Cristen Lauck

October 2, 2011

Research Plan: Mexico’s colonization

          For my research option, I would like to do the research posts. I would like to research the colonization of Mexico by the Spanish and the literature that was produced from that. I noticed that Charles Colson has already researched the colonization of Latin America in his post, “Magic Realism”, in a previous course (2009). I liked that he focused in this area of colonization but my focus will be a little more focused and specific to the colonization of Mexico. I will likely research the different attitudes between the colonizers and the colonized, much like what we have none so far in the course. I will also be looking for clues as to why the United States’ post-colonization is so different that Mexico’s. For instance, Mexico still hangs on to many of  the traditional values and heritage as well as the language of the Spanish while in the United States we have tried to banish all that is British.

          My interest in this particular aspect of colonization is partly because of Houston’s close ties to Mexico. Not only are we geographically very close to Mexico but we also have a very large Hispanic population. But probably my fascination with this countries colonization is due more to the fact that my boyfriend is of Mexican heritage. Both of his parents are first-generation Americans coming from Mexico. I already know quite a bit about current cultural aspects of the Hispanic community but I would like to know more about the history. Specifically, I want to know about the history and colonization of Mexico.

 I have already started the research and have come across the issue that not all of Mexico was colonized in the same way due to there being so many different native peoples there. Therefore, I will likely focus on the colonization of the Mayans since that is one of the larger cultures in the area and the one that is geographically closest to us.  

Works Cited

Colson, Charles. "Magic Realism: Latin American Postcolonial Literature?" Coursesite.uhcl.edu - /. Ed. Craig White. Web. 02 Oct. 2011 <http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/LITR/5731copo/models/2009/resposts/rpo1/rpo1colson.htm>.