Mara González - 365524

José Javier Ponce de León Eyl - 377190

Mexican Literature I

Mara Patricia González González

José Javier Ponce de León Eyl

Mexican Literature I

The 'Mexican' in Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora's Indian Spring

I. Introduction

Starting from the definition of Mexican literature given by Chorén and Goicoechea (2014) as
the aesthetic expression of the emergence of identity, the following work proposes an analysis of
Spring Poem Indiana, Sacred-historical poem, idea of Holy Mary of Guadalupe of
Mexico, copied from flowers (1668) by the New Hispanic thinker Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora
starting from the concepts of otherness, cultural symbol, and syncretism. Based on the concepts
mentioned, we consider that the poem Indian Spring by Carlos de Sigüenza proposes
a regional reading, and it is a precursor to what Mexican literature will be.

The relevance of the work lies in the importance that Sigüenza and Góngora have within
of Mexican literature that, alongside other great figures like Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and
Juan Ruiz de Alarcón represents the colonial period of New Spain. In addition, after his
death was featured in all the most important national treaties of biography and bibliography,
like those of Alcaraz, Arróniz, Sosa, Ramírez, and Andrade (Codding, 2002). Likewise, this
The work proposes to analyze the image that it presents of the Virgin of Guadalupe not only from
not from an aesthetic point of view, but from a cultural point of view.

The work is divided into four parts. First, the background is briefly presented.
by the author and his work. Then, the theoretical framework is presented following the concepts
previously exposed, followed by an analysis of the poem. Finally, the
conclusions of the work.

II. Background

Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora was born on August 14, 1645, and died on August 22, 1700.
in Mexico City. He was the first male child of Carlos de Sigüenza and Dionisia de Suárez
of Figueroa (Codding, 2002).
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In 1660, he began his novitiate in the Society of Jesus. He studied philosophy at the College.
of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Mexico City. However, he is expelled from the
Company in 1667. After this, he properly began his academic and literary career.
occupying various positions both academic and administrative in New Spain. Among
they stand out in the chair of astronomy and mathematics in 1672 and the position of accountant in
1690, both at the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico (Codding, 2002). He also served
as royal cosmographer of New Spain, which he put into practice in 1693 when he made a
trip to Pensacola (Codding, 2002).

Among his works, Indiana Spring (1668) and The Misfortunes of Alonso Ramírez stand out.
(1670), Astronomical Libra (1681) and Eulogy for Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1695).

III. Theoretical Framework

It was already mentioned that the authors Chorén, Goicoechea, and Rull (2014) define literature
Mexican as "the aesthetic expression of the emergence of our identity" (p. 7). Thus, the
Mexican production allows the creation of an identity that connects the past with the
present and is a witness to a historical and social reality. For this reason, the were chosen
concepts of otherness, cultural symbol, and cultural syncretism because they allow the
construction of an identity.

The first concept that will help us in the analysis of the poem is that of otherness. This
The concept is defined by Esteban Krotz (1994) from contact with the other: "[...]
The experience of being abroad is not possible without the estrangement
̃ from the always previous homeland.

mother, which is remembered precisely while being abroad.”(p. 19). It is this experience of the
another and its customs that refers to the motherland, to its customs and therefore, to the very own
In this way, the theorist compares the process of alterity with the cognitive process in
that one reaches the unknown (cultural identity) through the known which in this case
they would be the foreign cultures.

According to Krotz (1994), this process of knowledge is accompanied by a

ethnocentrism in which one culture may feel superior to another where the importance of
differences and distance play a very important role. This superiority is also
pointed out by our second theorist Claude Lévi-Strauss (2005), who says the following:
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Mexican Literature I

In order for a culture to be truly itself and to produce something, the culture and its members
must be convinced of their originality and even, to some extent, of their superiority over the
others [...]. (Lévi-Strauss, 2005, p. 7).

Lévi-Strauss (2005) would be referring to the cultural production in which easily

literary production can fit. In this way, a culture must recognize itself as
different from others and even feeling superior (an aspect that will be highlighted in
numerous occasions by Sigüenza and Góngora). For its formation, it will be necessary that the
participants attribute meaning to the objects they accept as part of their
culture. An example of this is the myths that ancient civilizations formed about the
creation of the world or, the scientific discourses of the 20th century. These would become what
Lévi-Strauss calls cultural symbols (Ibid).

However, it is interesting to note that the American cultural symbols are, the
most of the time, a combination of the characteristic elements of cultures
that shaped them: the pre-Hispanic and the European. This process is called cultural syncretism
[...] a process of interaction between cultures through which
they assimilate the most significant
́ traits of one another. The cultures intertwine, giving
origin to new cultural manifestations.”(Ibid, p. 3). Thus, the fact that culture
indigenous and Spanish culture having coexisted makes it possible for a new culture to be born that
it takes up indigenous figures and Spanish iconography. An example of this syncretism is the
same Virgin of Guadalupe and which will later become the standard of culture
Mexican.

IV. Literary corpus

The work Indian Spring, a sacred-historical poem, idea of the Most Holy Mary of Guadalupe,
published by Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora in 1668, will reflect his thought in a way
General regarding Creole identity and what the symbol of the Virgin means to them.
Guadalupe, even being written in a stage of formation of the New Hispanic thinker. The
The poem, according to the style of its time, is written in royal octaves: stanzas of eight verses.
eleven-syllable verses, with a rhyme scheme A-B-A-B-A-B-C-C. As it is eleven-syllable, it is classified as Art

Thus, it involves an erudite understanding of literature, in addition to language.

baroque that is used in it. This can be appreciated from the first verse, which says: 'If I deserved'
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"Calliope, your accent / inspires my mind with divine fury" (Sigüenza, 1668), referring to the muse.
of epic poetry. Later, other characters from Greek mythology appear, such as
son Febo, Talía, Aquilón, Cibeles, Astrea, Fabonio, Faetón, Apolo, Alcióe, Adonis, y muchos
more. It also makes references to places like the Lethe River, Hippocrene, Libetra, Olympus, the
city of Sicano, and even boasts of his astrological knowledge by mentioning the
Color, and constellations like Aquarius and Ursa (Big Dipper). As it progresses, the
poem, the mentions of Greek mythological references decrease and the hymn begins that
she addresses the Virgin of Guadalupe, where she narrates the anecdote of her appearance with the Indian Juan.

Diego in verse XLVII:

It comes to confront the rocky one.

vast Tepeyácac, where a convent

smoothly in harmonious metro

the soul is suspended for the attentive Indian.

Ecstatic the sense, the delightful

metric choir investigated at the moment,

a vain attempt if born from the sky

that the echo only lies among the weeds. (Sigüenza, 1668, v. 369-376)

Throughout the extensive poem, references to the Virgin Mary will be interspersed with
others to Greek mythology, as can be seen in stanza LVIII: "Sovereign Pandora of
the flowers / remained María, to whose gift they gave / those of the meadow stars, the colors, / that to
"the influences of the dawn received." (Sigüenza, 1668, v. 457-460). The author alludes to the box of
Pandora, and mix that idea with that of Juan Diego's cloak, where he held flowers to prove.
the presence of the Virgin on the hill of Tepeyac.

Finally, it is also possible to find some references in Indian Spring to

the fauna and characteristic places of Mexico, as cited from stanza XXXVI: "It ends the
flight where lies proudly / the great Tenochtitlán on a golden throne, / jungle of feathers of the bird
captivates / from its real greatness is real fertilizer. / To the hueipil, and quetzal gives estimation / the gold, whose

machines forgive," (Sigüenza, 1668, v. 281-286). The most evident images would be the
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Aztec city of Tenochtitlán and the quetzal, a bird from the region that was a constant object in the
prehispanic poetry.

V. Literary analysis

Regarding the concept of alterity, it is important to remember the step of Carlos from
Sigüenza for the Tepoztlán School in charge of the Society of Jesus, the studies he conducted
independently with his father, and the influence of the Royal and Pontifical University of
Mexico, where he studied rhetoric, canon law, astrology, and mathematics (Codding, 2002).
These studies were strongly influenced by the Spanish instruction of the time and
the late Renaissance culture, as well as Catholic, of the Old World. Based on its
publications, it was not until 1680 that he was "absorbed in investigations of civilizations
"Indigenous peoples of Mexico" (ibid., p. 592). The constant study of classical literature and philosophy.
It was a benchmark for Sigüenza and Góngora to turn their attention to it.
land of origin, and contrast its Mexican identity with the Hispanic. In Spring
Indiana (Sigüenza, 1668) this is clearly reflected in the composition of the poem. Although this
it starts with a countless number of classical references, such as the appeal to the muses, it goes

transforming almost entirely referring to the appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe. With
the passage of the years, Carlos de Sigüenza will repeatedly dare to confirm "the
Mexican cultural, religious, and intellectual superiority” (Codding, 2002, p. 597).

The writer's strategy to declare the Creole superiority is manifested in his

several writings, where he boasts his intellect in contrast to the opinion that was held in the
Old World about the Indians and Creoles not having reasoning (Codding, 2002). Without
embargo, it becomes even more visible when it mixes the cultural history of the indigenous people with the

of the Spaniards through cultural symbols, with the banner being the Virgin of
Guadalupe one of the most important. And it is precisely in Indian Spring.
later in Glories of Querétaro in 1680, where the author alludes to this figure, which
allows the creoles and the indigenous people to establish their Church, with a cultural symbol that they
they have defined as valuable and as part of their identity as Mexicans. Their appearance
it also grants them the argument of believing in New Spain as a new Holy Land,
to be the chosen people by the Mother of God, and with her worship, to lay the foundations for a
religious independence and subsequently political.
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Mexican Literature I

The Virgin that the poem Indian Spring refers to is also the product of a
cultural syncretism. Mary is a Catholic figure of biblical origin popularized in the
Old World, but the Virgin of Guadalupe has indigenous features, in contrast with the
European image. The poem dedicated to it by Sigüenza presents the same cultural syncretism,
mixing classic references with those of Guadalupe, consummating the blend of the two
cultures, as can be appreciated in stanza LV:

Only the blonde Apollo announced,

Titón's wife, the quick flight:

when the Indian walks, alone to the mountain.

At the final end of your wakefulness

Plausible day to the Mexican polo

climb the mountain over a thousand ice mountains

blind obedient of the great Maria

for several flowers, that were in the mountain.

Here the Greek god Apollo and Titon, brother of Priam, are mentioned.
time to the Indian Juan Diego, in the scene where the Virgin asks him to gather the flowers from the hill.
What appears as a constant in the early poem of Carlos de Sigüenza is the double
and joint reference of their classical knowledge and the mention of the Mexican symbol by
antonomasia, the Virgin of Guadalupe. Mitchell Codding (2002) tells us that 'In his poem
sacred-historical” the Mexican winter of paganism surrenders to the eternal spring
Redeemer of Guadalupe, symbolized in the miraculous image of flowers of the Virgin, for
to cause the dawn of a Creole paradise.” (p. 604). Thus, the poem begins with this
way: "as much as with the lights of its rays turns / burning Febo without fearing failure / of the Chinese

East, to the Mexican sunset." (Sigüenza, 1668, v. 5-8) to end with "Primordial light of
sacred east, / sovereign purity of the morning / was the Queen, who in gleaming throne / of wakefulness
God was pompous pride." (ibid., v. 593-596), supporting the creole sunset pointed out by Codding.

VI. Conclusion
Mara González - 365524
José Javier Ponce de León Eyl - 377190
Mexican Literature I

The poem written by Carlos Sigüenza y Góngora not only highlights the figure of the Virgin of
Guadalupe as a national symbol, but also represents the author's thoughts and his
time, through a reading that seeks to represent the Mexican identity. His intellect allows him, at the same
time, blur their Creole thought with references from classical mythology to those of
historical events and national identity. In the same figure of the Virgin of Guadalupe
we can find the cultural symbol that will be part of the Mexican being, the otherness of reflecting its
figure with the characters of Greek mythology, and the cultural syncretism when uniting the religion brought by
the Spaniards to Mexico, which is reconstructed in a dark-skinned woman who chooses as a messenger to
an Indian named Juan Diego.

LaPrimavera Indianase includes in the training stage of Sigüenza and Góngora as

writer and thinker. In the poem, the author will establish the beginnings of a Mexican identity through
of its most recognized representative: The Virgin of Guadalupe. With this, Carlos de Sigüenza
it serves as a direct precedent to Mexican literature.
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Mexican Literature I

References

Choren, J., Goicoechea, G. & Rull, M. (2014). Mexican and Hispanic American Literature.
Mexico: Patria Editorial.

Codding, A. (2002). “Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora”. In Chang-Rodríguez (coord.).

History of Mexican Literature 2. The literate culture in New Spain of the Century
XVIII. Mexico: 21st Century.

Espinoza, M. & Gilyam, M. (2012). Cultural syncretism. Cultural mestizaje in Mexico and
Peru. Retrieved from the Virtual Library of the National University of Cuyo:
The provided text is a URL and does not contain translatable content.

Krotz, E. (1994). Alterity and the Anthropological Question. Alteridades. Vol. 4, No. 8, pp. 5-11.

Lévi-Strauss, C.

Sigüenza, C. (1668). Indian Spring, sacred-historical poem, idea of the Most Holy Mary
Guadalupe. Recovered the 08 of September of 2019 de:
Unable to translate. The provided text is a URL, not translatable content.