Welcome! ... and Homework (already... for Sep 26)
Hello.
Supplementing your appreciation of artworks with the readings for class 2, compare what you think is/are the cultural and historic vision(s) presented by one of the following, with your own views on (US) history as well as on historiographic methodologies.
1. Layli Long Soldier's poem "38" (in Whereas, 2016),
2. Salvador Dali, "The Discovery of America" (1958-59)
Supplementing your appreciation of artworks with the readings for class 2, compare what you think is/are the cultural and historic vision(s) presented by one of the following, with your own views on (US) history as well as on historiographic methodologies.
1. Layli Long Soldier's poem "38" (in Whereas, 2016),
2. Salvador Dali, "The Discovery of America" (1958-59)
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ReplyDeleteWhat strikes me the most about Salvador Dalí's "The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus" is how this historical character is represented in the painting. Instead of being depicted as a middle-aged European sailor, he seems to be represented (at least to me) in the form of a young male adult who has a halo over his head.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, this is Dalí's way of representing Columbus's mission: to spread the Catholic faith through the so-called New World. We can see more allusions to the Catholic Church on the upper right-hand corner of the canvas, where crosses are represented.
Columbus being represented as young and full of life could be a projection of this newly-discovered continent as well. The American continent, when contrasted with the European, is still an infant. This is especially true when we take into account that most people at the time saw the tribes who lives in this continent as ignorant, just like a child is ignorant. Unlike Europeans who has mastered sailing, mathematics, natural sciences, literature, and more, Native Americans seemed to be primitive (all this in the point of view of the European newcomers).
The name Christopher, according to many etymological sources, means "bearer of Christ," which is, in a way, what happened with Columbus. This all ties well with how the Native Americans perceived the sailor when he arrived at the shores of this "new" continent. According to many accounts (including that of Columbus himself on a letter to the Queen of Spain) Native Americans saw him as someone sent by their God.
The name chosen for the painting is an interesting one. The saying "History is told by the winners" comes to mind when reading the word "discovery" in the title of the canvas. The American continent was not deserted nor was it lost. In fact, several civilizations (namely the Mayans, Incas, East Woodlands, Plains, and many more) were thriving and had developed religions, languages, cultural traditions, trade routes, commercial networks, among many other things. Had the winning side not been the European, this painting (had it still been created) would have surely not kept the word "discovery" in its title. It's a powerful title that, on its own, is able to erase millennia of Indigenous history.
— Rita Cunha, nº150913
By presenting a historical event of persecution and dispossession of Native American Tribes at the orders of President Lincoln, generally looked past in U.S History (so much so it was not mentioned in the president’s biopic), Long Soldier’s poem emphasizes the issue of cultural and historical selection, in the sense that history can be surgically dissected and carefully selected to favor some and erase others. “38” then voices the formally unvoiced and erased, and displays President Lincoln’s violent actions, shifting him from the usual light in which he is portrayed—one of appraisal for his humane personality and efforts in abolishing slavery—towards one of racial intolerance and abuse of power.
ReplyDeleteThe dangers of historical and culture erasure in U.S history permeate in the text, as well as a call for the necessity and importance of recognizing the multiple dimensions, voices and contexts historical events have. I believe this recognition to be fundamental in order to thoroughly analyze and comprehend the complexities that make up North-American history.
Neste comentário escolhi o poema, lido na aula de dia 18, Soldier’s Poem “ 38” de Layli Long, cujo poema relata a forma como os americanos expulsaram uma tribo nativa-americana chamada Dakota das suas terras e a morte de 38 membros da tribo.
ReplyDelete“From a Native American perspective, the initial intentions of Europeans were not always immediately clear. Some Indian communities were approached with respect and in turn greeted the odd-looking visitors as guests. For many indigenous nations, however, the first impressions of Europeans were characterized by violent acts including raiding, murder, rape, and kidnapping.” .
Mas o caso da tribo de Dakota foi diferente. O Governo dos Estados Unidos fez tratados com as tribos de Minnesota pelos seus territórios em troca de dinheiro e bens-materiais. Os nativos-americanos concordaram, mas o quinhão deles nunca chegou a ser entregue.
“In 1858 when Minnesota entered the Union, Chief Little Crow visited Wash-ington to ensure the treaties were being enforced. Instead the government repossessed half of their territory and opened it to new white settlers.” .
Então, no Verão de 1862, os nativos-americanos começaram a invadir as zonas ocupadas pelos americanos para roubar comida e no processo mataram cerca de 350 pessoas. Deu-se a origem The Sioux Uprising ou Dakota War of 1862.
Quando Abraham Lincoln soube desta guerra assinou um tratado com o intuito de a terminar e matar os indígenas. A Setembro de 1862, na batalha de Wood Lake the Sioux derrotaram os nativos-americanos e as tropas americanas tinham ordens para matar os 303 derrotados, mas Henry Whipple, bispo episcopal, apelou à Casa Branca para rever o caso e assim, a 26 de Dezembro de 1862 foram enforcados em público 38 nativos-americanos.
“Minnesota’s residents were not happy that the execution list had been reduced from 303 to 38. Protest did not die down until reasonable compensation for the loss of settlers’ property was offered. The president’s action was not a popular one in an elec-tion year. He responded “I could not hang men for votes”.
Em suma, ao longo da História vai haver sempre o relato dos vencedores e o dos vencidos, esquecido, mas neste caso, podemos observar que temos o relato de ambas as partes.
1-https://www.britannica.com/topic/Native-American/Native-American-history#ref273143 (Native American History, de Elizabeth Prine Pauls)
2-http://www.abraham-lincoln-history.org/sioux-uprising-dakota-war-of-1862/ (Sioux Uprising – Dakota War of 1862)
3- http://www.abraham-lincoln-history.org/sioux-uprising-dakota-war-of-1862/ (Sioux Uprising – Dakota War of 1862)
Inês Sebastião nº 148667
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ReplyDeleteNa minha opinião parece que o estandarte com a " nossa senhora" representado acima vai se enterlaçando com as vestes do homem que a ergue ao mesmo tempo que com a outra mão puxa o navio, o que na minha opinião se relaciona com a forte crença religiosa que existe nos Estados Unidos enraizada pela historia/tempo parecendo que é uma analogia a o homem carregar consigo esses valores "ao peito" pela forma como parece estar ligado ao estandarte, e parecendo ser isso que da "energia" e determinação para puxar o barco carregando consigo todos os ideiais. È possivel tambem observar que na terra parece existir algo como que um inferno, uma especie de "idade das trevas" que na minha visão complementa se com as nuvens cizentas, sendo que com o estandarte e a audácia do homem e a sua fé, parece que traz consigo a iluminação pois como podemos visualizar no fundo da imagem aproxima se um ceu claro e luminoso entre as nuvens cizentas. Parecendo contrastar com o estandarte e iluminação que o homem através da religião como "fuel" traz a terra. Considero isto também relevante não só pela questão da religião, mas porque como sabemos os Estados Unidos eram o novo mundo, e teve que ser "forjado" através de sacrificios e muito esforço e trabalho para serem o que são na actualidade, sendo que desde o tempo das conquistas a religião sempre esteve em "simbiose" com esse processo de construção da nação e seus ideiais e rumo histórico.
ReplyDeleteHugo Soares Nº 145900
A pintura de Dalí "The Discovery of America" tem visivelmente muitos aspetos que sobressaem imediatamente acerca da chegada de Cristóvão Colombo à então terra habitada por nativos de várias tribos. Um dos aspetos que mais sobressai nesta pintura é o uso da cruz como representação da religião cristã, um dos grandes pilares da cultura americana até hoje em dia. Esta proeminência dos símbolos cristãos na pintura é a forma de Dalí mostrar o objetivo dos recém-chegados face aos nativos: espalhar a fé cristã.
ReplyDeletePara além disso, observamos a representação de Cristóvão Colombo no rapaz em primeiro plano, o que é deveras interessante, visto que o rapaz tem um aspeto adolescente e primitivo. Do meu ponto de vista, Dalí tenta representar Colombo como alguém que não só simboliza a nova américa, mas que também mostra o caminho para o chamado “Novo Mundo”. Assim, sente-se um desejo da parte do pintor de ‘glorificar’ ou exaltar os feitos de Cristóvão Colombo, dado talvez um pouco pelo facto de Salvador Dalí acreditar que Colombo era espanhol.
Há, na minha opinião uma sensação de ‘sonho’ transmitida pelo facto de, mais do que tudo, ser uma pintura surrealista: neste caso encontramos, por exemplo, não só a figura da mulher ‘divina’ (que sabemos ser a mulher do pintor, sua musa, simbolizando a virgem Maria) que acompanha os difusores da fé cristã e a sua missão, mas também o facto de certos aspetos se encontrarem ‘nublados’, isto é, para além dos elementos proeminentes na imagem, o resto encontra-se um pouco apagado, como se se afundasse no plano de fundo. A meu ver, isto simboliza o sonho e as aspirações para a transformação deste “Novo Mundo”, que, no momento da chegada, não são dadas como certas.
Ana León Nº 150874
Damn these American Indian Tribes must have been really tought !
ReplyDelete"The Native American Mandan tribe used ritual suspension to signify the male rite of passage into adulthood. What was known as the Okipa ceremony began with the young man not eating, drinking, or sleeping for four days- in hope of being visited by a spirit messenger. They were then led to a hut, where they had to sit with smiling faces while the skin of their chest and shoulders was slit and wooden skewers were thrust behind the muscles. Using the skewers to support the weight of their bodies, the warriors would be suspended from the roof of the lodge and would hang there until they fainted. To add agony, heavy weights were added to the initiate’s legs. After fainting, the warrior would be pulled down and the men would watch the warrior until he awoke, proof the spirits’ approval. Upon awakening, the warrior would offer his left pinkie finger to the Great Spirit, whereupon a masked tribesman would sever it with a hatchet blow. Finally, participants would endure a grueling race around the village called “the last race” with weights and skewers still in place, to determine who among them was the strongest. Those finishing the ceremony were seen as being honored by the spirits; those completing the ceremony twice would gain everlasting fame among the tribe.
The last Okipa ceremony was performed in 1889, but the ceremony was resurrected in a somewhat different (and presumably less harsh) form in 1983. The Mandans were the first people to suspend humans by their skin and are responsible for many of the suspension methods people presently use. Today, suspension has begun to spread into other groups and subcultures all around the world."
Painting by George Catlin, an american painter and novelist who adventured into the old west portraying the native americans and its culture and practices.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Catlin_-_The_Cutting_Scene,_Mandan_O-kee-pa_Ceremony_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg#/media/File:George_Catlin_-_The_Cutting_Scene,_Mandan_O-kee-pa_Ceremony_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg