@article{ART001354595},
author={Chongwook Park},
title={The New Continent, shadow of the desire for the West - focusing on the images through films},
journal={Cross-Cultural Studies},
issn={1598-0685},
year={2009},
volume={13},
number={1},
pages={41-73},
doi={10.21049/ccs.2009.13.1.41}
TY - JOUR
AU - Chongwook Park
TI - The New Continent, shadow of the desire for the West - focusing on the images through films
JO - Cross-Cultural Studies
PY - 2009
VL - 13
IS - 1
PB - Center for Cross Culture Studies
SP - 41
EP - 73
SN - 1598-0685
AB - Historical accident survives by the memories of the descendents and
coming ages. And its reconstructions get new meanings through the
interpretations of them. The Discovery of America has been interpretated
differently with passing eras. There have been many interpretations about
this historical fact, but most of them are reflecting the perspectives of
the westerners. Between the westerners and american indians or latin
americans there is no objective perspective to evaluate the Discovery of
America. In this case, objectivism is not a fixed form, but a flexible one
through times. Now we, the contemporaries are living the world where
the visual images and cultural codes are full everywhere. Therefore the
films and documentaries are available to interpretate the modern
meanings, reconstructing the historial accidents with visual images and
cultural codes, with which the modern people think and cognize the
world where they live. In this investigation we've planned to analyze the
necessity and advantage of using the films and documentaries to know
how the contemporaries recognize the Discovery of America and
evaluate it. To realize this investigation we've analyzed some films and
documentaries such as [1492, Conquest of Paradise], [El Dorado],
[Mission], [Soy Cuba], [Historia de España: La noche de los tiempos.
Vol. XIV El descubrimiento de América], [Nueva historia de España -10
El descubrimiento de América], comparing with the historical
documents, essays and books like Diario de a bordo, Venas abiertas,
Primer viaje alrededor del mundo, etc.
Columbus described the America as a Paradise in [Diario de a bordo],but [Historia de España: La noche de los tiempos. Vol. XIV El
descubrimiento de América] considers America as mine of gold, silver,
and natural resources, alluding that the westerners deserve the Discovery
of America as a reward. At least, [Nueva historia de España -10 El
descubrimiento de América] recognizes the cultures and civilizations of
the american indians and latin americans, even though the documentary
rationalizes partially the cruel and violent behaviors of the westerners in
the process of Conquest and Exploitation. [1492, Conquest of Paradise]
emphasizes how warm-hearted person was Columbus with everyone
including even indians who practically had died of violence and
exploitation as mentioned in the book, Venas abiertas of Eduardo
Galeano. [El Dorado] tells us how greedy the explorers for worldly
riches in America, but Carlos Saura emphasizes more on the weakness
of the human being. [Mission] shows how the desire and ambition for
the geographical expansion of Spain and Portugal destroyed the
happiness of the guarani who inevitably sacrificed the missionaries.
Mikhail Kalatozov accuses Columbus and the westerners in America of
the violent exploitation in [Soy Cuba], considering the Discovery of
America as tragic reencounter between two Continents, while Jan Elliott
accuses Columbus as historically most cruel murderer, judging him as
person responsible for the genocide of the indians.
Now in the 21st century films and documentaries have the advantage
of reflecting the mind and thoughts of the contemporaries. Therefore
we've focused on how the films and documentaries reconstruct the
history in the mind and thoughts of the people. The meanings of the
Discovery of America always can be re-interpretated by the new
perspectives of descendents, coming ages and others.
KW - Discovery of America;History of Exploitation;Image of Desire;
Latin America;Memories of History;Reconstruction of Memories;
Columbus;Species;Analysis of films and documentaries;Utopia;El
Dorado;[1492;conquest of Paradise];[El Dorado];[Soy Cuba];
[Mission];Diario al Bordo;Primer viaje alrededor del Mundo;
Venas abiertas
DO - 10.21049/ccs.2009.13.1.41
ER -
Chongwook Park. (2009). The New Continent, shadow of the desire for the West - focusing on the images through films. Cross-Cultural Studies, 13(1), 41-73.
Chongwook Park. 2009, "The New Continent, shadow of the desire for the West - focusing on the images through films", Cross-Cultural Studies, vol.13, no.1 pp.41-73. Available from: doi:10.21049/ccs.2009.13.1.41
Chongwook Park "The New Continent, shadow of the desire for the West - focusing on the images through films" Cross-Cultural Studies 13.1 pp.41-73 (2009) : 41.
Chongwook Park. The New Continent, shadow of the desire for the West - focusing on the images through films. 2009; 13(1), 41-73. Available from: doi:10.21049/ccs.2009.13.1.41
Chongwook Park. "The New Continent, shadow of the desire for the West - focusing on the images through films" Cross-Cultural Studies 13, no.1 (2009) : 41-73.doi: 10.21049/ccs.2009.13.1.41
Chongwook Park. The New Continent, shadow of the desire for the West - focusing on the images through films. Cross-Cultural Studies, 13(1), 41-73. doi: 10.21049/ccs.2009.13.1.41
Chongwook Park. The New Continent, shadow of the desire for the West - focusing on the images through films. Cross-Cultural Studies. 2009; 13(1) 41-73. doi: 10.21049/ccs.2009.13.1.41
Chongwook Park. The New Continent, shadow of the desire for the West - focusing on the images through films. 2009; 13(1), 41-73. Available from: doi:10.21049/ccs.2009.13.1.41
Chongwook Park. "The New Continent, shadow of the desire for the West - focusing on the images through films" Cross-Cultural Studies 13, no.1 (2009) : 41-73.doi: 10.21049/ccs.2009.13.1.41
