Week 2

Letter to Charles V
It seems like when reading this that the purpose of this letter was for Cortes to convince Charles V that his expedition was very successful. As this is a primary source it is hard to know exactly what Cortes was describing. Did he really find these things or was he just composing a letter that would make Charles V pleased? In this introduction to the letter it states that some believe that Cortes may have “invented” facts to fit the purpose of his letter. He goes into great detail describing the animals and vegetation, you have to wonder how the reality differed from the description Cores provides. I definitely think that Cortes is viewing the native people through a lens. By this I mean he is viewing their culture and their customs through what he has come to know as Spanish.

Cantares Mexicanos
The first poem describes the fall of Tenochtitlan. It describes how the Aztecs are fleeing the city, which is being destroyed. At the end of the poem there is a description of how the once kings of the city, are now doomed to become prisoners. It is hard to imagine the type of scene this poem depicts; I felt this poem was quite powerful.
The second poem address the aftermath of the fall of Tenochtitlan, as the survivors are left to ask questions as to why such an event occurred. I think there is a sense of disbelief, as these people come to the reality of what has happened.

Codex Mendoza
I think all of this artwork is exceptional. It helps when your are reading various accounts of a time period, and trying g to visualize these people and their cultures, to have pictures and artwork to help you connect people and ideas to images. The descriptions are necessary to fully understand what you are looking at in each piece.

Captives and Cousins
I did not understand this writing at all. I was confused form the beginning, while I understand physically what a Christ child is, I do not know what it is intended to signify. I really have no idea how to interpret this piece; I look forward to the discussion where I can hear others viewpoints and hope to make sense of this.

WEEK 1

Discourse on Colonialism
This piece attempts to examine and display the underlying effects of colonizing a village or a society. The author uses very vivid dialogue as a means to express very clearly the ways in which colonialism as a whole can drastically change a region. There is a great deal of discussion regarding the methods, which are used by the colonizers to gain leverage and ultimately control over a village. This involves the use of extreme force, which the author describes as Nazism. I thought the reference to the Third Reich was quite interesting, and a very essential connection to the reader. Almost everyone has heard of the deplorable thing that Hitler’s regime was responsible for, and for the author to compare that to the tactics of colonizing this village really drives home to the reader the kinds of dehumanizing actions that this chapter is describing.

White Man’s Burden
After reading this poem I feel that it was extremely confusing. I thought that the White Man’s burden referred to an idea that the white men have this obligation, or burden, to spread their culture and their background to other parts of the world. I also think that Kipling may be suggesting that the “civilized” nation also has an obligation to the people that they have conquered.

Video on Orientalism
This video addresses the stereotypes that people have about other cultures. Despite the fact they really do not know anything about them, people still make judgments and assumptions about people they know nothing about. I thought the narrator described it best as various parts of the world looking through a lens at certain regions, i.e. the Middle East. Said called this lens Orientalism, I thought the video as a whole was quite interesting, as he explained his rationale behind the motivation for his work.