As you may imagine, I was startled to read about Tasurinchi being stung in the junk on page 109. Poor guy! The short story about one Machiguenga's unfortunate run in with a little demon in the form of a wasp was the most amusing story that Mascarita told, perhaps. It is one of the few stories where Tasurinchi is not killed, transmogrified, or forced to start walking again. It's just a bit of bodily humor meant for a laugh. Though, there are bits of body humor throughout all the tales. One definite identifier of a kamagarini is its flatulence, it seems. Maybe it's because the easiest way to deal with the less savory parts of our anatomy is with humor, but every culture the world round has its dick jokes.
That, anyway, is what I have learned.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
We Are Our Stories
Llosa explores the most core themes of civilization and humanity in "The Storyteller". The importance of our stories is something that we likely take for granted on a day to day basis. The heart of our culture beats in the stories that we pass on, whether they be myths, fairy tales, or historical accounts. One of the few things that distinguishes us from any other species on our planet is the ability to communicate complex ideas through language. Telling stories is the very essence of being human.
When the stories of an event, person, or thing cease to exist, they disappear also from our consciousness. My great great grandpa may have been a great guy, but as next to no stories about him have survived to my generation, there is no way of knowing. The same applies to a macro scale, as Saul Zuratas understood. When you assert a new culture's stories over the old, the culture ceases to exist the way it had. If the stories of a culture are forgotten, the culture dies and exists as a shadow in our past.
When the stories of an event, person, or thing cease to exist, they disappear also from our consciousness. My great great grandpa may have been a great guy, but as next to no stories about him have survived to my generation, there is no way of knowing. The same applies to a macro scale, as Saul Zuratas understood. When you assert a new culture's stories over the old, the culture ceases to exist the way it had. If the stories of a culture are forgotten, the culture dies and exists as a shadow in our past.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Calasso Lap One
Today marks the end of my first reading through The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony. Despite having read it from cover to cover as slowly and deeply as I'm capable, I wasn't left with a great feeling of understanding at the end. Instead, I have a hundred new ideas floating around in my head with a tangled mess of webs connecting them.
At the end of the day, I know more about the characters of Zeus, Hera, Io, Europa, Cadmus, Harmony, Odysseus, and Helen, but it also illustrated how little of the whole picture I have. As humans, we often try to compartmentalize things in our mind. We are presented with problems, and we try to find the solution. However, myth doesn't fit into the nice compartments we construct. It's an enigma. The questions myths answer are mysterious and as Calasso says "...the answer to an enigma is likewise mysterious." (343)
What I have come to understand is that there isn't one true version of a myth. They're all true, even when they directly contradict one another. Whether or not Penelope was faithful to Odysseus in his absence, or if she slept with all of her suitors and gave birth to Pan, is not of great importance. Both stories tell us something important about human nature. In my own life, I've seen both sides of the story play out for young men who leave a wife at home when they go to war. Both stories ring true. For myth to be the precedent behind every action, it must enumerate every action.
Calasso is a rough initiation into classical mythology, but I'm overall satisfied with the reading experience. It took me out of my comfort zone and exposed me to a side of Greek mythology that I had yet to see. I hope to reread it very soon with a fresh perspective after finishing Metamorphoses and The Odyssey.
At the end of the day, I know more about the characters of Zeus, Hera, Io, Europa, Cadmus, Harmony, Odysseus, and Helen, but it also illustrated how little of the whole picture I have. As humans, we often try to compartmentalize things in our mind. We are presented with problems, and we try to find the solution. However, myth doesn't fit into the nice compartments we construct. It's an enigma. The questions myths answer are mysterious and as Calasso says "...the answer to an enigma is likewise mysterious." (343)
What I have come to understand is that there isn't one true version of a myth. They're all true, even when they directly contradict one another. Whether or not Penelope was faithful to Odysseus in his absence, or if she slept with all of her suitors and gave birth to Pan, is not of great importance. Both stories tell us something important about human nature. In my own life, I've seen both sides of the story play out for young men who leave a wife at home when they go to war. Both stories ring true. For myth to be the precedent behind every action, it must enumerate every action.
Calasso is a rough initiation into classical mythology, but I'm overall satisfied with the reading experience. It took me out of my comfort zone and exposed me to a side of Greek mythology that I had yet to see. I hope to reread it very soon with a fresh perspective after finishing Metamorphoses and The Odyssey.
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