Salman Rushdies The Jaguar Smile - Essay Example

?Salman Rushdie’s The Jaguar Smile The Jaguar Smile was published in 1987 after Salman Rushdie was invited by the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. It chronicled a period of the country's political history at the height of the Sandinista political movement. The narrative, which some call as a travelogue or political tourism, is the result of Rushdie's three-week long sojourn in Nicaragua. It provided enough materials for the author to document the Sandinistas' path to power. Essentially, the book used this subject as the landscape for his themes. In the process, he was able to provide a valuable account on a period in Central American history that has been characterized by a nation-building that typifies most of the Latin American experiences in addition to the American neo-colonialism. Fundamentally, it is a story of the underdog, rising to defeat stronger foes: the Anastazio Somoza Debayle dictatorship and, later, the United States, through the Honduran Contra forces. In order to understand the themes of the essays in the Jaguar Smile, it is important to reflect on the background of the Nicaraguan history during the Sandinistas' rise to power. All of these were sufficiently covered by the book. It began with the Debayle dictatorship from 1967 to 1979, which effectively made him and those before him in his family, major players in the Nicaraguan political narrative. Prior to Debayle’s regime, the Somozas have held power in Nicaragua since 1935, passing the mantle of power from father to son, brother to brother, in an uninterrupted dynastic rule. Then, there were the Sandinista National Liberation Front or the Sandinistas. Riding on the waves of dissent against the Debayle dictatorship, the Sandinistas were catapulted to power in a rebellion that was both supported by the populace and the Catholic Church. The United States, as has been clearly depicted in the book, is crucial in these political movements because they fund and support those political forces that are favorable to their interests. Neighboring countries are also important players, influencing the dynamics of Nicaraguan politics and nation-building as represented best by the Contra forces from Honduras. All in all, the story that unfolded during the period covered by Rushdie revealed diverse political forces that collectively cultivated the endurance of Nicaraguan nationalism. The historical narrative also highlighted several political behaviors. The most important of this is that its political culture is constantly being remade and is largely induced or influenced by external forces. This was demonstrated in the way the United has directed the Nicaraguan politics through the Somozas and how it caused the economic collapse of the country by imposing a trade embargo afterwards as a way to pressure and impact policy. This kind of intervention has already happened previously. Neighboring countries such as Mexico and even Britain have intervened in differing periods in the past. This has led to a kind of political culture in the country today that is characterized by an inherent desire to repel foreign enemies. The political success of the Sandinistas is the most glaring example of this phenomenon. Two-thirds of the electorate voted the Sandinistas to power in 1984, demonstrating the public displeasure for the US-armed Somoza, putting an end to years of American intervention (Kenworthy 66). This behavior is also depicted in the strong desire to prevail or, at least, survive in the chaotic Central American politics. By Rushdie’s accounts and criticisms of the different Nicaraguan regimes, it became clear that the leader who held power tend to become autocratic and totalitarian. Even the Sandinistas themselves who wanted to be free from the previous repressive government eventually started muzzling the press. Censorship became such an important issue that Rushdie, himself, could not turn a blind eye although he still refused to call it despotic or comparable to the previous dictatorial government. This variable appears to highlight the distinctive institutional arrangements that emerged in Nicaragua, which were established in order to address the previously cited political culture that has been influenced by external factors. Ebel, Taras and Cochrane explained this in the tradition of caudillaje, wherein the government ruled from below as well as from above, struggling to retain control of the coercive institutions of the state (187). The Sandinistas took advantage of this system of control in order to counter the patrimonial polity that permeated under Debayle. Censorship was not the only case against Rushdie’s Nicaraguan host. There are a number of other political issues and behaviors that were worthy of criticism. But the Nicaraguan holiday imposed civility for Rushdie as he was treated gracefully, with respect and deference. He was hobnobbing with local political, literary and entertainment elite. So in the crucial parts wherein Rushdie should have pointed flaws and put his hosts to tasks, he offered anecdotes, self-deprecating jokes and cartoonish depictions of prominent figures and issues, once noting that out of all the beauty he had encountered in the country, there was also a beast lurking. There are subtle hints about how the Sandinista should have learned from his predecessor that tyranny – just like what happened before - results in dissent like when the populace and the Catholic church were unified and rallied behind the rebels during the moves to oust the Somoza dynasty. One of the subjects that received a high degree of emphasis was the resistance. This is not surprising because the subject is close to Rushdie’s heart. This is a recurring theme in his previous and future works, owing to the fact that his native India suffered the same fate in the hands of colonialism in the past. As a matter of fact, in the prologue to The Jaguar Smile, Rushdie confessed: I became a sponsor of Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign in London. I mention this to declare an interest; when I finally visited Nicaragua… I did not go as a wholly neutral observer. I was not a blank slate. Rushdie’s interest in Nicaragua, as appropriately reflected in The Jaguar Smile, stemmed from affinity, being a part of the similar political movement in India or, at least, part of its consequence. The connection in this context becomes necessary in order to establish the fact that Rushdie is politically engaged in writing his subject, making his messages more potent and, by association, influential. In addition, the discourse of resistance in The Jaguar Smile has revealed several important insights about the political behavior of the players in the narrative. Crucial to this subject is the involvement of external factors in the development of Nicaragua’s political culture. The implication of this point is that The Jaguar Smile is influential as a political text. It formed part of the long list of work concerning colonialism and nationalism. It revealed to the world how neocolonialism could stunt nation-building and breed a kind of political culture that can eventually work against the hegemon. Work Cited Ebel, Roland, Taras, Ray and Cochrane, James. Political culture and foreign policy in Latin America: case studies from the Circum-Caribbean. New York: SUNY Press, 1991. Kenworthy, Eldon. America/Americas: myth in the making of U.S. policy toward Latin America. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999. Rushdie, Salman. The Jaguar Smile. Knopf Canada, 2010 Read More