Gioconda Belli's: In the Language of Memory
I quite enjoyed this poem, especially compared to Neruda's. I have no doubt Neruda was a talented poet and his poem meant a great deal of things, but I just didn't get a whole lot out of it. Belli's poem, on the other hand was very vivid. I love her description of events and the impact it had on society. I don't know how many of you researched some of the words she uses, but here a couple ones that stood out to me.
Native Words:
Quequisque: is a tuber that is mostly used in soups. It is found in many Latin American countries, but each country gives it a different name. Quequisque is the Argentinean name.
Yuca: is like a potato as well, and used in soups as well as other dishes
Quequisque is in the lower left, and yuca is above it.
Jipijapa: is a type of palm tree as known as the Panama hat tree. It isn't a true palm because it doesn't have the bark trunk. It has soft, flexible, durable fibers that are used to make Panama hats or other objects like baskets as described in the poem.
Ceibos: is a huge tree that some species can grow up to 230 feet tall or more. It has straight branchless trunk and a spreading canopy as well as large buttress roots. There is a legend associated with one species of the ceibo tree found about an indigenous woman.
Quena: is the traditional flute of the Andes. It is kind of similar to the recorder, which most of you probably played? except that you rest the mouth piece between the chin and lower lip and blow downward to create sound. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a video to upload, but go to Youtube and look up the quena!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Leah,
ReplyDeleteI was wondering about those words too! How interesting! I wonder why Belli chose to use the word “Quequisque” if it is the Argentinian word. Wasn’t she from Nicaragua? And talking mainly about Central America? I wonder if there was one for Nicaragua and if so what made her choose not to use that word instead. The trees also seemed to be located all over the Americas. Maybe her poem was more about all of the Americas and not just Central America. The Quena originated in the Andes which are also in South America. And yes it looks a lot like the recorder that we had to try to learn to play in music class in elementary school. I wonder if the recorder was made after the Quena. Very interesting blog thanks for the insight!
This is really interesting!! You always look into the meanings of different words in our readings! I really like how many other foods we don't even think about existing outside of the supermarket! I agree with you on Belli's poem being more vivid and offering more, I was able to understand Belli's much easier as well.
ReplyDelete