Friday, April 20

This afternoon we were treated to a special lecture by Professor Lucia Zambrano, who teaches at the Tuxtla Gutierrez campus of the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey. Her subject was a literary analysis of some of the early discourses of Subcomandante Marcos. She focused on the letters to Eduardo Galeano, Carlos Monsiváis, and a young Zapatista, considering particularly the stories of an alter ego called Durito, the pipe-smoking beetle whose real name is Nabucodonosor (Nebachanezzar). She also mentioned the character of El Viejo Alberto who acts as his conscience.

Professor Zambrano is a charismatic and entertaining speaker, often leaving us in stitches. But she also packed the lecture with considerable academic content. She introduced the talk by explaining what she considers the four core themes of Marcos' discourses: recuperation of land, autonomy, justice, and equal rights for women. She noted that the framework within which all four themes are developed is one of denunciation.

Professor Zambrano then discussed his rhetorical devices, which are varied and often include what we might consider opposite approaches in the same piece. He is frequenly ironic and joking, also poetic with ample use of metaphors. His writing can be mysterious and mythological in content, or pointedly political. It can range from the style of children's stories to densely theoretical. Breaking rules appeals to him, and in his ample use of post scripts, he sometimes includes these in the middle rather than at the end of the piece. Finally, she noted his incorporation of rhetorical devices and pacing of Indigenous expression.

Professor Zambrano also took up the issue of Marcos' position as interlocutor for the Zapatista movement, interpreting conditions in the jungle for an urban audience. She noted that his methods are distinctly postmodern, with the instant worldwide communication provided by the internet. She noted that his writing became more direct and political, hence less literary, as he came to have a major impact, to be read and discussed intensely and internationallly.

In the discussion that followed the talk, the issue of Marcos' role in the recent and contested Mexican election was raised. If he had not refused to support the (relatively) left-wing candidate, Lopez Obrador, it is thought that Calderon would have lost decisively. But instead he argued for a politics of the left outside of the current political system in Mexico. Rita noted the similarity in this aspect to the Piquetero movement of Argentina, which likewise rejects the system and thus does not support left wing party politics in that country.

The main event of the evening was a surprise birthday party for Flora and Lisane, held at the apartment shared by Erin, Valerie, and Jennifer.