[Aztlan] Prespectivism - Race and ethnicity

[diniz conefrey]

Dear listeros, let me introduce first of hall. My name is Diniz Conefrey,
age 43 and i'm a portuguese illustrator and comic art author. I appologise
for my weak english, nonetheless i'm very interested by american ancient
cultures, specially mesoamerican, that i study as an amateur since my youth.
In 2001 i had the oppurtunitty to put together my interest for the Mexica
culture and to write an argument for a comic trilogy about the life of a
Tlacuilo since is early age till the come over of the spanish invaders and
the destruction of Tenochtitlan. The two last questions about prespectivism
and ethnicity arouse in me the impulse to post this mail sharing some
commentaries. To begin with i like to remember that indigenous american
cultures are to the overhall public today so unknow as it was in the 16
century, and if that is true that now exist a very solid core of scholars
studing this subjects the relations of understanding continue to bare the
determinism of our scope of occidental scientific reason. I really think
that prespectivism can put us in order to understand, in our bases of value,
even to interpret correctally the actions and meanings of other peoples, but
i find almost imposible to realy see throug their eyes how they saw the
world. The same, for instance, about whow a Greek realy experience a
theatrical piece in its time, or even how a midlle age portuguese
cavalryman was saw by the eyes of the moors. However, the exercice of an
approach of recognise throug prespectivism that can put us more closer to
understand the "other" is really important to liberate our minds and
cultures and to developed our knowledge of understanding the world, always
bearing in mind our limitations. We can try to understand the "other" but we
can ever enter is skin in a definitive way. Thats why other cultures need
space to exist behond our understanding. Whe know that no man can fly for
imself, but we know that our culture is based in a god that was made man and
that ressurected from the deaths. And even if some scholars can denied its
existence, this idea our concept, as you wish, shaped definitively the story
of mankind. As you now, Nagualism is an important concept in mesoamerican
cultures, and the relations between humans and nature, even throutg
psicotropics, can make a man fly, if not at least in is mind. Mind and
reality are very close to one another, thats why is more important what is
felt that what we mearly see in our experience as human beings. That way,
even a scientific view can be seen as a prespectiv of the reality, not as a
ultimate response.
About ethnicity i think its a relevant issue to recognise and understand the
"other". Our world of abstract concepts of economics, politics and
technological development have a tendency to shape uniformity throughout the
human kind. For myself this is some sort of intrusted violence that dont
recognize the ealthy differences between human cultures. So, it dont suprise
me that people today think about this issues becouse we can iluded that this
do not ocour in fact. In my first visit to México i was deeply astonished to
discovered that 80% of the population where mestizos but you do not se even
one as front face in the tv, and that even in institucional posters about
the general population the figurants where the most white man as posible...
This tell more for the history of México ( if not of the american continent
) that many developed history compendiums. Has we now, even for the Méxica
their Tolteca ascendency was a cultural and a political issue with a
determinant supraethnic identification. And, also, that we can recognize
Maya family peoples that developed cultures in the Atlantic cost of central
México, that are distinctive from nahua cultures, even from their own roots.
In reality i think ethnicity is important as everything else, not only the
civilized achivements by their own...that curiously we can recognize
througth the artistic expression of a particular ethnic group. Of course
that i agreed that the most important is what that people ( of Teotihuacan )
developed, even if i dont know their realy ehtnic afilliation, or even the
original name of the city. However they were not europeans, chinese or
martians, they were americans. And even the Maya or the Zapotec groups who
lived in that city had separated neighbourwood.
Tank you for your kind patiance.