History
110 - Latin America: State & Nation
since Independence
Mr.
Volk
Spring
2003
FIRST
ASSIGNMENT: Sarmiento’s Life in the Argentine Republic
One key aspect of the historians’
trade is that we work with “original” (“primary”) sources. These are virtually limitless “documents”
which (typically, although not always) originate during the time period that
one is examining. Primary documents are
not “facts” (i.e., their meanings are not transparent: we still must interpret them), but
they nevertheless form the basis of the historians’ analysis. We must understand these texts from within
the time frame in which they were written (or otherwise constructed, if not a
written document) even though we approach them with questions that, inevitably,
are contemporary. To pose just one
example: Sarmiento does not approach questions of race the same way that
someone writing in the early 21st century would. We cannot expect him to do that nor suggest
that he should have a early 21st century conception of identity. On the other hand, we can very legitimately
ask: How did Sarmiento conceive of race and the role which race
played in the development of nations?
Our objective is to learn how someone from his particular standpoint
conceptualized this identity-formation in the mid-19th century, not
to criticize him for not being as clever
as we are from our own vantage point!
Your first assignment, then, deals
with a very important primary text:
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento’s Facundo (aka Life in the Argentine Republic in the Days of the Tyrants).
Sarmiento has been called the “author of his nation,” not just because
he was politically active in Argentina (including being its president), but
because he quite self-consciously attempted to “write” the nation into existence. (What does this mean? Think about it in
relation to the questions I ask below.)
In fact, he left behind over 52 volumes of writings and many, many more
un-collected documents and articles.
The particular work we are reading is considered by many as “the single
most important piece of writing of the Spanish American independence
period.” Sarmiento is concerned with
the definition of an emerging Argentine nation: What are those elements that make up the
Argentine nation? Who belongs in this nation and who doesn’t?
For your first paper, I would like
you to write 3-5 pages on Sarmiento’s approach to the Argentine nation in Facundo. To do this, you must do the reading
(Chapters 1-12) carefully and
thoroughly. At first glance, his
argument may appear obvious; but there is subtlety to it as well. Try to discover what seem to be
contradictions in Sarmiento’s thinking and suggest analyses to explain them.
What am I looking for in
this paper? 1) Evidence that you have read Sarmiento
carefully; 2) evidence that you have thought carefully about national identity
– particularly at a time when independent states are just being formed in Latin
America. I’m not asking that you become
theorists of the nation, but that you think a bit about this very particular
form of political identity. (National
identities are often assumed to be “natural,” i.e., if you are born in England,
you are automatically “English.” But there are a lot of “English” people who
don’t think that a Pakistani who has lived in London for the last 70 years is
“English,” etc.) What did Sarmiento think it meant to be an “Argentine”? What does it mean if you think of yourself
as an “Argentine” but Sarmiento doesn’t think that you are one?); 3) evidence
that you can construct a well-reasoned argument in writing; 4) care with the
presentation of the paper: it should be
free of spelling errors, it should be grammatically sound and articulate. Keep in mind: I am not asking you to
comment on whether Sarmiento is “right” or “wrong” in his approach to the
nation. There is no “right” or “wrong” on this question, as far as I’m
concerned. Rather, I’m interested in
what his approach to the nation is,
where it comes from, what its implications are, etc. So, please avoid arguments that state: “I think Sarmiento is wrong in his approach because he doesn’t
include…” Much more useful would be to
argue: “By leaving…out of his nation,
Sarmiento seems to be implying that…”
If this attempt at clarifying what I’m looking for only confuses you
more, please come and see me.
This paper, 3-5 pages typed, is due at the beginning of class on February 24. Any and all citations should follow the forms given at: http://www.oberlin.edu/~svolk/citation.htm (or click on the “Proper Citation Form…” box on the on-line syllabus).
A note on papers and computers: Be forewarned!! Computer crashes happen. I expect you to be RESPONSIBLE computer users and to back up frequently to DISK (not the hard drive) so that when your computer crashes, you will only stand to lose one or two paragraphs at most.