The Costa Rica Reader: History, Culture, Politics (The Latin America Readers)

398 Pages·2004·2.324 MB·English

by  Steven Palmer (editor), Iván Molina (editor)

The Costa Rica Reader
the latin america readers
AserieseditedbyRobinKirkandOrinStarn
Alsointhisseries:
the peru reader: history, culture, politics
OrinStarn,CarlosIvánDegregori,andRobinKirk,editors
the brazil reader: history, culture, politics
EditedbyRobertM.LevineandJohnJ.Crocitti
the argentina reader: history, culture, politics
EditedbyGabrielaNouzeillesandGracielaMontaldo
the mexico reader: history, culture, politics
EditedbyGilbertM.JosephandTimothyJ.Henderson
the cuba reader: history, culture, politics
EditedbyAvivaChomsky,BarryCarr,andPamelaMariaSmorkaloff
the latin america readers
Praisefor
‘‘AstellarcollectionoftextsonBrazilianhistoryandcontemporarylife.
Noordinaryreader,thisvolumegoesbelowthesurfacetointroducean
AmericanaudiencetoBrazil’scomplexitiesanddiversity.’’
—ForeignAffairs
‘‘ThebestintroductionforEnglishreadersto[Argentina’s]history,culture,
andsociety.’’
—BenjaminSchwarz,TheAtlanticMonthly
‘‘AnyonewhohasakeeninterestinMexico—indelvingdeepintothe
country’srichhistoryandculturebeforegoingthere—wouldbefascinated
bythisbook.’’
—JuneSawyers,ChicagoTribune
‘‘WhatTheCubaReaderdoesextraordinarilywellistorevealthenuancesand
complexityoftheCubanexperience.’’
—SusanFernandez,TheMiamiHerald
‘‘Aheftyvolumethatwillsatisfyyourcuriosityonalmostallthings
Brazilian.’’
—SouthAmericanExplorer
‘‘TheBrazilReaderissimplyindispensable.’’
—JulioCésarPino,HispanicAmericanHistoricalReview

T HE
COS TA RICA
READER
history, culture, politics
Edited by Steven Palmerand Iván Molina
duke university press
DurhamandLondon 2004
2ndprinting,2006
©2004DukeUniversityPress
Allrightsreserved
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmericaonacid-freepaper(cid:7)
DesignedbyAmyRuthBuchanan
TypesetinDantebyTsengInformationSystems,Inc.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationDataappear
onthelastprintedpageofthisbook.
ToLubín
inlovingmemory

Contents
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
I.BirthofanException? 9
WarriorsandSacredStruggle.Pre-ColumbianDistinctions 13
AConquerorLooksontheBrightSide.TownCouncilofCastillo
deGarci-Muñoz 14
HuntingIndians.ClaudiaQuirós 16
TheExecutionofPabloPresbere.JoséMaríaFigueroa 22
TheTrialofPabloPresbere,CaciqueofSuinse.
LorenzoAntoniodeGrandayBalbín 23
ASlave’sStory.JoséCubero 26
FreeBlacks,Mulattoes,andMestizosSeekLegitimacy.CabildoofCartago 29
BrotherhoodoftheVirgin.RicardoFernándezGuardia 31
LifeandLaborintheCentralValley,circa1821.IvánMolina 35
TheFallofMorazán.Unknown 44
LibelousPornographyfrom1841.JoséMaríaFigueroa 48
CivilizingDomesticLifeintheCentralValley,1750–1850.EugeniaRodríguez 49
II.CoffeeNation 55
PrivatizationoftheLandandAgrarianConflict.SilviaCastro 57
TicoSweepstakes.PíoJoaquínFernández 62
WitnesstoHeroism.GerónimoSegura 65
HolidaysinCostaRica,1858.ThomasFrancisMeagher(illustratedby
RamónPáez) 69
DenunciationoftheLazareneBrothers.DiegoQuesada 84
BuildingCivilization.FernandoZamora 86
x Contents
GettingtoKnowtheUnknownSoldier.StevenPalmer 90
TheBurningoftheMesón.EnriqueEchandi 97
III.PopularCultureandSocialPolicy 99
AlleywayofOpenWounds.ClaudiaMaríaJiménez 101
WomenoftheBarrio.LuisaGonzález 102
ADistrictLaboratoryinCostaRica.JohnElmendorfJr. 109
AutobiographyofaShoemaker.JuanRafaelMorales 112
Maternity.FranciscoZúñiga 121
Prospectus.NationalAssociationofCoffeeProducers 123
TheRedDoor.TeodoricoQuirós 127
BananaStrikeConfidential.DiplomaticServiceoftheUnitedStatesofAmerica 128
NoticetoWestIndianFarmers!WestIndianStrikeCommittee 132
WomaninWindow.MaxJiménez 134
AGovernorandaManFacestheSocialProblem.
RafaelÁngelCalderónGuardia 135
IV.DemocraticEnigma 139
PetitionforRecognitionofVotingRightsfromaHumbleCitizen,1859.
SantiagoCórdova 143
TheNightofSanFlorencio.LaPrensaLibre 146
AnOutsider’sViewofPoliticalSocietyin1914.DanaG.Munro 149
DemocratsandFeminists.StevenPalmerandGladysRojasChaves 155
Women’sVote—theDayThatTheyGetIt.PacoHernández 160
HailtotheJefe.AlejandroAlvaresDuartesMora 161
UnlikelyThreesome.ReformistSummit,1943 162
ThePolarizationofPolitics,1932–1948.IvánMolina 163
MemoriesofGirlhoodin’48.MaríaE.RoblesSolano 170
DemocracyontheBrink:TheFirstFigueresPresidency.KirkBowman 175
V.TheCostaRicanDream 183
MeansandEndsforaBetterCostaRica.RodrigoFacio 187
InDefenseoftheCornerStore.ConstantinoLáscaris 192
ACostaRicanGodfather.J.L.Vargas 198