Reframing Latin America: A Cultural Theory Reading ... - BGSU Blogs

post what?! (not) an abbreviated introduction 9
into existence, rather than trying to determine the true, singular meaning of
Latin America and then to convince people of the accuracy of his discovery.
The same motive inspires this book.
Postmodernists or cultural theorists (we will distinguish between them in
a moment) view the world differently than do modernists, or theorists operating
in the modernist tradition. Modernists take as their fundamental
premise the idea that truth exists independent of human interpretation.
Gravity, for example, exists whether or not people are aware of it and despite
how they interpret it. It is a truth; the question is whether human
beings will be able to fi gure it out. Modernists accept as their main objective
the discovery of truth, typically through the scientifi c method. They
also believe that any right-minded person would want to adjust society’s
norms according to those truths; thus, even for modernists who consider
themselves unconcerned with politics, their studies have deep political implications.
For example, they believe that if we know that gravity exists, we
should order our society according to that truth and reject all other nonsensical
explanations for why apples fall from trees. Modernist scholars in the
humanities and social sciences approach the social and literary world in the
same way that scientists view the natural world. They believe it to contain
truths that can be discovered and then used to orient society for the better.
In contrast to modernists, cultural theorists contend that lived reality is
a social construct in which meaning does not exist as objective truth but
resides in our individual and collective interpretations. Cultural theorists
seek to understand how presumed truths and long-held assumptions come
into existence and how they operate within ever-changing social values and
norms. In a manner of speaking, they contend that the truth of everything
is relative to the interpretive lens used to view it. They do not deny that
apples fall from trees or that gravity exists, but they examine the pathway
by which we arrive at those unassailable truths and wonder whether it is
lined with social construction. Cultural theorists are accused by their modernist
adversaries of refusing to stand for anything, of wallowing in a sea of
relativism and do-nothingism. On the contrary, however, cultural theorists
do take strong stands, but they insist that we recognize the ever-tenuous
nature of any truth claim.
Language Shock
If this seems confusing, don’t worry. Our goal by the end of this book, if
not by the end of this introduction, is clarity. One of the fi rst challenges