When Gabriel Garcia Marquez published his novel One Hundred Years of Solitude in 1967, both the author and the writing technique he used, magic realism, were catapulted into the international spotlight. Magic realism (the term was first used in 1925 by a German art critic, and about twenty-five years later, it was rediscovered by a…
Tag: Latin America
The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World: Setting
Political Background During the period of European imperialism following Columbus’s arrival in the New World, Colombia’s indigenous tribes could offer little resistance to Spanish conquest. For the most part, these tribes amalgamated (intermarried and lived together in society) with their Spanish conquerors. Consequently, much of the Colombian population consists of mestizos—people of both native Colombian…
The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World: Literary Devices
The arrival of a large drowned man on their shores inspires the imagination of the inhabitants of a tiny fishing village. Point of View The simplicity with which “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” is told conceals a rather complex narrative technique. The villagers, finding a drowned man on their beach, begin to admire…
The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World: Themes
When a large drowned man washes up on the beach of a tiny fishing village, his presence inspires the villagers to create fantastic stories about him and to improve their own lives as well. Myth and the Human Condition “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” illustrates the collective human tendency to create myths. The…
The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World: Characters
Esteban Although he is a stranger—and a dead stranger at that—Esteban plays a central role in the villagers’ lives. He does not speak, yet his face and his body speak for him, telling the villagers how sorry he is to be such a bother, large and cumbersome as he is. They intuit that he is…
Hauss and Dahl’s definition of democracy vis-à-vis ‘American exceptionalism’
Various leading political scientists of the twentieth century have understood, defined and interpreted ‘democracy’ in a variety of ways. Robert Dahl, arguably the most influential American political scientist of the 20th century reckons that democracy is a utopian concept that is not found anywhere in contemporary geo-politics. In its stead, leading industrial societies of the…
Religious trends in Latin America
Religion plays a major part in the political affairs of several Latin American countries. Christianity (of various denominations) has strong roots in the region, going back to the time of early colonial settlers. Religion in the region has been in the news recently, with the impending visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and Cuba….
Are Latin Americans getting anti-American (USA)?
In political science studies, it is not often that one reads of American Imperialism. The term imperialism is almost exclusively associated with colonial exploits of major European powers such as Britain, France and Germany in the West; and China and Japan in the East. Although a late joiner of the imperial club, the United States…
How can foreign governments be convinced to combat narcotics in the source nations?
For any nation faced with the problem of illegal drug trafficking, the biggest challenge is in reigning in the sources of origin of these drugs. But it is usually the case that the regions of origin have a weak political system and an impotent law enforcement agency. In the case of drug trafficking in the…
Why must the U.S. stay engaged with Mexico in the war on drugs?
The usage of recreational drugs among American youth poses one of the biggest challenges for the country’s future. The United States, by virtue of sharing a lengthy border with neighboring Mexico, is susceptible to illegal trafficking of drugs within its jurisdiction. Moreover, over the last thirty years or so, the influx of illegal immigrants from…