Magic is reality in Latin America

"As for magical realism, we need only extend hands to achieve it ". Carpentier,  A.  The kingdom of this world.

It is difficult from such extensive lands and varied customs and traditions to make a synthetic analysis of the Latin American essence. Alejo Carpentier knew very well how difficult this task was; to address the issue he decided to face the reality of the people who compose it, discovering the fantastic existence in the majesty of a continent where the wonder and magic could be found at every turn. This is how Latin America becomes the stage on which magic and reality coexist in harmony, because the reality of these people is magic and magic is reality thereof.

There are hundreds and thousands of demonstrations of magic that are part of the Latin American reality: not to marry on a Tuesday, the chupacabras, walking under a ladder, a black cat crossing your way, and many others are examples of superstitions. It is believed that the Latin American religion is a byproduct of the conquest, mixed with indigenous customs and even the influence of the beliefs of slaves brought from Africa; both would be the point where superstition and magic emerge among the peoples of Latin America. To be honest it is not my intention to question if it is all really true or not, but rather to concur with this theory that yes, there is magic in Latin America. And it is that magic which makes Latin America a reality.

 Both Indigenous and Latin American blood run through my veins, and I have always been intrigued about knowing more about my ancestors, the Mapuches. The magic in the Mapuche people is reflected in various ways: using powerful healers who spoke in tongues to effect cures, they also believe that through talking to certain animals one can receive powers to lead or govern, and even to receive answers . The legend teaches could challenge the Spanish army for 4 centuries because of the advice they received from nature. The healers do not talk about what their secret magic is in their daily lives because in reality they do have them, they simply and magically heal in reality. This is a perfect example of where reality and magic come together to form part of the essence of Latin America.

Video dedicated to the mapuches powerful healers

Coisa mas linda.

As I have displayed in my earlier blogs, it is very difficult to speak about just one Latin American culture when so much variety and diversity is in it.  In order to be one culture there should be something that exists that unites them into one.  Without a doubt, I believe that the most powerful characteristic in Latin America which could be considered as the same is the music.

To think of a Latin America on mute, without music, is like thinking in a rainbow in black and white. One explanation of this is that despite the social, historical and cultural differences of the people or the language, the Latin American people have reflected in the best way the words of Friedrich Nietzche who said that life without music would be a mistake.  At the same time Latin American music has been the key in maintaining their roots and customs alive.  

Since when could we speak about musical manifestations that belong to the Latin American identity? Does it come from before the time of the conquest? Or was it born after the period of independence?  As we have discussed in class these are the questions of  the Latin American soul and we may never reach an agreement in their responses but I believe that music can help us answer those questions, because music in Latin America is History. For the most part, the Latin American nations reached independence at the beginning of the 19^th century, and the latest ones in the 20^th century.  In the search for Latin American cultural identity, our people do not focus on the similarities with the dominant European models, but with what identifies us. 

 Without even being able to speak the language of its songs, some of us can find in reproductions of Latin American music the magic that it transmits; the music that allows us to fly to places and memories; the magic that transmits Latin American music is the same magic that these diverse cultures come together as one.

It is its rhythms and its music in Latin America that still inspire some of the greatest musicians from history, like Frank Sinatra, to sing one of the most beautiful songs from Brazil, Garota de Ipanema.

Integrating voices

Many Latin American artists and authors have dedicated their works in unifying the Latin American people and talk of just one culture. We know that this culture is not unique; moreover, it is composed of a diverse spectrum of traditions, customs and histories.  This may be the reason why the Mexican murals don’t really mean anything to me and perhaps why, in the same way, Chilean art does not mean anything to them either. Why, then, do these artist strive so much to unite cultures that are so clearly different?

Nicolás Guillen through his work Sensemaya, and his other works reveal the influence of African Americans in Cuba with the intent to integrate it in the origins of the Hispanic American culture.  Pablo Neruda also attempts to be the spokesman for those who were victims in the history of the destruction of the Incan Empire through his work Las Alturas de Machu Picchu.  In both examples we find the authors trying to incorporate voices that help us to better understand where the Latin American identity comes from, uniting them through the various races which they are composed of.

Despite the efforts of these diverse artists, how many Latin Americans actually feel pride in their African or Incan roots?  The culture is so diverse that sometimes I have to ask myself in what Latin America I lived in that I do not know the one that is interpreted by the works of some artists and authors.

Perhaps the idea of unifying Latin America as only one culture through art isn’t more than just a political manifestation.  I don’t think that it is a coincidence that these artists who unite and create this idea of one Latin American culture also shared the same political socialistic ideals.  Guillen belonged to a communist party in Cuba, as did Neruda in Chile.

 So…what is Latin America?

Even today art tries to answer that question.

Instruments in unifying the masses.

We have most likely heard of the supremacy that exists in the Latin American mural art that tells and represents the history of Latin America. However, what is the true role that these mural art pieces have in Latin America. How is it that the murals unify Latin America in just one culture?. The mural art is a present reality in Latin American culture that transcends borders, people, and dialects. But, why do we only find them on a larger scale more common in Latin American culture and not so much in other cultures? 

"Presencia de América Latina"

If I analyze the Mexican murals by Rivera with those that are found in Chile, I think that we find more than just a representation of identity.  The majority of the Mexican murals were painted after the Mexican revolution during a time when the people were extremely divided by history; a people who oppressed the workers and the farmers that fought to overcome the effects of the war, one being illiteracy.  Therefore, these murals had the intention to teach the story through images for those who did not know how to read.  Its main purpose was so that all would see it and come together again as a society after the division that the Revolution had produced.  In Chile, we find that most of the murals that were painted were done during the dictatorship as a manifestation of their disapproval of Pinochet’s regimen military.  These murals invited the unification of the people in order to defeat oppression. So, in both countries we find that after a period of division, murals begin to appear as instruments in unifying the masses.

Perhaps in Latin American history there have been great divisions among the people and that is why we find so many murals.  These divisions have been so profound that maybe that is where the idea of great murals comes from; murals that play a powerful role as a tool in unifying the people.

The orgin of Latin America is not what it seems

“During Mass, Conceicao kept appearing between me and the priest.” (-Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis “Midnight Mass” p. 101).

One of the things that characterize Machado is the ability that the author possesses as a writer to invite his readers to find what lies deeper than what is on the surface of his stories.  This method converts the readers into co-authors of the work. This idea of exploring through his stories is reflected in the same way when we try to find answers to the origin of Latin America.

As in the end of the story “Midnight Mass,” Machado represents the idea that he is viewing the woman Conceicao as an infinite being during the mass when he cannot get her out of his head. This is because he has not been able to read and understand her completely. The author leaves the end of this story open to the reader and invites them to do what he could not, figure her out.

Machado said, “We kill time, but time is what buries us.” The way in which he invites us to kill time is through thinking about the things that we haven’t been able to figure out.  We know that history has buried many things, and we should continue to think and analyze in order to contribute to the future and earn our right to judge the past.  Many are the theories such as Malinche, Iracemas, or Pocahontas, that all result in the pondering and searching for a response for the questions which up until now have not be answered. Even now, time has resolved to bury this lost piece of the puzzle, the answer to the question of where we come from in Latin America.

Machado helps us understand that we cannot understand his books without analyzing them to find the ending that best complements our reality.  In the same way, we will not comprehend the origin of Latin America without thinking and analyzing the past for ourselves.

This reminds me of a video of a selective attention test. It demonstrates how sometimes we have to look at things more than once in order to completely understand the reality of them. In the case of the origin of the Latin American, we perhaps need more Malinches and Iracemas to help us understand the history.