In addition to this Chicano Gothic class, I am currently enrolled in a Latino Religion and Spirituality class as well as a History of Latin America Class that focuses specifically on the Aztec’s to Spanish Conquest. While reading “Bless Me Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya I couldn’t help but draw conclusions between the novel, specifically Antonio’s struggle to find an identity and what I was learning about in my other classes, that being the struggle of the Indigenous people of Mexico, the Mexica, after the arrival of the Spanish and their struggle to reformulate their identity. I was able to find an article in which the author draws a similar conclusion. In this article the author writes “the significance of the golden carp in Aztec myth based in the creation stories in the time predating the various ages of human in-habitation” (Hunt 189). I found the correlation between Antonio’s struggle to find an Identity and the struggle of the indigenous relatable because Antonio is struggling to find a religion from the religions present in his life, The ancient religion of Ultima, the currandera, the worship of the Land that his father seems to possess because it is in the open spaces of the llano on his horse that Antonio’s father seems to find peace, and finally there is Catholicism that his mother thrust upon him. This struggle is shared between Antonio and the indigenousness people of Mexico. In a book I read for another class this semester, titled “Christianity of Latin America: A History” the authors comment on the way the conquerors used “metaphors and images familiar in the Americas… as tools for introducing “new” Old World (European) ideas”(Gonzalez 55). But even when this mixing of cultures was attempted there were still levels of resistance. Even when the indigenous did accept the religion of the Europeans, they tended to envision these saints and other important figures in their own image, “under the pretense of devotion to a new Christian image, indigenous peoples continued old religious practices” (Gonzalez 59). Given this little bit of research I have already conducted, could the argument be made that Antonio is representative of the indigenous people and their shared struggle was a commentary made by Anaya as a way of constructing a social criticism on the thrusting upon of Old World religion of the Europeans?
Works Cited:
Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1972. Print.
González, Ondina E., and Justo L. González. Christianity in Latin America: A History. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2008. Print.
Hunt, Alex. “In Search of Anaya’s Carp: Mapping Ecological Consciousness and Chicano Myth.” Classics in Envornmental Literature (n.d.): 179-206. Web. <http://www.academia.edu/806361/In_Search_of_Anayas_Carp_Mapping_Ecological_Consciousness_and_Chicano_Myth>.
This was an interesting observation. I could not help but think about how the Aztec’s struggle for religious identity parallels the Chicano struggle for cultural identity. Both groups, Aztecs and Chicanos, are trying to incorporate new and old to create a unique experience. This is not uncommon in history. For Antonio the struggle of finding religious identity is also an attempt to balance the old and the new. Christianity has always been a staple in his life but when he is introduced to the powers of Ultima and the Golden Carp suddenly the beliefs of the past come into question. Just like the Aztecs, Antonio has to figure out how to incorporate into his beliefs the traditional religion of his family to the new and exciting religious influences.
I definitely agree with the connection you made between Antonio’s struggle to pledge himself to one specific religion and the forced conversion of indigenous American people to Christianity. It is saddening to realize that the conflict of a little boy can be traced back to centuries of brutal assimilation, abuse of power and annihilation of native culture. The Christianization of the Americas fulfilled a convenient political agenda of suppression as well as a spiritual purpose. Deprived of their religious guidance, people can more easily be molded into a community restrained by its own submissiveness and unable to resist that imposed change. I do not mean to criticize the religion the conquistadores brought but I do believe that the institution associated with the catholic beliefs was perhaps one of the most effective evils the Spanish possessed.
Similarly to the natives, Ultima is able to embrace both dogmas and sees them as equal powers and never as fighting entities. The indigenous people were able to recognize themselves in the figure of Guadalupe, a virgin who resembled them. Therefore, ultimately there was a marriage of this two forms of religiosity but it is still a pity that it had to happen in such a unnatural and destructive way.
This book “The Virgin of The Andes” also address this theme of assimilation, tracing the different ways in which the Spanish and native religiosities were fused through artistic representation and iconography. It focuses on the South American region of the Andes which demonstrates the vast reach of this problematic issue of Latin spirituality after the colonization. I read passages for an Art History class and it was pretty interesting.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Virgin-Andes-Ritual-Colonial/dp/0962851485
Rudolfo Anaya renders a main theme that is catered throughout the novel Bless me Ulitma. The predominate theme that serves is the sense of confusion which is influenced by conflicting cultures.
Rudolfo Anaya opens the novel as he introduces the main character named Antonio. Throughout the novel, Antonio struggles to find his identity and is in quest for a moral independence. As a young child, Antonio’s mind is full of question that he desires to be answered. Questions that touch upon evil, truth, and forgiveness hinder him from living a life that a typical child would live.
In essence, Antonio character is in a battle of tug-a-war as he strives to balance a life that is influenced by Catholic religiosity, and the mythical lifestyle guided by the Golden Carp.
Soon after, the character Ultima is introduced. Ultima derived from the indigenous mystical culture and was known as a curandera- a healer. Her persona offers wisdom and guidance, in which later helps Antonio discover his cultural identity. Antonio is no longer in quest for a definitive answer and is ushered to acknowledge that no communion rituals could or would ever answer his questions.
When correlating the classes Chicano Goth and Latino Religion and Spirituality, one can conclude and parallel Antonio’s character as he endeavors to find his identity, and the Aztec Mexica culture as they too battle to refine their identity.
Marc’s observation is not only historically appealing, it also attracts interest as it parallels Rudolfo Anaya’s characters and the history of the Aztec’s, which in sums can serve as a foundation to the Chicano culture.