UNIT 2: Citizenship in society

Unit 2
Citizenship in society. Coexistence and Values
2.1.- Let’s Work. Introduction
2.2.-In Anger: Tian’anmen Square
2.3.-Contents:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Keys to Creating our Citizenship
Organising Citizens: Institutions and Participation
A “Royal Family”
Out into the World, Loaded with Values
2.4.-The Issue in the Press: Citizen Scout
2.5.-Let’s Go to the Cinema: “In America”
2.6.-Looking Through Images: Capturing Society. Botero and Zuloaga
2.7.-The World of Literature: “Fuenteovejuna”
2.8.-Final and Summary Activities
2.9.-Find Out and Take Part
2.1.- Let’s Work.
1.Let’s Work
2.The definition, meaning and construction of citizenship
3.The need to participate in social life
4.The values and rules that form part of social life and their uses.
5.The social and cultural (artistic) expressions of the citizen’s commitment.
Introduction
In order to be aware of what is at stake when talking about citizenship, it is important to
know the origin of this word. We use the term “citizenship” in order to describe the condition
of being a “citizen”, that is, the person who lives with other people and shares common
spaces with them. Although its etymological origin relates this word to civitas (city), it is not
applied to the people who live “in a city” in order to differentiate them from the ones who
live outside of the city - “in the country”, or “outside of the city”. We are not describing a
geographical space, rather an ethical, political and cultural one, a space where rights,
obligations and values are found. This is a common space among human beings, a very
special biological species that has always been described as an intermediate species between
animals and gods throughout the history of civilisation. This intermediate condition turns the
human being into a vulnerable and dependent animal and that is why we can say that man is
a social animal.
In order to satisfy his necessities, the human being depends on others; he is not fulfilled by
himself alone. This idea becomes even clearer if we have a look through the first and the last
years of human life. Necessities are fulfilled through actions. For instance, the need to eat
makes us look for food, we work in order to get it, we learn how to prepare it in a healthy
way or even organise the day according to the different meals.
Life in the ethical, political and cultural space that we call citizenship is not a result of the
sum of actions carried out by all the individuals who want to satisfy their needs. Not
everyone does everything at the same time. Rather than a sum of actions, society is an
interaction of actions whose aim is to fulfil common needs. This interaction has been
described using many metaphors: a mosaic, a puzzle, a net, an organism, a machine, etc. In
every case there is always productive interaction between two important elements: person
and community, fraction and totality, individual and city. The ethical, political and cultural
space is a result of that interaction. For instance, the values, rules and symbols that rule the
different spaces where our daily life is developed –family, neighbourhood, school, friends–
come as a result of interaction, that is, actions from people who count on others. This
counting on others is the basis of citizenship.
The following could be the formula for coexistence:
Coexistence = feeling + arguing + acting
From this interaction, society is born as a space where some people count on others.
However, citizenship exists when we count on others in order to coexist. Citizenship
describes a project of coexistence because there is a common life plan that is not just limited
by biological survival (surviving on other species) neither by plain zoological coexistence (the
coexistence of other species). There is a plan of coexistence where the coordination of goals,
aims and means is established. In other words, coexistence exists when we count on others
when feeling, arguing and acting.
2.2.-In Anger: Tian’anmen Square
Protests took place at Tian’anmen Square between the middle of April and early June of 1989.
The incidents consisted of a series of demonstrations
A student facing the tanks at
led by the students of The People’s Republic of China.
Tian'anmen Square
During the demonstrations discontent with many
sectors was expressed: the repressive nature of the
government was criticised as well as economic
reforms against workers. The government did not
know how to face the riots and decided to resort to
force, ruling out peaceful measures and dialogue. On
May 20, the government decreed martial law and
during the night of the 3rd of June, some tanks were
sent to Tian’anmen Square in order to break up the
demonstration. Estimates of casualties vary: the
Chinese Red Cross estimated about 2600 deaths; the
amount of injured people was estimated at between 7,000 and 10,000. After the violence,
the government made many arrests in order to eliminate the ones who had started the
movement, the foreign press was expelled and news coverage by the Chinese press was
highly controlled. The cruel repression of Tian’anmen Square provoked international
condemnation of the conduct of the government of The People’s Republic of China.
Un testimonio
Una estudiante de psicología Chai Ling, cuenta lo ocurrido en esas
horas trágicas:
“La situación empeoró entre 8 y 10 p.m. del 3 de junio y el
Cuartel General llamó a una conferencia de prensa para informar a
los periodistas de los hechos que estaban teniendo lugar (...).
La tensión crecía. Nos informaban que la sangre corría en
la calle Changan, los soldados empleaban tanques, bayonetas y
gases lacrimógenos. Disparaban a la gente. Los cuerpos estaban
amontonados en la calle Chang-an con sangre sobre sus pechos.
Los estudiantes comenzaron a llegar a la plaza con sangre en las
manos, pechos y piernas.
Después de las 10 p.m. del 3 de junio, el Cuartel General
pidió calma (...). Los estudiantes nos sentamos en la plaza a
esperar ser sacrificados. En este momento, desde los altavoces de
alrededor del Cuartel General, se oía la canción «El heredero del
Dragón». (...)
La primera línea era la más firme y los que iban detrás
pensaban mantenerse en silencio aun cuando la primera línea de
estudiantes fuera atacada y asesinada (...) Los estudiantes
cantaban «La Internacional» y fueron a negociar con el ejército
pidiendo que les permitiera retirarse pacíficamente, pero antes de
conseguirlo los soldados se precipitaron con sus bayonetas hacia el
monumento empezando a disparar (...) Los estudiantes
comenzaron a retirarse, algunos pensaban que las tropas sólo les
arrestarían, pero los tanques comenzaron a pasar sobre los
estudiantes que dormían en tiendas de campaña. Posteriormente,
las tropas rociaban con gasolina los cuerpos convirtiéndolos en
antorchas (...).
Los estudiantes queríamos regresar a la plaza para
protestar por tal brutalidad, pero los ciudadanos nos persuadieron
de ello (...)
Cuando regresamos a la Universidad de Pekín supimos que
a las 10 p.m. del 3 de junio, el primer comunista, Li Peng, había
dado tres órdenes: 1) las fuerzas armadas abrirían fuego en la
parte superior de la plaza rápidamente; 2) las tropas deberían
limpiar la plaza al alba, y 3) deberían detener a los lideres
estudiantiles y matarlos sin dilación.”
Tomado de:
http://www.historiasiglo20.org/TEXT/tiananmen1989.htm
Activities:
1. Look for some information
about Tian’anmen Square and
the Chinese political system.
2. Why do you think the
students were the first ones
to protest against the Chinese
Government?
3. Read the Chinese student's
testimony carefully. Write
down the expressions where
violence is clearly present.
4. Imagine you are working
for a newspaper and you
want to condemn this
massacre. What headline
would you use?
5. Look at the picture above.
Describe it and comment on it
briefly.
6. In this situation for the
Chinese people, for Chinese
students, how would you
describe a good citizen?
2.3.-Contents
1. Keys to Creating Our Citizenship
In the same way that none of us were born knowing what physics or chemistry were, so
none of us were born knowing how to coexist. Coexistence requires a learning period and
that is why we say that citizenship requires learning. It is not a matter of learning values,
rules or symbols, but learning how to count on others within that common space. There are a
couple of key elements that could help us to build this citizenship.
First key element:
Learning to differentiate between the groups we belong to and fit into. Social Philosophy has
always differentiated between primary and secondary groups. For the first group, they use
the word community and for the second one they use the word association. The table below
could help us to specify the meaning:
Primary Groups
Community
Based on natural links, on shared feelings.
The relationship is spontaneous and
personal, based on values
Family, Clan, Tribe, etc.
Secondary Groups
Association
Based on interest and rational calculation
The relationship is impersonal and formal,
based on rules, regulations and laws
Schools, Companies, Hospital, etc.
Citizenship cannot be built without the primary groups’ conviction and the secondary groups’
cooperation.
Second key element:
We should know the history of values,
rules and symbols. The interaction that
makes citizenship possible is the result of
a coexistence produced throughout time.
The history of the idea of citizenship can
teach us that there is always some
tension among natural and artificial
elements. For example, out parents’
nationality, the place where we were
born or the institutions we have been
integrated into without being asked our
opinion
(our
name,
the
registry,
childhood habits…). They are all natural
elements in conflict and interaction with
our will or personal life plan. In that way,
citizenship in the ancient world was more
focused on citizenship’s natural condition
than on consent. Meanwhile, consent,
meaning people’s free will, is the most
important thing in the modern world.
Even if we are born in a certain country
and have the legal condition of belonging
to that country, we may not identify
ourselves with that country and want to
change citizenship because we are not
convinced by its values, rules or symbols.
Activities:
1. Search for some everyday expressions
containing the words listed below and classify
them depending on their relationship with citizens.
Urbanity, from Latin urbanitas,-atis, it means
courteousness, courtesy, attention and good
manners.
Civility, from Latin civilitas, -atis, it means
sociability and urbanity.
Civic-mindedness, a term originating in France
that has two meanings, (1) zeal for one's
homeland, institutions and interests, (2) respect
by the citizen of the rules of public coexistence.
Manners, term with different meanings (1) The
way something is executed or occurred; (2)
Someone’s bearing and manners, (3) Skill, ability,
cunning; (4) People’s quality or class.
Legality, (1) Prescribed by law and in line with it,
2. adj. Belonging or related to law. 3. adj. True,
precise, loyal and straight when carrying out one's
position’s functions.4. adj. Loyal or formal in one's
behaviour.
Rough: Rude, unpolished, uncultured, without
doctrine or teaching.
2. Organising Citizens: Institutions and Participation
Social Rules: From Interaction to Institution
Social interaction is not produced spontaneously, rather it happens in a culturally and socially
regulated way. This regulation is complex and fills the ethical, political and cultural space
with rules, regulations, symbols and values. In the same way that we need to learn the
traffic rules if we want to drive a car, we also have to learn citizenship's rules if we want to
drive through it. Not all of the rules are the same nor are they equally important.
Rules do not appear by magic, rather they are the result of repeated interaction that has
been recognised. When this happens, interaction creates an institution. For instance, if
someone has a specified skill and it is recognised by others, the rest of society accepts that
that person deals with that task and accepts him as having that “function” or playing that
“role”. Sports are a good example, because there are some rules whose existence we have
to accept in order to count on others. Without those rules, sports would not have any sense
or value. Through sports we check that rules constitute the activity of playing: chess, football,
basketball, etc. The game is based on the players’ participation and skills, but also on the
rules they are submitted to. It also happens in society: there is no game (citizenship) if there
are no players (citizens); and at the same time there is no coexistence (participation) if there
are no games (social institutions).
Socialisation, Participation and Representation
The process through which people are integrated into a society is called socialisation.
Through the citizenship terms of social, political and cultural life, social integration is a
process through which we learn roles or functions in which the rules of citizenship are visible.
Let's use the theatre metaphor to better understand it. Social life is like a play where there
are some “roles”. The people playing the roles are no longer individuals, they are
“characters”. The plot stops being a written script and becomes “action”. The distribution of
time and the knowledge of roles generate a series of rules that everybody has to respect for
the play to be successful. If the actors do not play the role they have been assigned, they
will not be integrated and the play might fail. If the people who make up society only think
about themselves while coexisting with others, social disintegration will take place and we
will find “socials atoms” instead of citizens.
Primary socialisation has its origin in the family and that is why family life is the first
common social space through which we access the group of social institutions. The first time
citizenship is learned happens in the family and it will be developed through other
experiences in educational, professional, religious, cultural and political institutions. For
integration to be complete, people have to learn to participate. If there is no participation,
there will be no integration. There are spaces in social life where integration is only possible
thanks to direct participation by those affected. There are also spaces where participation is
carried out by representatives.
Types and
dimensions of
Citizenship
Political
Social
Economical
Civic
Intercultural
Membership, participation and integration into the different
spheres of human life
Related to political institutions such as parties, unions and proxies
Related to social institutions such as neighbourhood, educational and
health associations.
Related to economic institutions such as companies, the stock market
and consumption.
Related to civic institutions such as trade associations, maritime guilds
or professions.
Related to cultural, recreational, charitable and religious traditions.
3. A “Royal Family”
There are many examples of “family” that we can come up with. A good example,
well known by everyone would be the Spanish Royal Family. The Spanish Royal Family is
very important, but it is formed like most families: a generation, values (love, devotion,
etc...), dedications, activities, etc.
http://www.casareal.es/
CONSTITUCIÓN ESPAÑOLA
Artículo 56.
1. El Rey es el Jefe del
Estado,
símbolo
de
su
unidad
y
permanencia,
arbitra
y
modera
el
funcionamiento regular de las instituciones,
asume la más alta representación del
Estado
Español
en
las
relaciones
internacionales, especialmente con las
naciones de su comunidad histórica, y
ejerce las funciones que le atribuyen
expresamente la Constitución y las Leyes.
2. Su título es el de Rey de España y podrá
utilizar los demás que correspondan a la
Corona.
Puede visitar la página Web de la Casa Real, encontrarás
muchísima información. Fíjate sobre todo en las tareas del Rey,
de la Reina y del Príncipe; te puedes informar de sus
actividades, sus compromisos, el árbol genealógico, etc…. Es
una buena de conocer el “trabajo” de una Familia Real.
Activities:
1. Visit the webpage of the Spanish Royal
Household and make a table containing all
the members of the Royal Household.
Describe
them
briefly,
add
some
information and, above all, find out what
kind of work they have been assigned (their
occupations).
2. Your family is another example, the one
you have closest. Make a table –the more
complete, the better – containing, as with
the Royal one, all its members. They also
deserve a description and write down their
occupations (what kind of work, what they
studied...)
4. Out into the World, Loaded with Values
As we are seeing, human life is a relationship, and human relationships are not
moved just by biological and physical forces, but also by “values”. A value is a thing we
appreciate, an important thing for us, the reason why we do things. Values are usually
expressed with abstract words such as “solidarity”, “freedom”, “comradeship”, but they are
fed by concrete actions, by little actions that give them meaning. Values mark our
relationships with others and with ourselves. Carefully look at the table of values below.
These values are reflected in attitudes and actions that we all can adopt.
2.4.-The Issue in the Press:
A hundred years of Scout Citizen
“Haciendo gala de su pasado disciplinado y aventurero, el 1 de Agosto de 1907 el general
Robert Baden-Powell tuvo la feliz idea de hacer sonar su legendario cuerno kudu en la isla de
Brownsea a las 8 de la mañana. Con ello quedaba inaugurado el primer campamento scout
que unos días antes había organizado en esta pequeña isla situada junto al puerto de Pool, al
sur de Inglaterra. Se iniciaba así la historia del escultismo, toda una filosofía del tiempo libre,
de la educación informal y de la participación ciudadana basada en la formación integral de
niños y jóvenes como “exploradores” (scouts).
Para los grupos scouts que están de campamentos, el 1 de Agosto ha sido un día
especial porque se han unido a la cadena de grupos que en todo el mundo ha celebrado el
Centenario en una actividad llamada Amanecer Scout. Aunque ha sido propuesta por los
organizadores del XXI Campamento mundial que se celebra cada cuatro años y recibe el
nombre de Jamboree (nombre que Baden Powell dio al primer campamento internacional de
1920 y que en Swahili significa “Hola”), todos los grupos se han sumado a esta iniciativa.
Fue sencilla. Los grupos se desplazaron a una montaña o un lugar simbólico donde ven nacer
el día y renuevan la promesa scout.
Aunque el número de participantes valencianos en el Jamboree 2007 que se ha
celebrado de nuevo en el Reino Unido no ha sido tan numeroso como otros años, el
compromiso del Movimiento Scout Católico de la Comunidad Valenciana en la
conmemoración del aniversario ha sido masivo y significativo. Desde los grupos instalados en
la Valldigna, hasta los grupos perdidos en Gredos, Montes Universales o Pirineos, todos han
celebrado el centenario no sólo haciendo memoria de su momento fundacional sino
proyectando en el tiempo sus expectativas de futuro. (…)
Los millones de jóvenes que mantienen viva la promesa scout y los más de 5000
inscritos en la Federación de escultuismo de la Comunidad Valenciana son una prueba de que
se trata de una organización más valiosa, plural y abierta de lo que piensan sus detractores.
Mientras que los progres desprecian la cultura de milicia, la uniformidad y la centralidad de
las oraciones en los actos con los que se inicia y culmina el día, los más reaccionarios
desprecian su proximidad con la naturaleza, el valor de la fraternidad y la voluntad
permanente de superación y servicio.
Los centenarios son ocasiones importantes para incidir en lo fundamental y prescindir
de lo accesorio. Lo fundamental sigue siendo la constelación de valores que se promueven en
el proyecto educativo del escultismo. Lo accesorio es todo aquello que han introducido
quienes lo han querido instrumentalizar política, económica o sectariamente.
El proyecto educativo del escultismo no pertenece al pasado, está preñado de
elementos que lo mantienen vivo y que sus líderes actuales deben mantener despiertos.
Sabemos que hay dos amenazas importantes: las modas culturales y las presiones de los
grupos nacionalistas. La primera puede reducir el escultismo a un simple movimiento social
neoprogre similar al pacifismo, al ecologismo, al feminismo. La segunda lo puede convertir
en semillero de cuadros políticos y sindicales para conseguir a través de parroquias o
colegios lo que no se consigue en otros espacios públicos. (…) deberíamos fijarnos en los
hábitos de ciudadanía que se transmiten en la educación no formal, es decir aquellos hábitos
que adquieren nuestros hijos en la música, la noche, la televisión o la calle. Como alternativa
a ellos, comprobaríamos que el éxito de Baden Powell al volcarse en la naturaleza, el tiempo
libre y la participación como ejes de esta educación informal no estaba sólo en la confianza
que tenía en los jóvenes y el amor a la vida como servicio, estaba en un proyecto cívico
animado por la figura del “explorador”. Una figura de la vida como misión, sacrificio y
misterio, pero también una elegante metáfora de la aventura, la alegría y la ilusión” A.
DOMINGO MORATALLA, Las Provincias, domingo 5 de Agosto de 2007
Activities:
1. Look up the words you do not understand.
2. Draw up an outline of the argument: presentation, essential ideas and conclusion.
3. According to the article, what are the contributions of the scout movement to citizenship?
2.5.-Let’s Go to the Cinema: In America
There are many films in the cinema about family and family relationships. Film can show us
the best and the worst elements of this institution. Sometimes these films stress senseless
despair and other times they display empty sentimentality. At other times films deal with the
reality of family life, and they do it well, with realism and great optimism. That is what
happens in the film “In America”, by J. Sheridan.
ORIGINAL TITLE In America
YEAR 2002
RUNTIME 103 min.
COUNTRY Ireland
DIRECTOR Jim Sheridan
WRITERS Jim Sheridan, Kirsten Sheridan, Naomi
Sheridan
MUSIC Gavin Friday & Maurice Seezer
CINEMATOGRAPHY Declan Quinn
CAST Samantha Morton, Paddy Considine, Djimon
Hounsou, Sarah Bolger, Emma Bolger
PRODUCER Co production Ireland-UK; Hell's
Kitchen Films
(Info taken from: www.filmaffinity.com)
WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
Johnny, a man with no money, moves
to a New York building with his wife
Sarah. Some very different people live
in that building. He will have to make a
livelihood in tough conditions. America
is not the place where "the American
dream" or an easy life can be achieved
for these immigrants. Rather they think
that it is a place full of danger for them
and their daughters. However, their
daughters think that it is a magical
place where everything can be solved
and what could be interpreted as a
crisis can soon become a reason for
them to keep on believing.
IT MAKES US WONDER ABOUT:
- The values that govern, direct and give
meaning to human life.
- The chance of still hoping and believing.
- The nature of the world of childhood ..
- Family and life in a positive tone despite the
hardships.
- Immigration, its problems and solutions.
- Friendship, the mysterious and surprising side
of human beings.
- Transcendence: going beyond daily things.
THINK
- Imagine your parents have to change city, or even country. How would you react? What
would you think? What kind of attitude would you take? What would be the right attitude?
- Which values should direct family life? Why? Do you think it usually happens that way?
- How can it be possible that children or teenagers to manage to get through difficult
situations more easily than adults? How does it happen in the film?
2.6.-Looking Through Images: Capturing Society
Sometimes, art and paintings not only capture the inner world, but also the external
one. They have managed to capture values, habits and attitudes easily classified as basic for
radical citizenship, like a mother's devotion or the peaceful life of some citizens who are
committed to their daily tasks. Botero’s Expressionism and the reflection of local customs
(known in Spanish as Costumbrismo) are a good example of this.
MOTHERHOOD (Sculpture, Oviedo, Plaza de La Escandalera)
FERNANDO BOTERO (1932-) is a Colombian painter, sculptor and artist who is very well
known all over the world. He is considered to be one of the greatest contemporary LatinAmerican creators.
Look for Some Facts
- Extend Fernando Botero’s biography.
- Where can we find the sculpture titled “Motherhood”?
(Internet can help quite a lot here)
- F. Botero is a Colombian artist. Look for some other
representatives of Latin American painting.
Learn to Look
- Briefly describe every element in the sculpture.
- How would you classify the composition?
- How would you describe Botero’s style of sculpture?
(considering this image and some others you may have
seen)
Think About the Image
- What do you think the sculptor has wanted to express?
- How is “motherhood” represented?
BULLFIGHT IN EIBAR (1899, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum)IGNACIO ZULOAGA (1870-1945) is
one of the most important Spanish painters. He lived between the 19th and 20th centuries.
His realist and local-style paintings reflect people's daily lives through their activities, in the
case of this painting through recreational activities.
Look for Some Facts
- Who was I. Zuloaga?
- What is local-style art (in Spanish, costumbrismo)? What
is Realism?
Learn to Look
- Briefly describe every element in the painting. What are
the people doing? Try and give as many details as possible.
- Why can this painting be classified as reflecting local
customs (costumbrista)?
Think About the Image
- What do you think the painter has wanted to express?
- Can art be objective and show reality as it actually is?
- Why can we say that the atmosphere represented here is
also an atmosphere that reflects citizenship? (Use the
knowledge acquired in this unit to develop your answer)
THINKING AND IMAGINING WITH IMAGES
- Which image, painting or drawing would you use to represent your social life?
- If you had to organise an art exhibition based around the theme of “Society”, what painters
would you use as representatives? Which paintings would you choose?
2.7.-The World of Literature: “Fuenteovejuna”
Fuenteovejuna is one of the most important plays in the Spanish language. It was written by
Lope de Vega. It consists of three acts; in the first act the situation is introduced, in the
second one the situation develops and in the third the situation is solved. It was written in
1612 and the plot takes place in Fuenteovejuna, a town in Córdoba, during the time of the
Catholic Kings (1474-1516).
Fuenteovejuna, an appeal to citizens
Fuenteovejuna shows the ups and downs of a town that suffers from the injustice and
tyranny doled out by a commander. The people of the town decide to rebel against him and
kill him. When they are about to be executed, they maintain that no one person has
committed the crime; rather it was the whole town. Hence the famous idiom:
“Fuenteovejuna did it”. [the text below is modified version –only the format. For a complete
version, please go to Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, 2002: cf. cervantesvirtual.com]
Voces parece que he oído,
y son, si yo mal no siento,
de alguno que dan tormento.
Oye con atento oído.
Dice dentro el JUEZ y responden
JUEZ: Decid la verdad, buen viejo.
FRONDOSO: Un viejo, Laurencia mía, atormentan.
LAURENCIA: ¡Qué porfía!
ESTEBAN: Déjenme un poco.
JUEZ: Ya os dejo. Decid: ¿quién mató a Fernando?
ESTEBAN: Fuenteovejuna lo hizo.
LAURENCIA: Tu nombre, padre, eternizo;
[a todos vas animando].
FRONDOSO: ¡Bravo caso!
JUEZ: Ese muchacho aprieta. Perro, yo sé que lo
sabes. Di quién fue. ¿Callas? Aprieta, borracho.
NIÑO: Fuenteovejuna, señor.
JUEZ: ¡Por vida del rey, villanos, que os ahorque
con mis manos! ¿Quién mató al comendador?
FRONDOSO: ¡Que a un niño le den tormento y
niegue de aquesta suerte!
LAURENCIA: ¡Bravo pueblo!
FRONDOSO: Bravo y fuerte.
JUEZ: Esa mujer al momento en ese potro tened.
Dale esa mancuerda luego.
LAURENCIA: Ya está de cólera ciego.
JUEZ: Que os he de matar, creed, en este potro,
villanos. ¿Quién mató al comendador?
PASCUALA: Fuenteovejuna, señor.
JUEZ: ¡Dale!
FRONDOSO: Pensamientos vanos.
LAURENCIA: Pascuala niega, Frondoso.
FRONDOSO: Niegan niños. ¿Qué te espanta?
JUEZ: Parece que los encantas. ¡Aprieta!
PASCUALA: ¡Ay, cielo piadoso!
JUEZ: ¡Aprieta, infame! ¿Estás sordo?
PASCUALA: Fuenteovejuna lo hizo.
JUEZ: Traedme aquel más rollizo, ese desnudo,
ese gordo.
LAURENCIA: ¡Pobre Mengo! Él es, sin duda.
FRONDOSO: Temo que ha de confesar.
MENGO: ¡Ay, ay!
JUEZ: Comenza a apretar.
AN INVITATION TO READ...
Fuenteovejuna is a great play. Plays can be
read, as we usually do in class, or acted out on a
stage. Theatre is one of the great scenic arts and is
able to mobilise acts, feelings, imagination and so
on in order to delve into the wealth of human life.
The theatre also deals with social, political and
citizenship matters.
Try to go to the theatre. Convince your
parents, friends or teachers. It will be an
unforgettable experience. There are many great
Spanish dramatists like Lope de Vega, or some
others whose work discusses social issues like B.
Brecht o F. Dürrenmatt
MENGO: ¡Ay!
JUEZ: ¿Es menester ayuda?
MENGO: ¡Ay, ay!
JUEZ: ¿Quién mató, villano, al señor comendador?
MENGO: ¡Ay, yo lo diré, señor!
JUEZ: Afloja un poco la mano.
FRONDOSO: Él confiesa.
JUEZ: Al palo aplica la espalda.
MENGO: Quedo; que yo lo diré.
JUEZ: ¿Quién lo mató?
MENGO: Señor, ¡Fuenteovejunica!
JUEZ: ¿Hay tan gran bellaquería?
Del dolor se están burlando.
En quien estaba esperando,
niego con mayor porfía.
Dejadlos; que estoy cansado.
FEELING AND THINKING WITH WORDS
- Ask your Literature teacher what happened
in Fuenteovejuna. Expand the information
provided on this page.
- This scene describes a tragedy, but there
are some ironic, or even comical, notes.
Could you underline them?
- What does the sentence “Fuenteovejuna did
it” mean?
- When can a governor be sanctioned by a
town as happened in Fuenteovejuna? Explain
your answer with concrete reasons (use the
knowledge acquired in this unit).
2.8.-Final and Summary Activities
1. Mafalda is a comic strip character designed by Quino. Her main features are tenderness
and criticism. We can also be sensitive critics. Look carefully at the two strips below and then
answer the following questions:
- Describe the comic strips in your own words.
- What is Mafalda’s criticism addressed to? Why? What does she want to show? Is she right?
Try to give her more arguments for her criticism and if you think she is wrong, how would
you criticise her?
- Search for other Mafalda comic strips and comment on them in class.
- Do you dare to create a short comic strip? If so: a) think about an unfair situation (worthy
of criticism), b) design some characters and make a brief dialogue (... and draw it!)
2. Here we have a superb painting by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525-1569), entitled
“Netherlandish Proverbs” (1559; Staatliche Museen, Berlin). The painting describes his
neighbours and activities and it also illustrates proverbs and popular sayings. We suggest
you:
1. Search for some information about this painter
and try to describe every scene in the painting (use
the Internet to find some details and to learn the
proverbs and sayings).
2. A proverb is a saying containing people’s wisdom
and experience. Make a list of proverbs. What
advice do they give us? Ask your parents, friends
and neighbours.
3. There are many activities in the painting. Use
your imagination and your memory and make a
brief list of activities and professions, not only the
ones from Brueghel's time, but also from ours.
3. Fill the table below by searching for behaviour
that can be described as “good manners” or “bad manners” in each of the daily spaces or
places.
Daily
interaction
and politeness
At a coffee
shop or
restaurant
Traffic
At school and
libraries
Good manners
Bad manners
It doesn't
matter
2.9.-Find out and take part
El Tribunal de las Aguas (The Water Court)
- What is its history? Which functions did –or does – it have? Where is it found?
- Search for and describe some of its symbols.
- Identify some of the personalities in the photograph.
- Is there such a Court in your town? Should it exist?
ASSOCIATIONISM IN DAILY LIFE
Fill in the table below by asking your friends, family and acquaintances what association they
belong to. Complement the information they give you with the following questions:
Why do they belong to that association?
When did they enrol and what role do they play in it?
What do its activities consist of and in which season do they practice them?
How are they organised and what are the conditions for taking part?
Who assumes the institution's expenses and its registration or maintenance fees (if they
exist)?
What would they do to make the association work better?
How are they useful to society? Are they necessary or could we do without them?
Recreational
and economic
institutions
Friends
Parents and
Family
Other
acquaintances
Sports and
social
institutions
Unions and
political
institutions
Charities and
religious
institutions