7/31/2019 Like Water Readings
1/2
This week's film, Like Water For Chocolate / Como agua para
chocolate, is considered to be one of
the first international blockbusters to come out of Mexico.
The film spans the decades of the late 19th and early 20th
century, and is centered around the
mother and 3 sisters of a family. Men are present, but it's a
female-centered film.
Two other elements are extremely important in this film. One is
food. I suggest eating before class;you will certainly leave hungry
if you don't!
The second is Magic Realism. This artistic and literary term was
first used by a German art critic but
was made popular in the early and middle parts of the 20th
century in relation to Latin American
literature [a version of which I am, coincidentally teaching in
translation next semester...]
Magic Realism basically posits that what may seem strange,
weird, or even magical to you does so
because you're not a part of the culture in which these actions
are commonplace and normal. The
audience reacts to the strangeness of the events; the characters
usually don't, because they are used
to these events.
http://www-english.tamu.edu/pers/fac/andreadis/474H_ahapw/Definition_Magic.Realism.html
[a
brief definition and explanation of the term]
Readings and questions: Your answers should be about 4- 5
sentences long. You can combine
answers into a narrative form if you want.
p. 364
How is Pancho Villa portrayed? How does Villa view women?
p. 375
In general, how did Pedro's life during the Mexican Revolution
differ from Esperanza's life? Didanything that happened to either
of them make an impression on you? Explain.
p. 403
How would you characterize Rosalie Evans?
p. 545
How did Modesta end up with the job that she did? How did her
behavior distinguish her from her
co-workers? What does this tell us about her as a person?
http://www-english.tamu.edu/pers/fac/andreadis/474H_ahapw/Definition_Magic.Realism.htmlhttp://www-english.tamu.edu/pers/fac/andreadis/474H_ahapw/Definition_Magic.Realism.html
