Monday, May 4, 2015

4th Quarter first in process blog

I am reading a book about Eva Peron, who was the former first lady of Argentina.  Even though she is dead, she still has a lot of impact on the country, its people, and is a reminder of the politics of the past.  When she was alive she was a huge figure to the whole country.  Having been in Argentina, there are references to her at least once a day--every single person knows about her and still thinks about her today. The author of this book has a purpose of tackling three myths that surrounded the famous Evita, as the people called her, as different groups of people viewed her differently. Something I have already learned is that some people viewed her as a dark, evil whore. These people were of course those who were anti-Peronists. There were two main groups, the Peronists, those who supported Evita's husband, President Juan Peron, and the anti-Peronists, those who opposed him.  I was interested in studying this topic, reading this book, and doing more research just from the exposure that I have had from my family members. As I said, she is probably one of if not the most well known figure in Argentina, and I have been to museums dedicated to her life and seen her grave in a cemetery in Buenos Aires.  What makes her so interesting and important to the history of Argentina is that her life and impact has everything lot to do with the politics of that time period, and that is one of the reasons she has remained so prominent even after her death, because she was part of a very important time in Argentine history. She was a very powerful political figure and her goal was to support the people (labor rights, women's suffrage, health) and created her own foundation. What makes this book interesting in particular (out of the many that are written about her) is that it connects the people to the state of the country. The author, J.M. Taylor focuses on how the people reacted to having such a figure in their lives. Her death is also interesting and tragic, she was forced to take herself out of the running for Vice President because her health got so bad. There is also a musical based off of her life, called Evita.  I think that a lot of valuable information about her will be very accessible just based off of all the different forms of writing, film, etc there are about her and from all of the different viewpoints that people have on her and her work as a political leader.  The fact that she is a woman also brings in an interesting aspect to the conversation and I hope that reading this book and doing more research from as many different sources as I can will teach me a lot about Argentine history and her impact.
Also--to whoever reads my post and responds, let me know some things you would want to know about this topic, any questions or things you are curious about.

3 comments:

  1. Something to think about: other 1st ladies (Isabel de Peron and now Cristina K.) have "adopted" some of Evita's style to gain popular support with no success. It might be interesting for you to read why they are criticized. HEre are some articles: http://periodicotribuna.com.ar/6982-cristina-mas-que-a-evita-se-parece-a-isabel-

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  2. I like your Mom's suggestions. I am also wondering about these three myths -- how is Taylor breaking these down? I can envision your "golden thread" somehow being related to three myths -- having some kind of representation of those myths being anchor pieces in your MGP. Looking forward to reading more!

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  3. It seems to me like you have a good idea what you are doing for your project. I get the feeling that you are genuinely very interested in your book. I did a little research on Eva Peron, and she seems like a very interesting person. She has had such an impact on Argentinian politics, creating multiple organizations and programs, as well as having a lasting impression on the Argentinian people. I feel that a topic that you could definitely explore is why she made such a lasting impact on the Argentinian people and not someone else. I think it is worth exploring how people reacted to her, as you stated your book talks about, but also what makes her different than other major leadership figures, besides the fact that she is a woman, for example, how she related to the people, what kind of programs she instituted, how she presented herself, what other things she did to get people to remember her so much. You could explore the foundations of what makes a leader successful in general and why much of the time, imitation of a past leader does not result in much success for the imitator. A topic I'm curious about is how she transitioned from her life as an actress to her life as first lady. Some questions: What are these three myths you speak of? Also, is the adjective form of Argentina "Argentine" or "Argentinian"?

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