Pre-Columbian Theater, Spanish Empire, and Sor Juana: Crash Course Theater #22

This week, we're headed to the Americas to learn about the theater that existed there prior to the arrival of Europeans, how the theater of the Spanish influenced it, and the impact of Sor Juana Inez de la Cruz, playwrighting Spanish nun extraordinaire.

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[malhado]

I just want to say thank you for making this video, and sharing the works of Sor Juana. Hopefully, it encourages people to read more about her, and trust me you will not be let down.
Ps- If you interested in learning about her and her works I would recommend that you read her Poem "Hombres Necios" or "Foolish Man", you can say its a feminist poem and controversial for her time. Also, read " The Response to Sor Filotea", there she explains her life, and get an understanding how brilliant her mind was. Anyways, thank you!

[sonnymolly]

Thanks for mentioning the Netflix show! I keep recommending it to my friends whenever they ask for a Spanish language show to watch

[flormillan]

Hello. I’m Mexican, I’m currently writing my PhD thesis in Latin-American literature. I really appreciated this video. It was pretty accurate. I recommend you “Primero sueño” from Sor Juana.

[juliogaonasalas]

Also Sor Juana is on the 200 pesos bill here in Mexico.

[adrienne]

Done with high school and still watch these

[lovernumber]

Omg that's so cool! I was NOT expecting you guys to talk about her!!! I'm SO happy!

[michelleg]

It makes me incredibly happy when my cousin Sor Juana makes people so happy. She has so many interesting people in her family. I descend from two of her grandfather's brothers.

[mikekuppen]

I´m guessing it´s the nuns because a) they could write, b) if they entered the convent with a dowry they didn`t have to work day and night and c) they weren´t as closely supervised as other rich women.

[paulavery]

I am part Mexican and know a little about Sor Juana Inez de Cruz, yet I knew nothing about Mesoamerican drama. Thanks Crash Course for the information!

[JuriAmari]

Sor Juana also has a movie by Argentinian director Maria Luisa Bemberg called Yo la Peor de Todas (I the Worst of All). It’s another amazing movie I recommend to anyone interested in Sor Juana’s story. I also recommend reading Premier Sueño (1st Dream). It’s Sor Juana’s magnum opus.

[Suite_annamite]

@2:39: Ironically, *some of the Spaniards themselves* who settled in the Americas - in particular Mexico - *were actually themselves recently assimilated "Moors", by then known as "Moriscos"* ("Mauresques" if they were in southern France) - and I guess went over the top to "prove" that they were now really Spanish, and so used these performances to confirm themselves psychologically.

[OstrichRidingCowboy]

I'll have to use, "it comes from my Faith" the next time I workshop anything.

[alessiazinnari]

I love Sor Juana, thank you so much for making a video about her <3

[marciasims]

“there was theater in Central America” and topic is the famous Sor Juana of Mexico (North America).

[ljvc]

Sor Juana poems touch the soul in ways that can't be understood in any translation,

[jayjaybee]

She and I have the same birthday--awesome.

[te]

I was curious about this. I wanted to know what form of entertainment did the spaniards enjoyed. Besides learning about the conquest.

[caseynw]

[episode request] Please do an episode on post-War Japanese theater in the 1960's focusing on Karajuro's works and Shuji Terayama's works of Tenjou-Sajiki !!

[jillchristensen]

Hi Mike,
since no one has pointed this out yet, for Catholic Christians like the colonial Spanish in this video, the Eucharist is not “at least partially symbolic.” In Catholic sacramental theology the bread and wine truly and fully become the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus. It isn’t regarded as bread and wine once it has been consecrated by the priest. Other Christian churches may have a more symbolic understanding of the Eucharist.

[rafacamacho]

Overall, I enjoy watching Crash Course Theater and realize that it's a great resource for young people who aren't already familiar with some of the history being discussed. However, I'm disappointed that so much erroneous and/or biased information is being disseminated in this episode. For example, the appellation "Aztec" is a misnomer - there were never any Mesoamerican people who referred to themselves as such. The label "Aztec" was coined by the nineteenth century naturalist Alexander von Humboldt. The proper name of the people who Hernán Cortés and the Conquistadors encountered in 1519, and subsequently conquered in a brutal manner, is Mexica. Furthermore, the Mexica, whose culture and history is being grossly misrepresented in this video, resided in what came to be known as North America not Central America.

Regarding the claim that pre-Colombian theater - particularly that of the Mexica - was inspired by human sacrifice, all of the sources cited in this episode are post-colonial sources and should not be trusted to provide unbiased, accurate accounts of the lives of people who were routinely demonized to justify Spain's colonial undertakings. Even the codices (which are shown in this video) were produced by Mexica slaves under the command of Conquistadors and priests. I'm not suggesting that there wasn't any human sacrifice among the Mexica and other pre-Colombian people; I'm merely pointing out the fact that the vast majority of documented accounts - including those cited here - have been debunked, or at least called into question, by scholars who don't have a Eurocentric agenda prejudiced by Christian apologetics. Apparently Crash Course doesn't see the irony in stating that "performance is a pretty useful way to spread religious and imperial propaganda and impose your preferred historical narrative, " as they use this video to spread religious and imperial propaganda and impose their preferred historical narrative.

Now, moving on to the shamefully inaccurate overview of Sor Juana's life. It's asserted that - in opting not to get married -  Sor Juana new that "if she became a nun, she could determine her own intellectual life, and she did." The fact is that having inherited her grandfather's vast book collection at a young age, Sor Juana became an autodidact who engaged in various intellectual pursuits, including intensive studies of science, philosophy, and indigenous-based pre-Hispanic history. Not only was she painfully aware that being a nun was a great impediment with regards to her intellectual life, but the aforementioned intellectual pursuits (along with her feminist views) made her a target of church leaders who, in 1694, forced her to sell her treasured books, renew her religious vows, and sign various penitential documents. As further punishment for the sin of pursuing what the church deemed to be heretical studies, Sor Juana was sent away to tend, and hence be exposed to nuns who were afflicted by an epidemic. So while her death may indeed be characterized as "righteous as heck, " it should also be noted that it was essentially the result of a death sentence issued by the Catholic Church - for the crime of being a freethinker.

I hope that people who come across this video, particularly young people, take the time to research the fascinating life and work of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, because this Crash Course episode is lacking in many ways and should not be relied upon to provide accurate information.