I think the concept of an arrivant state is particularly insightful as it highlights the intersection of colonialism, indigeneity, and violence. It is a state of affairs that exists in the United States, but we fail to consider these intersections of systems, history, and violence on communities. She also intertwines aspects of different languages and cultures to invite and immerse the reader into this reading/ceremony (i.e. Spanish subjunctive tense utilized in English). Similarly, in “Body-Lands,” Lara utilizes the concept of body-lands to highlight the diversity of systems, identities, ontologies, and more. As in the case of Doña Dulce, she highlights the intersection of ecology, identity, politics, and spirituality amongst the campesinas. She mentioned Kimberlé Crenshaw, and upon reading the ethnography, I can see the impact of considering the different intersections between systems and identities.
I found the content very interesting, but I noticed the differences in the style of writing compared to other ethnographies. As you mentioned in course announcement, there is a unique style to Lara’s writing. In the Opening Ceremony, the footnotes are reminiscent of a traditional ethnography. Utilizing quotes and relevant background, the footnotes provide a lot of necessary information in a more technical style. This is contrary to her actual writing style which has a lot of artistic style elements including anaphora and imagery.
For me, the most profound idea was that of the arrivant state. As someone who has done a lot of reading on colonialism and settler colonialism, I was pondering the idea of such complexity, but it was nice to have a concrete word to identify this multitude of intersections and complexities.
Hi! I really like your thoughts here. I found Lara’s work incredibly thought-provoking, as her approach to culture through body-lands was unlike anything I had read before. I also appreciated how she emphasized the way that “stories are central to decolonizing methodologies and praxis” so that marginalized experiences and non-dominant thinking can be included in anthropological knowledge (29). She goes on to emphasize the role of ceremony in affirming cultural experiences while challenging “our ideas of gender, sexuality, race, body, and memory” so that “articulations of freedom : sovereignty… emerge in the space” (57). Often, ideas of race, sexuality, gender, and community are separated so that the minutiae in each can be parsed through, however, these experiences must also be evaluated at once so that their intertwined histories (among colonist narratives) and inextricable complexities can be revealed for what they are instead of avoided entirely.