The website of the Society for Irish Latin American Studies is full of information about Irish migration to Latin America. It's divided into four sections:
The Homeland, about the
origins of the settlers;
The Journey, about how the Irish settlers traveled to Latin America, including the infamous
Dresden affair;
The Settlement, about the lives of the Irish in Latin America;
Faces and Places, which has biographies of a wide variety of people,
Mateo Banks, family murderer,
Camila O'Gorman, executed lover of a priest,
William Lamport, 17th Century revolutionary and
Bernardo O'Higgins, Chilean independence leader, who gets a whole subsection to himself. There is also a
list of Irish placenames and much else of interest to history nerds.
posted by Kattullus
on May 14, 2012 -
13 comments
The London Geographical Journal, the preeminent publication in its field, observed in 1953 that “Fawcett marked the end of an age. One might almost call him the last of the individualist explorers. The day of the aeroplane, the radio, the organized and heavily financed modern expedition had not arrived. With him, it was the heroic story of a man against the forest.” Fawcett was none other than
Percival "Percy" Harrison Fawcett,
British soldier, trained as a surveyor of unknown lands, doubling as a British spy. But
his true love was exploration, and not simply to mark boundaries on a map. His final goal was the same that had been the demise of many explorers:
a mighty lost civilization in South America.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Dec 29, 2011 -
6 comments
In 2008 a letter was excavated during an archaeological dig of a Peruvian colonial town abandoned for unknown reasons around the turn of the 18th Century. On the back of that letter were recorded several numbers and their names in a dead tongue, lost in the upheaval following the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Even though this may be the only remnant of an entire language, there is quite a bit that linguists can glean from these fragments. For a brief overview of the findings of research by a joint American-Peruvian research group,
read here. And
here is the full journal article, which places these numbers in their historical and linguistic context.
posted by Kattullus
on Sep 25, 2011 -
11 comments
Copa América is streamed live on YouTube. Copa América is the oldest international football competition, having been held first in 1916. This is a contest between the 10 South American nations and two invitational teams, this time Costa Rica and Mexico, who both sent young squads (Japan was slated to take part but
withdrew due to the earthquake). The tournament started yesterday with Bolivia unexpectedly managing to
hold Argentina to a draw. Colombia are currently beating a 10-man Costa Rica 1-0. Brazil start their campaign tomorrow, against Venezuela. One of the world's premier football writers, Jonathan Wilson, wrote previews of the three groups,
A,
B and
C. The Independent has more light-hearted
team previews.
posted by Kattullus
on Jul 2, 2011 -
13 comments
Gocta Falls, Peru In 2005 Stefan Ziemendorff came across a waterfall in Northern Peru that didn't appear on any map, despite a village of 200 people being at its base. He returned the following year to measure its height. At 2,350 feet tall, Gocta Falls are now known to be the 3rd highest in the world.
[more inside]
posted by jontyjago
on Feb 16, 2011 -
17 comments
In those years I imitated him, to the point of transcription, to the point of devoted and impassioned plagiarism. I felt: Macedonio is metaphysics, is literature. Whoever preceded him might shine in history, but they were all rough drafts of Macedonio, imperfect previous versions. To not imitate this canon would have represented incredible negligence.
From Jorge Luis Borges' eulogy for Macedonio Fernández. Borges' relationship with Macedonio was complicated, as recounted in
The Man Who Invented Borges, a fine essay by Marcelo Ballvé. Macedonio's most famous work, the posthumous-by-design work (he believed literature should be aged like good whiskey) The Museum of Eterna's Novel has finally been translated and published in English translation,
here is an excerpt from the novel (one of the ninety or so prologues). The introduction to the novel, written by its translator Margaret Schwartz, has been put online by the publisher (parts
1,
2,
3,
4,
5). Schwartz also sat down for a
short interview. You can download an mp3 of a
great hour-long panel discussion on Macedonio and a
master's thesis on Macedonio by Peter Loggie [pdf]
posted by Kattullus
on Jul 21, 2010 -
7 comments
Su Majestad 'El Bolero' - Sonidos del Mundo::
2::
3::
4::
5:: Special bolero, a musical genre with Iberian and African mergers that are installed in the Cuban archipelago in the late nineteenth century.
Classical introduction of Matt Ramirez (Radio Felicidad 88.9 - Peru) who is involved in a musical gatherings led by Mabel Martinez. The same applies to journalists Eloy Perez and Agustin Jauregui Aldave.
Since my senses perceived that needle to settle into the grooves of vinyl. After listening to the announcer's voice and even at that moment, unknown bolero invaded me as they say, the sweet joy of 'sad', called melancholy.
I remembered that magical scene of an afternoon in which, from a makeshift place, interrupted the dance of two lovers who blushed as teenagers after being discovered.
Well I wrote my Father on the album cover photo she shared with 'her pimp'. Love? There are lots... but like ours are very few people there.
Now imagine how lucky I am to have been a spectator of so simple and beautiful moment. (google translate)
posted by vronsky
on Dec 14, 2009 -
6 comments
How does a director follow up the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time*?
(*adjusted for inflation) He remakes a French classic - taking an international cast to a Caribbean nation ruled by a military dictatorship, where hurricanes, irascibility, other difficulties take him far over a budget already large enough to be shared by two studios.
The result is his
personal favorite among his films. But
deceptive marketing and cute robots contribute to its making back less than half of its costs.
(previously)
posted by Joe Beese
on Sep 7, 2009 -
65 comments
If you've ever heard the song Aquarela do Brasil (often called simply "Brazil" -- here's my favourite
cover), then you'll probably enjoy
this classic 1942 animation which first made it famous. The clip is the finale from the feature
Saludos Amigos (hello friends), created during a US government-funded goodwill tour of South America aimed at strengthening Pan-American relations, which
some argue may have helped bring South America onto the side of the Allies in World War II.
[more inside]
posted by PercussivePaul
on May 14, 2009 -
25 comments
Hilda Magazine ― prose, poetry, illustrations, photography, video, and music from a wide assortment contemporary artists.
[contains some nude art images] [more inside]
posted by netbros
on Oct 29, 2008 -
3 comments
"Skin painted bright red, heads partially shaved, arrows drawn back in the longbows and aimed square at the aircraft buzzing overhead. The gesture is unmistakable: Stay Away. The apparent aggression shown by these people is quite understandable, for they are members of one of Earth's last uncontacted tribes." [more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on May 29, 2008 -
88 comments
The Thirteen Towers of Chankillo in Peru may be the Western Hemisphere's oldest known
full-service solar observatory, showing evidence of early, sophisticated
Sun cults, according to
archaeoastronomy professor
Clive Ruggles. The 2,300-year-old complex featured 13 towers running north to south along a ridge and spread across 980 feet to form a toothed horizon that
spans the solar arc. Last year, another ancient observatory was discovered in Peru by
Robert Benfer.
The Temple of the Fox is 4,200 years old, making it
1,900 years older than the Chankillo site, but wasn't a complete calendar.
posted by homunculus
on Mar 3, 2007 -
8 comments
Chiquita Secrets Revealed - On May 3, 1998, the
Cincinnati Enquirer published a series of investigative articles on Chiquita's business practices in South America, all in its own pullout section. The stories claimed the company sprayed workers in the field with pesticides and destroyed a village to stop union activity, among other offenses. A few weeks later, the Enquirer ran
a huge apology on its front page for three days, and paid the company $10 million, because a reporter illegally accessed Chiquita voicemail in the course of his work. The renouncement became
more of a story than the original articles, but one question remains:
are the stories true? To this day, the Enquirer refuses to give a straight answer.
posted by brett
on Sep 7, 2006 -
18 comments
"When they emerged after 50 yards, the landscape no longer looked anything like the southern edge of the Amazon forest.
It looked like Iowa."
In Mato Grosso, Brazil the rainforest is vanishing. And all because of soybeans and beef.
"If we were an aggressive tribe, we would have killed the land owners already," said Tupxi, one of the canoeists, who estimated his age at 77. "
good Washpost story...
posted by punkbitch
on Jun 12, 2005 -
27 comments
"We can fix your teeth, you know. We can give you a great smile." Apparently the best way to get your teeth fixed these days is to visit a South American dentist. It's a really honest piece about a subject most people probably wouldn't open up about - and it's interesting to see something positive about going out of the U.S. for skilled services in these days where everyone is complaining about outsourcing. (free registration required, same site as Bridezilla last year)
posted by clango
on May 23, 2004 -
23 comments
Photos by Martin - a gem of a site for vicarious travelers, it features
wonderful,
charming photos and fascinating
stories from a guy who quit his job three years ago to travel the world. He credits global photojournalist
Steve McCurry as an influence. I am such a fan of these photo travel narratives, professional and amateur alike - has anyone else discivered some special favorites?
posted by madamjujujive
on Jul 8, 2003 -
22 comments
Yerba Mate is a drink that is enormously popular in South America. Given to the world by the
Guarani Indians, its a bitter brew reminiscent of tea but with
interesting properties. A coworker returned from Argentina and brought me some. I'm addicted.
posted by Dantien
on Feb 28, 2003 -
20 comments
The History of the Shuar. The Jivaro are one of the few native clans in South America who successfully revolted against the Spanish Conquest, but they're more famous for their shrunken heads- this site not only has the history, but also a pretty fascinating gallery. Of course, if you're just interested in the shrunken heads,
Doc Bwana's Museum of Shrunken Heads will most certainly meet your shrunken-head viewing needs. (Probably safe for work, but I wouldn't read it while eating lunch.)
posted by headspace
on Nov 15, 2002 -
5 comments
A look into peacekeeping training being conducting in Chile with the U.S. and most South American countries participating. A rare view of the interaction between national militaries to improve good relationships. The pics are great, too.
posted by mcchesnj
on Oct 19, 2002 -
1 comment
Love the Liberator? Sure, we all do. But how much do you really know about Simón Bolívar, founder of a good six or seven South American countries? There are a few good quick biographies
here,
here, and
here. The best site, by far, is the
Virtual Library of Simón Bolívar, which not only has detailed scholarly articles but a number of Bolívar's own writings. Stop by and meet
el Libertador again for the first time.
posted by tdecius
on Feb 3, 2000 -
0 comments
