The Morenos of San Nicolás: A Case for Reimagining Mexican (Black) Identity (original) (raw)
Related papers
The making of morenos: local culture and the Afro-Mexican Costa Chica
2014
Chocolate and Corn Flour is an ethnography of the morenos (black Indians) of San Nicolás, Mexico. The book refutes the presence of African cultural imports among the San Nicoladenses and argues that local conditions have produced a distinct moreno culture through which the community asserts its belonging. Extensive fieldwork informs the book's detailed readings of local culture and practices; however, the author's standpoint is somewhat problematic.
What was going on in colonial Mexican food? Chiles, Chocolate and Race, an article I wrote with Jeffrey Pilcher.
Mole and mestizaje: race and national identity in twentieth-century Mexico
This paper explores ideas of race, class, and gender in the middle of the twentieth century by looking at mole as a symbol of mestizaje. It analyzes the narratives around mole to reveal the tensions within national identity. In the twentieth century, turkey mole was described as the outcome of indigenous and Spanish culture. Defining which culture played a major role in the creation of mole determined its status and opened a discussion about what aspects of the past would be part of Mexican identity. Descriptions of mole reveal the tension between those who wanted to highlight mole's creole/Spanish origin and those who underscored its indigenous roots. The mythical origin of mole within a colonial convent accounts for the revalorization of the dish, but also shows that European culture was seen as superior. Some cookbook writers, however, highlighted mole's indigenous origins and showed the differences across regions. Cookbook writers, particularly women, were instrumental in reproducing and challenging these discourses. Their work proves that presenting mole as a colonial dish allowed it to be served at respectable tables, but the diversity of recipes they incorporated points to the multiple identities within Mexico that cannot be constrained by traditional understandings of mestizaje. ¡Solemne túmulo del pavo, envuelto en su salsa roja-oscura, y ostentando en la bandeja blanca y azul de fábrica poblana por aquellos brazos redondos, color de cacao, de una inmensa Ceres indígena, sobre un festín silvestre de guerrilleros que lucen sombrero faldón y cinturones de balas! Alfonso Reyes In 1954, the Mexican writer and intellectual Alfonso Reyes described mole de guajolote (turkey mole) as the touchstone of Mexican food. A " solemn tumulus of turkey, enshrouded in its red and dark sauce, and flaunting in its white and blue tray made in Puebla by hefty arms, it has the color of cacao, originating in an immense indigenous Ceres, on top of a rustic feast of warriors who wear their large brim hats and bullet belts " (Reyes 2000, 111). His words present mole as a symbol of national identity and mestizaje, understood as the mix of indigenous and Spanish culture but where the European/Western aspect clearly dominates. Reyes enshrines the colonial culture by making reference to Puebla as the cradle of mole while the indigenous past seems to contribute only with ingredients native to these lands (turkey, cacao, tomato,
Chicos del horno: How Adobe Oven-roasted Corn Became a Local, Slow, and Deep Food
I have three objectives in this paper: First, I present an abbreviated agricultural history of chicos del horno that includes discussion of the origins and ethnobotany of the maize varieties used in historic and contemporary production. Second, I provide a detailed description of the labor process involved in producing chicos del horno. This includes a description of the contemporary agroecology involved in producing the heirloom corn and a description of the ethnogastronomy of the resulting dish – a recipe and other social and cultural aspects of the preparation and eating of chicos that qualifies it as a “deep” food. Third, I conclude by situating the recent revival of this endangered regional food in the context of food sovereignty/justice movements in Colorado and New Mexico acequia communities.
At Boiling Point: Like Water for Chocolate and the Boundaries of Mexican Identity
Bulletin of Latin American Research, 1999
This article explores the mechanisms of Mexican identity as they are constructed in Alfonso Arau's "lm Como agua para chocolate (1991) (Like Water for Chocolate). In redesigning the characters of Laura Esquivel's novel, Arau produces a range of "lmic stereotypes drawn from both the Hollywood and the Mexican traditions of "lm-making. Through the careful manipulation of "lmic devices such as editing, framing and close-ups, many of the features of Mexican otherness perpetuated by Hollywood throughout the twentieth century are inscribed. I apply the metaphor of boiling, derived from the "lm's title, to examine certain key concepts of cinematic &mexicanness' including the tropes of &revolution', &border', &race' and &sex'. Crucial to this argument is a consideration of the contemporary political climate in which¸ike =ater for Chocolate was both produced and released. In Mexico, it was released halfway through the sexenio (six-year period of rule) of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari's rule and is clearly one of the most succesful cultural products (and exports) of his government's now infamous rule. In the United States, the climate of anti-immigrant attitudes in 1992 and 1993 and the corresponding political tension provokes new readings of certain stereotypical images of Mexicans and mexicanness. It is the tension that is produced by the collision between these two contexts * cultural, political and ethnic * that forms the principal focus of discussion in this article. 1999 Society for Latin American Studies. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Key words * mexican cinema, twentieth century, like water for chocolate identity, politics and "lm, Arau, Alfonso, US}Mexico relations, Esquivel, Laura, border &And now here is a movie where everyone seems at the boil 2 '(Ebert, 1993). In this review of Como agua para chocolate, Roger Ebert refers to the explosive mixture of cinematic ingredients in director Alfonso Arau's most commercially successful "lm. Adapted from Laura Esquivel's best-selling novel,¸ike =ater for Chocolate was released in the United States in 1993 taking nearly $20 million dollars to become the country's biggest selling foreign "lm that year. I would like to apply the metaphor of boiling, derived from the "lm's title, to examine certain key concepts of cinematic &mexicanness' as they are constructed in this "lm. Various cinematic elements from both Mexican and Hollywood discourses are fused to produce a movie that illustrates the complex interrelationship of both "lm traditions. The "lmic treatment of the tropes of &revolution', &border', &race' and &sex', in particular, employs certain formulae. Drawing on a range of studies of ethnicity in cinema, it can be argued that Arau redesigns the characters of Esquivel's novel to construct "lmic stereotypes familiar over decades with cinema-going audiences. On one level, the presence of certain "lmic types; the greaser/revolutionary, the Latin lover, and the beautiful senJ orita
PUREPÉCHA Y PESCADO: Food, Status, and Conquest in 16 th Century Michoacán
This thesis looks at the effects of the Spanish conquest on the diet and social structure of the Tarascan people of Michoacán in the 16th century. Looking at the period from conquest to the early days of the 17th century, this work charts how the Tarascans identified with their food and how the introduction of new foods changed these markers. This change in diet accompanied changes in social structure and disruptions in the lifestyles of both noble and common indigenous peoples. This work identifies the relationships between these disruptions and the development of diets throughout the era of conquest and colonization.