Reviewed by Katherine Bacani ||
Eduardo Galeano’s Memory of Fire trilogy is a grand mosaic of lyrical North and South American history that meditates on the Old World and the painful creation of the New World. This collection is told through the lenses of many historical characters and unfolds the multifaceted understandings of history. This trilogy is best examined as a collection, rather than three individual works. Each volume, Genesis, Faces and Masks, and Century of the Wind, unearths layers of historical events that synergetically create the experience of the Old and New World. I felt that this review should assess the work as a whole to fully embrace the rich culture and history of North and South America.
Galeano’s mosaic style is a unique style that plays a crucial part in telling the historical and bibliographic truths of the trilogy. The first volume, Genesis, examines the Native South and North American culture and how the Spanish Conquest devastated thousands of tribes in the 17th century. The short chapters of this volume established that Native American history was created by thousands of different experiences which illustrate violence and grief. The writing resembles a collection of poetry in a book and utilizes short but resonant words—ones that expressed so much pain as an oppressed individual encountering Spanish conquistadors. The chapters also include Native fables that contextualize some tribes’ understanding of the Old World. Galeano paid close attention to historical accuracy, including a small source after each story, which demonstrated his deep respect and acknowledgment of the figures he included in his stories. Each story, though some with fantasy elements, radiates some feeling of authenticity. This aspect of “realness” plays a vital part in the second half of the novel as it contributes to the adversity and vivid descriptions of the Indigenous people’s suffering. It really elevated the gravity of some explicit scenes that really brought on intense sympathy for the women and natives as I read it.
The second volume, Faces and Masks, introduces an undertone of optimism for the fate of the Indigenous peoples as the stories progress into the 18th and 19th centuries. Galeano included rightful retaliation from the natives’ side, which can be a refreshing read after finishing Genesis. The majority of this volume, however, illuminates the ongoing conflict between the European imperial powers and the Indigenous peoples after the settlement of colonies through the description of their torment inflicted by the Europeans. Some parts, like 1761: Merida, Fragments, express that one man was not “permitted the relief of death” as the Europeans tortured him for disrespecting Christ. This section, though very brief, impacted how I personally felt about the Spanish Conquest throughout the remainder of the second volume. Galeano envisions the fate of the Americas as one with many wars and cultural reforms to achieve equality and better treatment for the Indigenous peoples, displaying the natives’ desire for peace and the Europeans’ prejudiced wrath. The events of this volume are different but just as dramatic and catastrophic as the Era of Conquest, for the people of both sides have resorted to violence and angry defense against one another.
The final volume, Century of the Wind, criticizes the corruption of modern society and divulges a side of the historical events that are so often romanticized in today’s media. I understood this volume as a reflection of how today’s world was heavily shaped by the cruelty of the Spaniards and the trauma of the Native Americans. Galeano expresses this criticism in the passage about the uprising of jazz and the role of Louis Armstrong in the 1900s media, emphasizing the parallels between the jazz player and jazz in the world of racial segregation and prejudice. Normally, Louis Armstrong is celebrated as a black figure representing the revolutionary music of his time, but in this passage, we are reminded of the hardships he faced as a Black man. This third volume’s ideas coincide with the themes of its preceding volumes of oppression and racial superiority. It continues to criticize the injustice of European domination and how it evolved into the cultural racism of modern times. Based on Galeano’s continued inclusion of personal stories of suffering from people of color, this volume centers on the persisting oppression of marginalized groups and includes only small hints of optimism for justice. The volume’s stories end in the year 1986, but the same white superiority mindsets and violent racial conflicts have debatably persisted into today’s time, taking modern forms of hatred on social media platforms and in the government system.
Eduardo Galeano’s Memory of Fire stands as one of the most influential Latin American literary works and has heavily shaped my own understanding of American history. Oppression and unjust suffering are significant themes that need to be understood—not just talked about in history classes—and these books serve to help readers feel the experience of the world’s cultural evolution. I loved its ability to connect readers to intimate moments of the Natives, and the Memory of Fire has made great strides in bringing empowerment to the unheard voices of history and the marginalized groups of today.
