More on the proposal...

I am attempting to delve into my family history for the final project.  My dad’s side of the family is from Guatemala.  Through interviews I would like to piece together the story of my great-grandmother and grandfather’s journey to the United States, what life was like for them in Guatemala, their reasons for leaving the country, and what it was like adjusting to life in San Francisco.  Alongside this narrative will be some historical background on Guatemala from the 1920s up to the 1954 ousting of president Jacobo Árbenz.My great-grandmother Zoila was from Huehuetenango in the highlands of western Guatemala.  She was the daughter of a plantation owner (I’ll guess coffee) and of Quiche Maya descent.  Sometime in the 1930s I believe she moved to Quetzaltenango, where she met my great-grandfather, Miguel Archelao, a photographer.  My grandpa was born in 1936, and I will guess they made their way to San Francisco sometime in the late 1940s, if not the early 50s.  This is the barebones information that I’ve been able to glean over the years, aside from amusing little stories my grandpa has told me.  Some of the stories I’ve heard from family members in the states became much clearer, and at times lurid, when I spoke with family in Guatemala during a 2003 trip to the country.  I’d like to fill in the gaps and get a concrete idea of my family’s story.  I will interview, by phone and e-mail, my grandpa, who now lives in California, and my aunt and cousins who still live in Guatemala.  I think it will be easier to gain information from family members other than my grandpa, who doesn’t like to talk much about his life before he came to the United States.  I’m hoping to conduct all of my interviews in Spanish, which might warm my grandpa up to the task a little bit.  I like the idea of making this a two part project, with my family’s history in one section and the roughly 30 year span of Guatemalan history in another.  I think this will be something like intensifying the magnification of a microscope.   The history of the country will, obviously, be set in stone, but the stories I gather from my family will be personal, quite possibly embellished, and at the far end of the spectrum, not true.  I foresee the family history section taking on a more narrative tone, possibly even bordering on historical non-fiction.  I don’t plan on writing a sterile, ethnographic account of my family.  All the crazy, colorful De León lore that I already have in my arsenal, and all the stories that I will collect throughout the semester will hopefully make this section an interesting read.  I don’t believe I want to tackle the subject of immigration on a broader scope.  I want to focus specifically on Guatemala and my family.  I’m not quite sure if I want to discuss present-day Guatemala.  It may add some perspective, but may also take away from the project.

Concentration and Project (and concentrating on the project)

1.  My major is International Studies in the Third World with a focus on Latin America.  Relevant coursework includes all of my Spanish classes, Cultural Anthropology, History of Latin America, Women in 3rd World Politics, Comparative Revolutions, Comparative Politics, Marx Seminar, Geography of Latin America, Latin America through Ethnography and Development and Underdevelopment.  Debal Deb, Amartya Sen, and Gustavo Esteva have influenced me greatly.  On the literature side of things is Gabriel Garcia Marquez (One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of my favorite books).  In 2003 I traveled to Guatemala.  I met family I never knew I had and traveled across the country, from Quetzaltenango to Livingston.  It was an eye-opening experience and set the course for my college education.

2.  I would like to delve deeper into my family history for the final project.  My dad's side of the family is from Guatemala.  My great-grandmother and grandfather immigrated to the US sometime in the late 1940s.  I'd like to speak with my grandpa about their reasons for leaving, what Guatemala was like in those days, and how they made it to California.  My relatives still in Guatemala can give me a perspective on what the country is like now and hopefully fill in the gaps in my grandfather's story.  Along with these narratives I could delve into the history of the country a bit.

I'm pretty much set on the above idea, but if I had to research another topic I suppose I'd look into US involvement in Latin America, specifically CIA-led coups.  Pretty broad, I know, but a back-up plan if my abuelito won't tell me anything...