Main argument of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Dr. Jekyll

Synthesis of the First Forum: “The Solitude of Latin America”

1. The need to believe that a utopia is possible.
2. The importance of proactivity and good leadership
3. To create awareness of what’s happening, why it’s happening, and how we can be better as people.
4. Consequences of war and flawed governments that affect the most vulnerable through trauma, economic instability and societal oppression.
5. Latin America: a land of exile, mass disappearances and flawed governments.
6. Life will overcome death. Life and time have the power to overcome the great powers capable of ending the whole world.
7. The power of art and literature to touch people around the world, through “secret messages” (universal messages) that other people who are not involved in the situation will be able to understand.
8. Art and literature are a form of “bearing witness” as a bridge of “truth” for future generations. The truth that history misplaces or silences.
9. Latin America have been stripped of their roots and ancestry, leaving room for absence of knowledge of self. This lack of cultural consciousness allowed for Europeans to create hierarchies based on made up identities, putting mixed “race” folks at the bottom of this system. As a society, we have been conditioned to rely on Eurocentric forms of validation because Latin America was forced into a dependency on Spain and the United States. We are accustomed to exploitation, violence, and lack of autonomy. There is no true independence within capitalism, because it is the system, along with racism, that founded the countries we come from. From beauty to economy, we are dependent on the validation of foreign colonizers.
10. “A new and sweeping utopia of life for Latinos is to live in a world where people will take notice and not look the other way when it came to the dictatorship, poverty, and inequality that previously took so many lives. the abolishment of considering ethnicity or race to categorize people. To not just see Latin Americans for their past but to allow them to start all over and let them create their own history. Utopia for them means, coming forward and being recognized.
11. When García Márquez says, “A new and sweeping utopia of life, where no one will be able to decide for others how they die, where love will prove true and happiness be possible, and where the races condemned to one hundred years of solitude will have, at last and forever, a second opportunity on earth,” is he talking about the way Eurocentric values and government has ruled American people for over centuries and how this has been a “bad utopia”, meaning that utopia means harmony and order?
12. Solitude meansLatin Americans are alone in this world, not noticed, and struggling to make a living while surviving government corruption and displacement. Solitude is about how little support these communities receive in order to succeed. And when people fight for basic human rights and resources, the world turns a blind eye, yet so willingly praise those who are succeeding while also idolizing the culture.
13. The curiosity or intrigue that the world has towards Latin America, since the colonization period to this date. To love Latin America’s culture (because there are many beautiful things to admire) but not to see its struggle, or turn a blind eye towards bigger issues of corruption that are forcing people to flee or be misplaced. It’s not until the”haunted men and historic women” rise amidst all this struggle (whether they’re artists, activists, scientists) and are being recognized for their work, that people finally start listening. But at the same time, they run the risk of continual superficiality, and disregard for its people.
14. The use of magical realism by García Márquez to create the imagery that Latin America is a beautiful place with amazing attributes, but including also the real problems that are occurring in those countries. With a mixture of fantasy and modern world problems to illustrate the Western world and Latin America, García Márquez uses Latin American history as a way to bridge the gap for those who lack relatable life experiences. Many countries go through their own hardships but those experiences are mostly with people who have either passed or are stories in books. Those who wish to understand others can seek out their own countries upbringing to find that it may not be so different from that of Latin America.
15. García Márquez uses magical realism because of this global fascination of Latin America being a place of ‘magic and wonder’. He cites authors who told tales of cities of gold, magical creatures, and mythical riches, creating an ideal of Latin American. Through magical realism, García Márquez demonstrates the European experience in Latin America. Europeans colonized Latin America and saw it as a magical place for land and wealth. However, this is not the experience natives of Latin America had. Inhabitants of Latin America faced poverty and instability from European colonization. Colonizers of Latin America obviously did not endure this; therefore, magical realism was used to differentiate these two different experiences, and it’s not told in a fairy tale perspective, but more of a dark folklore.
16. The author García Márquez also uses magical realism to illustrate the Latin American History because he wants to show the close relationship of the modern and traditional world that this region has. During his speech we can feel that the world is still grounded in the real world but with a little twist of fantastical elements.
17. Spanish legacy in Latin America: Spanish domination brought with it a great amount of cultural and economic contributions. However, the conquest also contributed much of the vices and cultural limitations that affect and limit the region’s development. Corruption, centralization of governments, and religious submission are some of the best examples.
18. Importance of tone: At the beginning, it starts off in a mysterious way to grab the audience’s attention. It almost sounds as if Marquez is telling us one of his stories, giving background information and history. But, soon in his speech, his tone changes and becomes more direct about dreary and concerning stories of corrupt government and displacement amongst the people. García Márquez recognizes the potency that Latin America carries in its culture, history, and people, but he also suggests that for that reason, its countries should be more understood, instead of using Latin America’s mysticism to glamorize or ignore the larger issues that its people are going through. By the end this tone takes a turn and is hopeful, when he talks of how there is more life than death, how despite the oppression the goal is still there and a utopia is still possible. Itis important to end it this way to give the audience a hopeful feeling as well.
19. Marquez explains how countries like the U.S and Europe measures the way Latin America is built as equivalent to theirs and that all actions toward Latin America are taken without understanding the countries desires, because for European countries and the U.S. all that matters is their wealth and goods. Even if they ‘understood’ a country’s desires they won’t take any precautions because what they care is for the quantity, the wealth and not the quality or the feelings of the people.
20. Also, some governments of Latin American countries have the exact same values as Europe and the United States and that is why there is corruption. This causes the government to not care about their people.
21. From oppression from European countries to oppression from within Latin America itself: Latin America hasn’t been able to escape oppression because of the way countries like the U.S and Europe invaded and used most of their land to benefit from or protect their interest. Also due to all the violence Latin America has and is experiencing, many people seek to escape the country and depend on the U.S or other countries for refuge. They haven’t been able to escape oppression because of invasions and taking away their resources and limiting them on what they have. It’s a combination of not having the resources that these European countries have obtained and the population leaving their own country. How could one escape oppression if it has been years of a reoccurring cycle? Márquez has an optimistic outlook that Latin countries would find stability in the near future to help them break the barriers of European and self-oppression.
22. Wouldn’t the creation of a utopia with the colonizer(oppressor) still hold a sense of oppressive power, especially amongst those whose ancestors were indoctrinated/bigoted? By creating a utopian world, it will still hold that ideology of oppressive behavior and power. In this speech by Gabriel Garcia Marquez he uses magical realism to describe Latin America as an illogical “magical” place where there are right-winged dictators and oppressors. The use of magical realism is reaching to his audience emotional side to get his points and ideologies through, due to the audience of this speech. The western world looks at Latin America expecting to find a version of themselves, but they don’t and are unable to understand what it entails to live and be part of Latin America, because it’s a land of contrasts with both, positive and negative experiences.
23. Latin America is seen as the back yard and in this speech, Gabriel García Márquez, emphasizes that Latin America is the western world’s neighbor. We’re supposed to be equals, but that isn’t the case. It is because of that divide that the western world isn’t able to understand what it means to live or be a part of Latin America. García Marquez focuses on the positive and negative to create more of a relatable appeal for his audience. He mentions Latin America in both positive and negative to illustrate a more realistic picture. In using the negative and positive, he is using ethos, pathos, and logos to emotionally sway his audience into understanding the Latin American reality and allow them to view his main points.
24. García Márquez uses this speech to discuss the realities of Latin America because of the civil wars happening at the time and also because he was given the platform others never had. The thing about his speech that is quite real, though, is how in the end Latin American people still have the will power to remain resilient in the face of adversity. More than anything else, by talking about historical roots of Latin culture interpreted by Europeans and how the realities are much dimmer for those on the “opposite side” of history, makes his speech that more meaningful to read especially because of his background.
25. Most times, the horrific incidents that have happened and till this day that continue to happen are silenced or hidden. However, Márquez had the courage to use the speech to bring light to the horrible findings in Latin America and how people in these countries have overcome generations of inhuman treatment.
26. García Márquez uses this speech to shine a light on the injustices that are relatable in other areas of the world. The comparison to the US has a lot to do with civil rights movements that happened years before, but also the commonality of historical and present injustice that oppressed groups in the US can relate to.
27. The importance of this speech was to highlight the impact colonization has had on Latin America. How there are still aftershocks of mistreatment and abuse by Europe and the US. The speech was given in the 80’s and during that time specifically Mexico and Central America were struggling. The speech acknowledged the colonization that Latino America has endured. Márquez is suggesting that if we can accept the hardships of history, we as a culture and people can start to heal. We don’t need to keep suffering long after colonization.
28. This was a highly important speech given the audience this was directed towards. The speech was given the 1980s, a time in which there was a divide between capitalism and communism that fueled the cold war. García Márquez, is giving us magical realism to point out the isolation of Latin America within a world that is globalizing.
29. in the text “The Solitude of Latin America,” Gabriel Garcia Marquez explains in vivid detail the ethnic cleansing that occurs in Latin American countries on behalf of colonialism in all of its Eurocentric frame of existing and by means of magic realism. In the text, is Marquez pointing out that the colonial frame of existence is an illusion of a lens in the same fashion it has titled Latin American cultures to be?
30. Towards the end of his speech, Márquez talks about how despite of all the negative events that occur in Latin American countries they respond with life. This will usually happen in the countries that do not have the proper resources. Throughout history, these smaller countries without proper resources have been taken over by those with greater power and advancements. Despite the wars, plagues, etc. that these Latin countries may go through, they don’t lose hope, remain optimistic, and show gratitude for the simple fact of having a life. Even amidst the chaos, the people still want to give back to life and create new ones. The difference in mindsets between the Latin American countries and those with great power can be seen clearly.
31. Marquez’s speech still holds relevance today due to the fact that the unnerving history of Latin America still has a strong presence affecting many Latin Americans today. A lot of western powers still continue to negatively impact the livelihoods of many today and in turn even if they believe they are progressing the countries they are in fact not implementing effective solutions. There are still multiple social and political hardships that Latin America is facing today in which his speech only amplifies why there are still issues today.The world has an understanding of Latin America as a region of magic and fantasy, but it overshadows the poverty, inequality, and malicious dictators in Latin America.
32. One of the biggest reasons magic and fantasy were more known to the world than the reality citizens endured is because of western and European influence; because Latin America has been dominated by European powers since the time of colonialism and overtime many countries have been heavily influenced by the United States as well. At the time this speech was written the civil war in central America had already claimed the lives of thousands and caused many to abandon their countries and flee to the United States. One other thing that is really important to note is the people in power who have constructed the historical narrative around the history of Latin America. Those people are usually descent of European and western origin.
33. Gabriel García Márquez extends the achievement of winning the Nobel Prize to not only inhabit his literary success, but to represent Latin America’s achievements and struggles as a whole. When this struggle of a collective solitude, along with the critical gaze from the West, and oppression from corrupt government, threatens to silence the minority, representation is very important in order to aid communities and work towards progression and respect.