Revolutionary lands: precariousness and social and ecological contingency in the Nicaraguan documentary Magic words (to break an enchantment) (2012) by Mercedes Moncada

Authors

  • Jared List Doane University, United States

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15359/istmica.25.6

Keywords:

Sandinista Revolution, precarity, contingency, ecocriticism, documentary film

Abstract

This essay examines the relationality and representation of Nicaraguans and nature through frameworks of precarity and ecocriticism. The documentary film Palabras mágicas (para romper un encantamiento) (2012) by Mercedes Moncada presents the earth as an extension of the self, firstly, as an allegory of the country, the revolution and the individual, and, secondly, through the contingency and vulnerability of the environment and Nicaragua’s people. Both Nicaraguans and nature are victims of a political system that repeats itself during the 20th and 21st centuries. Through the notions of corporality and materiality, the documentary establishes a link between the Nicaraguan subject and land through their discursivity, both as sites of inscription that are subject to relations of power, a fact that makes them both precarious. Palabras mágicas (2012) proposes that both are victims the somocismo of the 20th century and Ortega’s neosandismo of the 21st century. Finally, from the metaphorical link between Nicaragua’s environment and people, one of the results is framing the environment within a framework of precarity and vulnerability, highlighting contingency and dependency between both humans and itself.

Author Biography

Jared List, Doane University

Es Associate Professor de español en la Universidad de Doane (Nebraska, Estados Unidos). Obtuvo su doctorado en la Universidad Estatal de Ohio en literaturas y culturas latinoamericanas. Su investigación y publicaciones abordan la producción cinematográfica centroamericana, incluyendo ensayos sobre los documentales abUSado: la redada de Postville (2011), El cuarto de los huesos (2015) y El codo del diablo (2014).

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Published

2020-03-02

How to Cite

“Revolutionary Lands: Precariousness and Social and Ecological Contingency in the Nicaraguan Documentary Magic Words (to Break an Enchantment) (2012) by Mercedes Moncada”. 2020. ÍSTMICA. Revista De La Facultad De Filosofía Y Letras 1 (25): 73-89. https://doi.org/10.15359/istmica.25.6.

Issue

Section

Dossier (sección arbitrada)

How to Cite

“Revolutionary Lands: Precariousness and Social and Ecological Contingency in the Nicaraguan Documentary Magic Words (to Break an Enchantment) (2012) by Mercedes Moncada”. 2020. ÍSTMICA. Revista De La Facultad De Filosofía Y Letras 1 (25): 73-89. https://doi.org/10.15359/istmica.25.6.

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