The Costa Rica Reader

by Palmer, Steven Paul

• ISBN13: 9780822333722
• ISBN10: 0822333724
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-11-01
• Publisher: Duke Univ Pr

Summary

Long characterized as an exceptional country within Latin America, Costa Rica has been hailed as democratic oasis in a continent scorched by dictatorship and revolution; the ecological Mecca of a biosphere laid waste by deforestation and urban blight; and an egalitarian, middle-class society blissfully immune to the violent class and racial conflicts that have haunted the region. Arguing that conceptions of Costa Rica as a happy anomaly downplay its rich heritage and diverse population, The Costa Rica Reader brings together texts and artwork designed to reveal the complexity of the country's past and present. It characterizes Costa Rica as a site of alternatives and possibilities that undermine stereotypes about the region's history and challenge the idea that current dilemmas facing Latin America are inevitable or insoluble. This essential introduction to Costa Rica includes more than fifty texts related to the country's history, culture, politics, and natural environment. Most of these newspaper accounts, histories, petitions, memoirs, poems, and essays are written by Costa Ricans. Many appear here in English for the first time. The authors are men and women, young and old, scholars, farmers, workers, and activists. The Costa Rica Reader presents a panoply of voices: eloquent working-class raconteurs from San José's poorest barrios, English-speaking Afro-Antilleans of Limón province, Nicaraguan immigrants, factory workers, dissident members of the intelligentsia, and indigenous people struggling to preserve their culture. With more than forty images, the collection showcases sculptures, photographs, maps, cartoons, and fliers. From the time before the arrival of the Spanish, through the rise of the coffee plantations and the Civil War of 1948, up to participation in today's globalized world, Costa Rica's remarkable history comes alive. The Costa Rica Reader is a necessary resource for scholars, students, and travellers alike.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction	1	(8)
Birth of an Exception?	9	(46)
Warriors and Sacred Struggle. Pre-Columbian Distinctions	13	(1)
A Conqueror Looks on the Bright Side. Town Council of Castillo de Garci-Munoz	14	(2)
Hunting Indians	16	(6)
Claudia Quiros
The Execution of Pablo Presbere	22	(1)
Jose Maria Figueroa
The Trial of Pablo Presbere, Cacique of Suinse. Lorenzo Antonio de Granda y Balbin	23	(3)
A Slave's Story	26	(3)
Jose Cubero
Free Blacks, Mulattoes, and Mestizos Seek Legitimacy. Cabildo of Cartago	29	(2)
Brotherhood of the Virgin	31	(4)
Ricardo Fernandez Guardia
Life and Labor in the Central Valley, circa 1821	35	(9)
Ivan Molina
The Fall of Morazan. Unknown	44	(4)
Libelous Pornography from 1841	48	(1)
Jose Maria Figueroa
Civilizing Domestic Life in the Central Valley, 1750--1850	49	(6)
Eugenia Rodriguez
Coffee Nation	55	(44)
Privatization of the Land and Agrarian Conflict	57	(5)
Silvia Castro
Tico Sweepstakes	62	(3)
Pio Joaquin Fernandez
Witness to Heroism	65	(4)
Geronimo Segura
Holidays in Costa Rica, 1858	69	(15)
Thomas Francis Meagher
Ramon Paez
Denunciation of the Lazarene Brothers	84	(2)
Diego Quesada
Building Civilization	86	(4)
Fernando Zamora
Getting to Know the Unknown Soldier	90	(7)
Steven Palmer
The Burning of the Meson	97	(2)
Enrique Echandi
Popular Culture and Social Policy	99	(40)
Alleyway of Open Wounds	101	(1)
Claudia Maria Jimenez
Women of the Barrio	102	(7)
Luisa Gonzalez
A District Laboratory in Costa Rica	109	(3)
John Elmendorf Jr.
Autobiography of a Shoemaker	112	(9)
Juan Rafael Morales
Maternity	121	(2)
Francisco Zuniga
Prospectus. National Association of Coffee Producers	123	(4)
The Red Door	127	(1)
Teodorico Quiros
Banana Strike Confidential. Diplomatic Service of the United States of America	128	(4)
Notice to West Indian Farmers! West Indian Strike Committee	132	(2)
Woman in Window	134	(1)
Max Jimenez
A Governor and a Man Faces the Social Problem	135	(4)
Rafael Angel Calderon Guardia
Democratic Enigma	139	(44)
Petition for Recognition of Voting Rights from a Humble Citizen, 1859	143	(3)
Santiago Cordova
The Night of San Florencio	146	(3)
La Prensa Libre
An Outsider's View of Political Society in 1914	149	(6)
Dana G. Munro
Democrats and Feminists	155	(5)
Steven Palmer
Gladys Rojas Chaves
Women's Vote---the Day That They Get It	160	(1)
Paco Hernandez
Hail to the Jefe	161	(1)
Alejandro Alvares Duartes Mora
Unlikely Threesome. Reformist Summit, 1943	162	(1)
The Polarization of Politics, 1932-1948	163	(7)
Ivan Molina
Memories of Girlhood in '48	170	(5)
Maria E. Robles Solano
Democracy on the Brink: The First Figueres Presidency	175	(8)
Kirk Bowman
The Costa Rican Dream	183	(46)
Means and Ends for a Better Costa Rica	187	(5)
Rodrigo Facio
In Defense of the Corner Store	192	(6)
Constantino Lascaris
A Costa Rican Godfather	198	(5)
J. L. Vargas
Growing Up in the Dream	203	(7)
Manrique Mata-Montero
Alcoa No! Student Protests, 1970	210	(2)
The Crisis: 1980-1982	212	(7)
Jorge Rovira Mas
The Family	219	(4)
Anonymous
Imperial Eagle versus Peace Dove	223	(2)
Hugo Diaz
A Dictionary of Costa Rican Patriotism	225	(4)
Alvaro Quesada
Other Cultures and Outer Reaches	229	(46)
Indigenous Figure	233	(1)
Juan Manuel Sanchez
Dispossessed. The Indigenous Community of Orosi	234	(3)
West Indian Limon	237	(6)
Paula Palmer
Our Blood Is Blackening	243	(2)
Clodomiro Picado
Everyday Racism, 1932	245	(2)
Anonymous
My Mother and the Seawall	247	(2)
Eulalia Bernard
The Devil and Don Chico	249	(8)
Marc Edelman
Passing: Nicaraguans in Costa Rica	257	(7)
Patricia Alvarenga
Taking Care of Sibo's Gifts	264	(11)
Gloria Mayorga
Juanita Sanchez
Paula Palmer
Working Paradise	275	(44)
A Community Takes Care of Its Environs. Owners of Montana de la Candelaria	279	(2)
Caffeinated Miasmas. Residents of Santo Domingo de Heredia	281	(3)
Migration and the Costa Rican Environment since 1900	284	(9)
Uli Locher
From Rain Forest to Banana Plantation: A Workers' Eye View	293	(5)
Ana Luisa Cerdas
Pesticides and Parakeets in the Banana Industry	298	(12)
Steve Marquardt
The River of Milk. Environmental and Administrative Tribunal, Ministry of Energy and the Environment	310	(4)
La Loca de Gandoca	314	(5)
Ana Cristina Rossi
Tropical Soundings	319	(48)
Social Development with Limited Resources	323	(11)
Carmelo Mesa-Lago
Visit Beautiful Costa Rica! Tourism Propaganda of Another Era	334	(2)
Corruption	336	(4)
Alfonso Gonzalez
Manuel Solis
The Contemporary Protest Movement	340	(2)
The Narcotizing of Costa Rican Politics	342	(2)
Mercedes Munoz Guillen
Citizens 2000. March against the Combo ICE	344	(1)
On the Recent Protests against the Privatization of the Costa Rican Hydroelectric Company (ICE)	345	(4)
Rodolfo Cerdas
Building Your Own Home	349	(1)
Antonio
Men in Crisis?	350	(8)
Sylvia Chant
Are the Kids Alright?	358	(3)
Osvaldo Orias
Kenneth
Costa Rica: A Millennial Profile	361	(3)
Steven Palmer
Ivan Molina
Demoperfectocracy	364	(3)
Yolanda Oreamuno
Suggestions for Further Reading	367	(6)
Acknowledgment of Copyrights	373	(6)
Index	379