2/6/09
Eng 48B
Maria Ruiz de Burton
“Although Ruíz de Burton was not shy to take full advantage of these insider connections over the course of her life, it is clear that she often found herself in contradictory positions, and simultaneously holding opposing views, while attempting to balance her heritage with her ideals.” (www.wikipedia.org)
As the first female Mexican-American author to write in English, Maria Ruiz de Burton can be found to be a pioneer in more than just one way. Married to a prominent officer of the American (and eventually Union) Army, she found herself stuck in a very precarious position to be in. As the daughter of very prominent Spanish Catholic Californios, Ruiz de Burton was born of the gentry of California, property owners who happened to have high ranking positions in the local Californian government. Her grandfather was not only the governor of the region at one point, but also the commander of the local troops in the region. Her great uncle was the commandate of the San Diego presidio. Born into what could be described as the aristocracy of the region, she had a difficult life after being wedded to a Protestant Army general of the invading forces which stripped her people of their land and titles. Through the use of corrupt laws and protracted litigations and biased tribunals, many squatters were able to strip the Californios of their lands that the “Anglo” squatters had no right to. Through the dual nature of her situation, as an oppressed native Californian as well as the wife of a prominent American general, Ruiz de Burton was able to critique the social injustices of the time by way of her connections to both the Californios as well as the Eastern establishment.
In point of fact, I feel very much that my own people’s history can be directly related to the circumstances that Ruiz de Burton wrote about. Her people were stripped of their land and their birthright, much like my people were as well. After the colonization of Syria, the British and in particular the French partitioned up the region according to their own whims and desires. The results of these bungles are apparent until this day and are not just in the Middle East. Africa, due to its being partitioned with no care with regards to tribal and ethnic territories and the bloodbaths that were guaranteed to ensue, had it much worse than the circumstances in the Middle East. However, what can be accurately described as the Israeli-Palestinian dilemma, as well as much of Syria’s historical lands and cities such as Antioch being given to Turkey, is without a doubt the workings of the colonial powers bungling up the region due to the drawing of modern borders without a care as to how the inhabitants of the newly drawn up lands would react. Syria’s being stripped of her most beautiful coast lines to Turkey, where all of Turkey’s most profitable tourist locations such as the Club Meds are located, as well as the Palestinians and Kurds being landless people, can be directly blamed on the imperialist policies of Europe.
20 points. "In point of fact, I feel very much that my own people’s history can be directly related to the circumstances that Ruiz de Burton wrote about." Fady, I mentioned in our discussion of Post-Colonial Theory the work of Edward Said, the esteemed Palestinian literary critic and historian. His book "Orientalism" is required reading for anyone interested in anything literary these days -- and I think you would find it valuable as a kind of "bridge" to a more internationalized vision of your own critique of American federalization. Indeed it would be interesting to directly correlate/cross-compare the imposition of martial law in the U.S. under Lincoln with events in Syria in 1862; as well as in India in 1857; as well as in North Africa during the same period etc. Perhaps you are some kind of post-colonial critique in vitro?
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