures. She acquired a PhD specifically in English Literature relating to African American and Latin-American literature. 

Link to Bio:  

Key Terms:

Sisterhood: a community of women, whether related or with a common similarity or interest. Serves as a support system.

Wail: a high pitched cry of pain or heavy emotion

Three Quotes:

"There is, therefore, a tendency for women in patriarchal cultures to internalize their oppression instead of sharing the load with other women or working together to lighten it" (Furlow Allen 9).

"Between females and males and protesting their demotion to a lesser status, their denigration. Like La Llorona, the Indian woman’s only means of protest was wailing” (Furlow Allen 15).

"Cisneros also deconstructs the patriarchal mythmaking that portrays Llorona as the quintessential vapid female by making her part of a supportive female community or sisterhood" (Furlow Allen 18).

Value:

This article has significant value to my research because we are opened to the pivotal components of the Latin Woman. Beyond the obedience the Latin woman presents to her husband/male counterpart, we are given insight to the negative relationship between women themselves. We see a first hand example of transforming La Llorona into a companion due to such reasons which ultimately further enriches the components of my paper.

Argument and CounterArgument

 

Within my overall paper, my main point revolves around the positive and negative perspectives of the folklore figure, La Llorona. My overall question revolved around how a positive transformation of La Llorona can possibly create changes within society as well as effect women. Slowly I came to the conclusion that La Llorona works as a symbolic figure for proactive action in regards to bringing down social norms when specifically relating to issues of the oppressed, specifically women. 

When it came to finding a counter argument, I had an idea that it was going to revolve around the oppressive nature of La Llorona's original reputation. However something I did not expect to find came from a dissertation by Beth Lee-Herbert titled, "The Fertile Abyss: La Llorona, La Malinche, and the Role of the Terrible Mother Archetype in Transcending Oppression". Herbert expresses an interesting concept known as Transcendent function, which expresses, "Not relieving the unbearable tension with repetitive action allows the natural capacity for healing to arise from the unconscious of the psyche"  (Lee-Herbert 33). (this concept originated from Carl Jung). Lee-Herbert uses La Llorona as an example of someone who does not let go of her guilt thus leading her to continue with her same evil actions. I find this to be significantly interesting considering the fact that throughout most of my sources, we see literary and film representations that demonstrate La Llorona actively working against oppressors. Does it all relate back to her overall negative reputation? This is relevant for future interpretations of La Llorona because there are two completely opposite spectrums.

Works Cited:

Lee-Herbert, Beth. The Fertile Abyss: La Llorona, La Malinche, and the Role of the Terrible Mother Archetype in Transcending Oppression. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2018.

Theoretical Frame

                   

Coming up with a theoretical frame for my paper took time as it was difficult to try to combine the cultural ideas of La Llorona into a specific topic. Ultimately, the key words that I narrowed down to were the words "feminism" and "transformation". Both of these words combined with helpful terms such as "control device" and "Latin Woman" come to help build the research paper on the basis that through her transformation, La Llorona has become a source of symbolism that challenges the social norm by promoting proactive changes in the perspective of individuals. This specifically correlates to the ideas that La Llorona is not just a woman who takes children. Ideas about her can start changing. I specifically include a quote from Fernando Gomez's piece to fully explore more into the act of feminism and the correlation to the Latin woman by specifically identifying that, "Tradition has written her as a destructive and malevolent ancestral figure that has transgressed the indisputable role of the Latin woman" (Gomez 111). Setting this idea off into an important basis for the paper allows me to further explore this idea of a transformation. When I further look into a piece from Larissa Mercado-Lopez "From Lost Woman to Third Space Mestiza Maternal Subject: La Llorona as a Metaphor of Transformation", I find that through the transformation of metaphors, women, are allowed to further explore their identities. These terms allow me to fully grasp on the changes of La Llorona while at the same time exploring the reasons as to why each is so important.

Literature Review #4

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Author: Larissa Mercado-Lopez

Citation:

C. Herrera, L.M. Mercado-Lopez (eds.), (Re)mapping the Latina/o Literary Landscape, DOI 10.1057 / 978-1-349-94901-4_13

Summary:

Larissa Mercado-Lopez's piece "From Lost Woman to Third Space Mestiza Maternal Subject: La Llorona as a Metaphor of Transformation" discusses the importance of metaphors in regards to La Llorona through the use of Gloria Anzaldua's interpretations of the figure. Within the piece, Mercado-Lopez discusses the use of finding female identities. Specifically there is a discussion on the Latina mother as we come to learn more about the negative interpretations La Llorona encourages in regards to overall patriarchal ideals.

Author:

Larissa Mercado-Lopez is an Associates Professor at the University of California in Fresno. She is a professor of Women's Studies. She teaches a variety of topics ranging from immigration to Latina Health, and included within the topics she teaches, is the topic of Latina Feminism. In regards to her research, Chicana Feminism is a significant topic she focuses on. Dr. Mercado-Lopez has a PhD in English and Latina Literature.

Link to Full Bio: Larissa Mercado-Lopez

Key Terms:

Metaphors: a comparison of an object that is symbolic of something else/ has different meanings, while still being unrelated to the original object of comparison.

Motherhood: the lifestyle women take part in that particularly includes taking care of children. (Usually has a traditional role)

Three Quotes:

"The language of invasion, conquest, and violence clearly attempts to vilify Mexican women, their sexuality, their wombs, and even their children" (Mercado-Lopez 214).

"La Llorona was re-envisioned by Anzaldua as a figure that compelled Chicanas to find voice through writing and theorizing" (Mercado-Lopez 218).

“Metaphors in Chicana studies also function as linguistic spaces in which decolonizing theories, methodologies, and paradigms can be produced” (Mercado-Lopez 210)

Value:

This article is of significant value for my paper because here is where we get significant interpretations of the word " transformation" in order to describe La Llorona. Within this article we not only dive into the literary implications of metaphors and how important La Llorona truly is as a symbol, but we also see talks of indigenous concerns which overall comes to not only highlight the typical "Latin Woman" more. It also highlights the negative outcomes of what a negative interpretation of La Llorona could entail. 

Case: La Llorona (2020 Film)

 

For my case, I decided to utilize Guatemalan film maker Jayro Bustamante's 2020 film "La Llorona". The film of La Llorona tells the story of a Guatemalan general who is under trail for a mass genocide of Guatemala's citizens, more specifically Indigenous groups. La Llorona comes to be our unexpected hero as we see her(represented through one of the general's maids), work her way into haunting the general for his evil doings while at the same time, working to garner sympathy from the General's family whom of which have yet to admit their family member's wrong doings. This film is based off of true events in the 1980s with the villainous General named Enrique Monteverde being based off of the real dictator Efrain Rios Montt. 

What made this film significant for my paper was the fact that we had the opportunity to see La Llorona in a heroine role, regardless of her unfortunate background. This film in regards towards feminism and indigenous culture provides details based on the actions of La Llorona herself. Jaryo Bustamante describes his intentions, "I wanted to transform La Llorona's sexist leanings and remove the idea that she weeps because a man left her" (La Llorona is more Horrifying than Ever in Jayro Bustamante's Subversive Retelling). Bustamante enthralls viewers to such ideas, with La Llornoa's powerful connection to the General's wife through the form of dreams. The General's wife becomes a visible representation of the traditional "Latin Woman", while at the same time, she becomes the woman who breaks the mold. 

Works Cited:

La Llorona. Dir. Jayro Bustamante.La Casa de las Producciones, 2020. Shutter. Web. 28 March 2021. Watch La Llorona | Prime Video (amazon.com)

Burstein, Sergio. “'La Llorona' Is More Horrifying than Ever in Jayro Bustamante's Subversive Retelling.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2021, www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-03-09/la-llorona-jayro-bustamante-subversive-retelling.

Visual

 

This is an image included in my presentation that in fact, I specifically chose for the cover of the presentation. Overall, the major issue that I have been trying to discuss within my overall paper is the negative interpretations of La Llorona as a myth within society and the negative effects such an interpretation tells. Considering I have been trying to talk about the importance of a positive interpretation of La Llorona, something that I found significant about this image is the fact that even though we see La Llorona in her usual negative visualization, in this image we see her holding a baby. She is not taking the baby, she is cradling the baby. Throughout my presentation, I made it a point to emphasize the negative images about her because it shows first hand how La Llorona is interpreted. Having her in this image with a baby, while it may be reminiscent of the children she killed, it also opens her to womanhood as a mother, which then allows me to further discuss the value La Llorona has within feminism. 

Revised Research Question

Question:

How can the folklore figure, La Llorona, transcend positive lessons into modern issues today? What solutions or reflections does this figure provide? What effects does La Llorona have on women? 

                                                                        Works Cited

Delgado, Richard, and Jean Stefancic. “Lessons From Mexican Folklore: An Essay on U.S.                  Immigration Policy, Child Separation, and La Llorona.” University of Pittsburgh Law Review, vol. 81,   no. 2, University of Pittsburgh, 2019, p. 287–, doi:10.5195/lawreview.2019.675

Hall, Anne-Marie. “Keeping La Llorona Alive in the Shadow of Cortés: What an Examination of Literacy in Two Mexican Schools Can Teach U.S. Educators.” Bilingual Research Journal, vol. 30, no. 2, Taylor & Francis Group, 2006, pp. 385–406, doi:10.1080/15235882.2006.10162882.

Joann Furlow Allen. “SEEKING SAFE SISTERS: SANDRA CISNEROS’S USE OF THE SOURCE OF THE MYTH LA LLORONA AS SISTER FIGURE.” Journal of Intercultural Disciplines, vol. 7, National Association of African American Studies, 2007, p. 9–.

Lee-Herbert, Beth. The Fertile Abyss: La Llorona, La Malinche, and the Role of the Terrible Mother Archetype in Transcending Oppression. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2018.

Luis fernando Gómez R. “Cleófilas and La Llorona: Latin Heroines Against Patriarchal Marginalisation in ‘El Arroyo de La Llorona’, a Short Story by Sandra Cisneros.” Universitas Humanística, vol. 74, no. 74, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 2012, pp. 98–119.

Michael T. Taussig. The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America. The University of North Carolina Press, 2010, doi:10.5149/9780807898413_taussig.

Literature Review #3

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Authors:

The author of this article, Luis Fernando Gomez R., is a professor and researcher at the National Pedagogic University of Colombia. Through his work as a researcher and as a professor of English as a foreign language, he has garnered experience in Intercultural competence and incorporation of literature into education, as well as many other areas.

Link: Luis Fernando Gomez

Citation:

Luis fernando Gómez R. “Cleófilas and La Llorona: Latin Heroines Against Patriarchal Marginalisation in ‘El Arroyo de La Llorona’, a Short Story by Sandra Cisneros.” Universitas Humanística, vol. 74, no. 74, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 2012, pp. 98–119.

Link: Cleofilas and La Llorona

Summary:

The article “Cleófilas and La Llorona: Latin Heroines Against Patriarchal Marginalisation in ‘El Arroyo de La Llorona’, a Short Story by Sandra Cisneros.” examines author Sandra Cisneros' character named Cleófilas. Known to dislike her life as a wife to an abusive husband, Cleofilas comes to be an example of the product of patriarchal traditions within culture. Gomez comes to analyze the eventual association Cleofilas makes to La Llorona through the negative connotations La Llorona represents within society (revenge). "The figure of La Llorona is used as a way to explore the marginal conditions of the Latin woman" (Gomez 99). Through an overall analysis of the historical context of La Llorona, Gomez is able to justify Cleofilas connection to the figure as a symbol of searching for freedom.

Key Terms:

Patriarchy: a culture/government in which men hold all power and women are left inferior to their counterparts.

Romanticism: in the article's case, romanticism here means to legitimize the inferiority women face

Three Quotes:

1. "La Llorona es acusada y maldecida por haber infringido las normas establecidas de su cultura" (Gomez 112).

Translation: "La Llorona is accused and ... for having infringed the norms her culture established" (Gomez 112).

2. "La tradición la ha descrito como una figura ancestral malvada y destructiva, quien ha trasgredido el indiscutible papel establecido de la mujer latina" (Gomez 111).

Translation: "Tradition has written her as a destructive and malevolent ancestral figure that has transgressed the indisputable role of the Latin woman" (Gomez 111).

3. "El hombre logra imponer su autoridad como la única legítima porque es considerado como el dueño de todos los instrumentos de poder" (Gomez 100)

Translation: " The man is able to achieve his goal of being considered the only legitimate authority because he is the owner of all sources of power" (Gomez 100).

Note: All translations were made by me.

Value:

This article holds significant value for my research because as an analysis of La Llorona's use in a short story, we are given the social realities of patriarchy, which is a relevant social issue that I can develop in research. Expanding on the vengeful perspective of La Llorona's lesson, the article provides another paradigm to build on. The article provides a positive view of La Llorona from the already negative perspective she represents.

Research Proposal

 

Working Title: How La Llorona and Folklore Follows Us Beyond Bed Time

Topic Description:

I will explore Latin American folklore figures, more specifically la Llorona. La Llorona, who is a legendary figure in Latin American culture is generally a figure of darkness that roams the night mourning for her dead children, whom she drowned in a lake. Most commonly seen as a symbol of grief and revenge (in one case, towards her unfaithful husband), the story of La Llorona has ingrained itself in the indigenous culture of various people. I would like to focus on how La Llorona ultimately continues to transcend various generations through historical components such as colonialism and prevalent events of today’s society. Upon focusing on such a figure, I will discuss the significance La Llorona ultimately has on social issues.

Research Question:

How can folklore figures such as La Llorona and the lessons of their stories transcend to modern issues in today’s society? What solutions or reflections does this figure provide? What effects does La Llorona have on people?

Theoretical Frame(s):

Upon unraveling the overall story of La Llorona, it is important to highlight that upon developing further information, the history of colonialism and indigenous influence in Latin America cannot go undiscussed. Myths of these indigenous influences establish themselves significantly in the lives of many individuals through disciplines. Anne-Marie Hall demonstrates such an example when, “ Rather the cultural artifacts of myth and legend become the more powerful message systems as they occur again and again in the curriculum” (Hall 386). Such an example is in regard to student education, which through her study, Hall observes is heavily more practiced through the inclusion of myths and legends, specifically in more rural areas of Mexico. One must also consider however that indigenous influence and colonialism are heavily related. One (colonialism) causing the erasure of the other (indigenous influence). 

Case(s) or Examples:

Relating to the direct influence on children and more particularly a child’s education, Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic’s article, “Lessons From Mexican Folklore: An Essay on  U.S. Immigration Policy, Child Separation, and La Llorona.” discusses La Llorona in a symbolic format towards U.S. former president Donald Trump. Calling him La Llorona due to child separation laws, Delgado highlights that La Llorona is supposed to represent an educative symbol for children in a more personal perspective. While La Llorona is used in a negative comparison, such a comparison allows one to visualize that a Llorona can exist, and the matters to stop it and disobey it can be heavily dependent on its origins.Can the lessons of La Llorona literally translate to actual preventative action?

Anne-Marie Hall’s study titled, “Keeping La Llorona Alive in the Shadow of Cortés: What an Examination of Literacy in Two Mexican Schools Can Teach U.S. Educators”, focuses on the prevalent social issue that is education by highlighting the disparities in rural and urban primary schools in Mexico. Directly relating such events to “Indeginous influence”, Hall is able to provide instances in which La Llorona proves to be a substantial part of some disparities within certain regions due to colonial erasure of indigenous influence. Hall provides an example of such ideas, “The Spanish colonizers misread these early texts as merely decorative and erroneously called them “paintings”” (Hall 392-393). Thus began the rupture between the communicative value of the pictograph and its artistic merit. Thus upon this connection, my research will likely directly consider the influence folktales has on children in their learning abilities directly within certain systems.

   Working Bibliography:

1.Delgado, Richard, and Jean Stefancic. “Lessons From Mexican Folklore: An Essay on  U.S. Immigration Policy, Child Separation, and La Llorona.” University of Pittsburgh Law Review, vol. 81, no. 2, University of Pittsburgh, 2019, p. 287–, doi:10.5195/lawreview.2019.675.

2.  Hall, Anne-Marie. “Keeping La Llorona Alive in the Shadow of Cortés: What an Examination of Literacy in Two Mexican Schools Can Teach U.S. Educators.” Bilingual Research Journal, vol. 30, no. 2, Taylor & Francis Group, 2006, pp. 385–406, doi:10.1080/15235882.2006.10162882.

3. Lee-Herbert, Beth. The Fertile Abyss: La Llorona, La Malinche, and the Role of the Terrible Mother Archetype in Transcending Oppression. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2018.

4.  Luis fernando Gómez R. “Cleófilas and La Llorona: Latin Heroines Against Patriarchal Marginalisation in ‘El Arroyo de La Llorona’, a Short Story by Sandra Cisneros.” Universitas Humanística, vol. 74, no. 74, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 2012, pp. 98–119.

5.   Michael T. Taussig. The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America. The University of North Carolina Press, 2010, doi:10.5149/9780807898413_taussig.

Literature Review #2: Lessons from Mexican Folklore... Child Separation and La Llorona

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                                                                      Richard Delgado

Summary:

Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic's article titled, 'Lessons From Mexican Folklore: An Essay on U.S. Immigration Policy, Child Separation, and La Llorona", highlights some of the more current social issues in today's world. Directly within the context of the folklore that is La Llorona, Delgado and Stefancic quickly call previous president Donald Trump the modern day Llorona due to his direct involvement with child separation at the U.S. Mexican border. With such a heavy comparison, Delgado and Stefancic give an overview of some of the issues in regards to child separation in history. Through the discussion of Indigenous and Conventional Remedies (Delgado, Stefancic 308), there is farther emphasize towards the relevance of indigenous culture within the motives of child separation.

Citation:

Delgado, Richard, and Jean Stefancic. “Lessons From Mexican Folklore: An Essay on  U.S. Immigration Policy, Child Separation, and La Llorona.” University of Pittsburgh Law Review, vol. 81, no. 2, University of Pittsburgh, 2019, p. 287–, doi:10.5195/lawreview.2019.675.

Link: Lessons From Mexican Folklore

Author:

Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic are coauthors for this article. Both authors are affiliated with The University of Alabama, more specifically, the school of Law. Teaching on topics such as social change and race, respectively, both Delgado and Stefancic have various works published, in total Delgado having around 200 articles and twenty books while Stefancic has fifty articles and fifteen books (Alabama Law: Faculty). Overall, both share expertise on prevalent social issues that affect today's world through a more political standpoint, which greater connects to La Llorona's presence in society.

Sources:

Richard_Delgado

Jean_Stefancic

Key Terms:

Indigenous: original natives to a certain area of land.

Indigenous Remedies: Solutions to issues that revolve around a more cultural basis (sometimes even more mythical approaches).

Conventional Remedies: Literal modern forward solutions. (Ex. Talking to gov. leaders)

Quotes:

"Child psychologists recognize the myth as a control device and a means of exercising authority over children who might otherwise be tempted to stray or misbehave" (Delgado, Stefancic 291).

"Institutions known as residential schools, run by churches through government partnerships, with a view to assimilating indigenous children into white Canadian society" (Delgado, Stefancic 304).

"Instead, we should encourage and cloak ourselves in television shows celebrating and broadcasting immigrants, in books telling their stories, and in policies to encourage the equitable exchange of cultural ideas" (Delgado, Stefancic 313).

Value:

Ultimately, this article provides pivotal information for my research as it clearly emphasizes some of today's more prevalent issues when in regards to La Llorona. The simple comparison between Trump and La Llorona provides a visualization towards the fact that La Llorona transcends to some of the more significant political issues in the world. It also shows that the very culture in which such folklores come from play a significant part into helping find a better solution for today's issues. This ultimately gives La Llorona's transcendence even more meaning.

Literature Review #1: Keeping La Llorona Alive

Visual:

Citation:

Hall, Anne-Marie. “Keeping La Llorona Alive in the Shadow of Cortés: What an Examination of Literacy in Two Mexican Schools Can Teach U.S. Educators.” Bilingual Research Journal, vol. 30, no. 2, Taylor & Francis Group, 2006, pp. 385–406, doi:10.1080/15235882.2006.10162882.

 Link:Keeping La Llorona Alive

Summary: 

Anne-Marie Hall's study titled "Keeping La Llorona Alive in the Shadows of Corte: What an Examination of Literacy in Two Mexican Schools can Teach U.S. Educators.", approaches folklore and more specifically La Llorona when in regards to observing two Mexican schools located in the region of Oaxaca. While observing both urban and rural schools, Hall is able to identify a significant pattern when it comes to students' literacy skills. Hall emphasizes that, "As I talked to the children in these schools and read their writing... I realized that these ancient beliefs and customs are, in the words of Paz (1985) “still in existence beneath Western forms" (Hall 393). Furthermore, in addition to the collection to the observations on students' writings, Hall considers the differences between North and Southern Mexico when in regards to educational levels, emphasizing on the effects of colonization when describing "Pre Conquest" and various indigenous groups. However regardless of such differences, Hall as well comes to emphasize that Southern Mexico's schooling was where "the ancient and modern resided side by side" (Hall 401). Hall demonstrates the ultimate meaning of myths in Mexican culture.

Author:

Anne-Marie Hall is the author of "Keeping La Llorona Alive in the Shadows of Corte: What an Examination of Literacy in Two Mexican Schools can Teach U.S. Educators." Anne Marie Hall has worked within the University of Arizona.

Key Terms:

"Pre-Conquest": the time in Mexico/Latin America prior to colonization.

"Myths": The stories upheld within cultures that teach life lessons

Quotes:

"And in Mexico, the story overlaps with the Aztec earthcreation goddess Chihuacoatl, and La Malinche, a proper name stemming from Malinalli, the “native woman said to be the translator and lover to Spanish conqueror Hernán Cortés” (Hall 394).

"The Spanish colonizers misread these early texts as merely decorative and erroneously called them “paintings” (p. 12). Thus began the rupture between the communicative value of the pictograph and its artistic merit" (Hall 392-393).

" Barbarism sacrifices men to the myths, while we desire a civilization that places myths in the service of men. (p. 198)" (Hall 395).

Value:

This article on this particular study helps me in my research in emphasizing the significance of folklores and La Llorona due to the significance of the findings. Having found an example in which myths intercept an education system this significantly implies that there are more deeper situations in which La Llorona and other myths could emphasize their lessons. If it infiltrates education, then what other issues are there that one might not expect?

Research Question

As of now, my main Research Question has developed to:

How can folklore figures and the lessons of their stories transcend to modern social issues in today’s society? Can figures such as La Llorona from Latin America provide logical reasoning to such conflicts?

Sources:

Delgado, Richard, and Jean Stefancic. “Lessons From Mexican Folklore: An Essay on  U.S.                                Immigration Policy, Child Separation, and La Llorona.” University of Pittsburgh Law Review,                 vol. 81, no. 2, University of Pittsburgh, 2019, p. 287–, doi:10.5195/lawreview.2019.675.

Hall, Anne-Marie. “Keeping La Llorona Alive in the Shadow of Cortés: What an Examination of                         Literacy in Two Mexican Schools Can Teach U.S. Educators.” Bilingual Research Journal, vol.             30, no. 2, Taylor & Francis Group, 2006, pp. 385–406, doi:10.1080/15235882.2006.10162882.

Luis fernando Gómez R. “Cleófilas and La Llorona: Latin Heroines Against Patriarchal Marginalisation         in ‘El Arroyo de La Llorona’, a Short Story by Sandra Cisneros.” Universitas Humanística, vol.             74, no. 74, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 2012, pp. 98–119.

Michael T. Taussig. The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America. The University of North             Carolina Press, 2010, doi:10.5149/9780807898413_taussig.

Blog Post #2

 As of right now, it seems as though I am keeping to my original topic of learning about folklores and other stories that are born out of various cultures. However, I believe there has been a slight shift in my topic as I have been opened to exploring the specific lessons folklores teach us, more specifically motives. What are the issues one has with specific people? Is there something that needs an explanation? I found this to be an interesting take on the concept because it almost seems too obvious. When we hear about stories we seems to think about the obvious outcomes, but how much do we truly dive in? I still have not completely let go of wanting to see the comparisons between cultural stories, but there is definitely a door for more. 

When it came for searching, some key words were "la Llorona", "myths", "folklores transcending cultures". While these key words seem to be specific, I have to admit that there were moments where I definitely experienced difficulty looking for information, especially because there seemed to be minimal work of folklores in a scholarly context.

When on YouTube, I was able to find a video from the channel Crash Course that provided some mythology to South America, more specifically, those of the earliest of natives. In the video it was described that Gods flooded the land. This of course I find to be vital information because it gives insights to religion, considering there is a sign of a higher being. https://youtu.be/GrTXHeSHGSE

Later on, I was able to find an article that provided me with some insight in a more modern view. Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, described Donald Trump's actions towards the separation of kids at the U.S. Mexican Border by comparing him to "La Llorona". I find it interesting because ultimately a figure that so desperately scared children, is ultimately the reality of the children who were caught in today's unfortunate situation. https://bit.ly/3cUA06n

A book titled "The Devil and Commodity Fetishism in South America" by Michael T. Taussig as well seems interesting considering it goes into depth about salves in South America. I have only read fragments, but it seems like a valuable read as I am able to see more of the inhabitants of those lands. Source Provided by: Professor Goeller

Topic Ideas

               When I was younger I used to be afraid of the creatures and mythological characters that would roam around me, regardless of no matter how much I wanted to pretend I didn't believe such creatures existed. Growing up in a Hispanic/Latino family, stories were never not told. The legend of the Chupacabra, the creature that roamed sucking out the blood of farm animals is a common one. How about one of the most famous myths of all? The legend of La Llorona, The Weeping Woman. A legend such as this one never fails to send shivers down my spine. Do these creatures have more in common than one would think? 

       

              I believe it to be interesting to try to understand how these legends and myths transcend to other cultures. The aforementioned myths are very popular in Latin America, but what about ones in other places of the world. Asia? Europe? What are the commonalities. For my topic I would find it interesting to look at the stories of these myths. What brings them together? What sets them apart?