I, Rigoberta Menchu (second half)

 Week 8: I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala

After our discussion last week about the nature of the book and possible false information, I was very curious to read the second half.

A large portion of the second half focused on Menchu and her upbringing and current views on womanhood and on being an indigenous woman in Guatemala. The particular section that stood out to me was Chapter XXX, which encompassed the lessons that Menchu's mother surrounding womanhood while she was growing up. Based on the introduction of the chapter, I thought that it would focus mainly on the differences and difficulties of being an indigenous woman versus a ladino woman, which it touched on briefly but mostly just looked down on ladino women for their makeup, dresses and ways of life because "it abuses the wonders God has given us". Then, Menchu explains all of the strict rules and customs that her mother implemented, such as specific indigenous herbs and plants for healing and not to carry cuts of maize in your apron when you're pregnant, which is subsequently followed by and insanely in-depth story about her mother stealing a pig when she was younger and explaining her connection to the wind for explanations of life. I found this super out of place, and couldn't quite understand how it contributed to the bigger picture/purpose of the book; I thought back to our conversation last class, and I thought back to the othering that Burgos did of Menchu in the intro to emphasize her indigenousness, which is what I think this section was doing.

Also, I think Burgos wasn't just emphasizing her indigenousness, but also her unwomanly nature, to continue to claim authenticity and establish Rigoberta's credentials as a changemaker and a fighter. Menchu said that her mother told her that she "had to forego her womanly ways to be a bigger part of the fight", and in chapter XXXI, Rigoberta renounces marriage and having kids because it creates more problems, which directly embodies this. She also says that she wasn't as close with her mother because of her strict rules surrounding pregnancy, but then concludes chapter XXX that she loves her mother and father equally, and talks about her mother political views; her mother joined the struggle before Menchu, and then Menchu joined the struggle because she "didn't really know anything, or what anything meant". This reminded me of Burgos' infantilization of Menchu to establish her as guileless and an authentic victim, and maybe this sentence was to mitigate any additional political aspects, which made me pretty skeptical when reading this, especially after finding out that a Gorilla fighter was in the room with them throughout all the recordings. 

Maybe after our conversation last week I'm being a bit too critical about this novel, because ultimately it highlights the injustices and experiences of many indigenous communities in Latin America, but also, I think it's crucial to critically analyze these texts from multiple perspectives because they create a representation of peoples, places, histories, and cultures, and we want to ensure that it's an accurate presentation.