FORMAT: Double-spaced, black legible font, 12pt.
TOPIC: Respond to Michael Taussig’s “Violence and Resistance in the Americas: The Legacy of Conquest” (on Machu Picchu) in relation to the specific questions provided below.
General Guidelines for Response Paper:
Summarize and respond to the key points of the text by answering the questions listed below
The ideas in these texts are abstract and philosophical. There is no “right” answer to each question. The objective of your response is to think about and respond to the ideas in the text.
The final question asks you to choose and discuss a monument or art work in relation to the ideas raised by the author. This is an important component of the assignment to demonstrate how you have understood and can apply the author’s ideas.
As in the first response paper, use “I” in the formulation of your own ideas and opinions.
Questions for Michael Taussig:
What is the Columbus Quincentenary and what issues does participation in it raise for Taussig?
It is important to know the following background (google if necessary):
quincentenary of Columbus is the 1992 celebration of the 500 years since Columbus “discovered” the New World
The Smithsonian is the largest museum/research complex in the world, funded by the US government and private donors and located in Washington, D.C.
Taussig is trained as an anthropologist
It is important to consider the following points Taussig makes:
how ritual and remembrance are linked to Western knowledge
how identity is forged as a relationship of self and Other
how our perceptions construct legacies of the politics of violence and resistance
Taussig tells a story of Santiago and his journey to Machu Picchu. What is the difference between Taussig’s vision of Machu Picchu and Santiago’s?
It is important to consider the following:
all the ways in which Taussig knows about and “sees” Machu Picchu in comparison to how Santiago Mutumajoy (healer with yagé) sees and understands the significance of the site.
role of imperial power in building monuments
importance of the image
why Santiago would think that the Spanish and not the Incas built Machu Picchu
What does Taussig think about Neruda’s Canto General and do you agree?
You should consider the issues of context, mysticism, objectification, exoticism, and dreams.
How does he compare it to Santiago’s vision?
Why does Taussig identify context as important and how does he link it to ideas of montage and history?
You should consider the following:
role of anthropology and history in constructing an “objective” context as opposed to the subjectivity of acknowledging our presence in an interpretative framework.
how montage jumpstarts and changes our perceptions of the past
who decides which history is the “true” one
As does Paz, Taussig identifies the importance of rethinking time and space. What kind of space and time shift does Machu Picchu as a monument create?
Taussig’s key phrases to consider/puzzle over here are:
“monuments create dream space in which, through informal and often private rituals, the particularities of one’s life makes patterns of meaning”
“daydreaming naturalizes history and historicizes nature”
Has there been a monument that creates a dream-space for you? Has Taussig changed how you have thought about monuments? Has Santiago changed how you think about time and space?
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