Mascarita and Heisenberg

In Mario Vargas Llosa’s The Storyteller I was surprised by the sheer number of characters named Tasurinchi. Even to the end, I continued to be flabbergasted at the introduction of yet another Tasurinchi. At least, I think it was another. But then, how can I ever be sure? They’re all Tasurinchi’s, after all. The number was simply confusing. It seems the Machiguengas already knew what we have learned—that there is nothing new. “History marches neither forward nor backward: it goes around and around in circles, repeats itself.” (p.240) They get out ahead of the game in their naming, forgoing to ruse of originality.

Another thing I found interesting was the different versions of stories Mascarita would tell. “That’s how it’s come about, it seems.” (p.127) and then another version and “That’s how after began, perhaps.” (p.129) Just like Calasso tells different versions, so does Mascarita, as Scott talked about in his blog. I would like to draw another parallel as well. I recently read the play Copenhagen by Michael Frayn for another class. The storyline is scientists Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg posthumously attempting to determine the exact events of a night in 1941 in the middle of WWII. Memory has long since clouded and version after version is proposed, with no definitive ever found. An echo is felt here, as it is in much of life.

Another comparison to Copenhagen is that Mascarita doesn’t seem to know why he is drawn to the Machiguengas. No concrete explanation can be articulated. Similarly Heisenberg does not know why he came to visit Bohr on that fateful night. “The sort of decision arrived at by saints and madmen is not revealed to others. It is foraged little by little, in the folds of the spirit, tangential to reason, shielded from indiscreet eyes, not seeking the approval of others—who would never grant it—until it is at the last put into practice.” (p.34) Why did one German scientist and one red-headed Peruvian Jew choose to do the things they did? We don’t know, we can only speculate. 

My American Gothic

After our discussion last Thursday of the painting American Gothic and it's mythological ramifications, I simply had to post this picture of me and my friend Caleb.

Its not a perfect reenactment and the similarities were entirely unintentional, but I've always hated the picture because it reminded me of the painting. Dull, sort of listless. There it is though, mythology repeating itself in my life.

Mardudjara Aborigine Male Initiation Ritual

Imagine a boy who is a member of the Mardudjara aborigine tribe of Australia. It is time for him to become a man.  The first rite of passage he must endure is nasal septum piercing. Two elders of his tribe hold a spear and bird wing bone to either side of his septum. A hole is carved with the spear and the bone is pushed through his nose.

Sometime later, the boy is taken on a journey with many members of his tribe. There is great ceremony and the performance of many rituals with wailing, singing, and dancing. At the end of traveling he is surrounded by a group of men and made to lay down by a fire. He will now be circumcised. One specially chosen man sits on his chest, pulls up his foreskin and twists it. Another holds his head and gives him a boomerang to bite. Two other men then take turns cutting away his foreskin while he remains motionless. Once they are finished, the boy is lead to a small fire and made to kneel on a shield over the smoke. He is then given a piece of “good meat” and told to eat it without swallowing. Once he does this, he is told he has eaten his own boy, his foreskin. When the rite is over, the boy is considered ceremonially dead and must remain in seclusion without talking until he is healed.  After this time he returns to society reborn, a man. But there is one more thing he must endure.

He is seized one day without warning and again brought into a group of men. There is more ceremony. He is again made to lie down. Elders gather around him and one gives him a boomerang to bite. He is going to be subincised. Two men are chosen to perform the task. One sits on his chest and holds his penis, the other puts a wooden rod in his urethra and then slices through to the rod until the underside of his penis is cut open.  After this operation is finished, he is brought to another fire and made to stand over it so the smoke can cleanse his wound. He is now a man and may participate in the sacred tribal rites.