Scan barcode
A review by glorious_talk
Balún Canán by Rosario Castellanos
4.0
Balún Canán - Rosario Castellanos
8.1/10
This book follows the life of a young girl from a land-owning family amidst the social and economic changes of 1930s Mexico under President Lázaro Cárdenas. As her parents fight bitterly to resist the agrarian reforms that threaten the social standing and wealth of the Argüello family, the nameless girl narrator seeks refuge in the company of her indigenous nana, who is the only character in the novel who pays her any attention at all. In many ways, Castellanos’ work is a commentary on certain socio-political tensions of the era—such as the marginalization of women or the reactionary refusals of landowners to comply with federal mandates seeking to encourage and protect the rights of indigenous people—but in many other ways, this novel can be read as a commentary on itself and the literary genre from which it came: indigenismo, a subset of Latin American literature written by non-indigenous authors about the culture, lives, and struggles of indigenous people. The work is semi-autobiographical, based on Rosario Castellanos’ own upbringing and her own relationship with her indigenous nanny (which reportedly was not quite as rosy as the relationship portrayed in the book). Perhaps as a result of her own personal attachment, the book has ample examples of the author’s blindspots and prejudices. Indeed, in the end of the book when the narrator remarks that “todos los indios tienen la misma cara” [all indians have the same face], readers are left to wonder if this is simply a manifestation of Castellanos’ own racial prejudices or an ironic commentary on the nearsightedness of society’s biases, realized through the limited worldview of a child. At the end of the day, this novel is an interesting source to understand the socio-political tensions and literary and philosophical trends of 1930s Mexico.
8.1/10
This book follows the life of a young girl from a land-owning family amidst the social and economic changes of 1930s Mexico under President Lázaro Cárdenas. As her parents fight bitterly to resist the agrarian reforms that threaten the social standing and wealth of the Argüello family, the nameless girl narrator seeks refuge in the company of her indigenous nana, who is the only character in the novel who pays her any attention at all. In many ways, Castellanos’ work is a commentary on certain socio-political tensions of the era—such as the marginalization of women or the reactionary refusals of landowners to comply with federal mandates seeking to encourage and protect the rights of indigenous people—but in many other ways, this novel can be read as a commentary on itself and the literary genre from which it came: indigenismo, a subset of Latin American literature written by non-indigenous authors about the culture, lives, and struggles of indigenous people. The work is semi-autobiographical, based on Rosario Castellanos’ own upbringing and her own relationship with her indigenous nanny (which reportedly was not quite as rosy as the relationship portrayed in the book). Perhaps as a result of her own personal attachment, the book has ample examples of the author’s blindspots and prejudices. Indeed, in the end of the book when the narrator remarks that “todos los indios tienen la misma cara” [all indians have the same face], readers are left to wonder if this is simply a manifestation of Castellanos’ own racial prejudices or an ironic commentary on the nearsightedness of society’s biases, realized through the limited worldview of a child. At the end of the day, this novel is an interesting source to understand the socio-political tensions and literary and philosophical trends of 1930s Mexico.