When a Flower is Reborn: The Life and Times of a Mapuche Feminist by Rosa Isolde Reuque Paillalef (review)

Book Revieci7.7 147 be merely studied as in the Greco-Roman tradition; it is a part of the living universe to be experienced. Early Amerindian scholars such as Guainan Poma, Pachacuti Yamki, Tezozomoc, Fernando de Alva lxtlilxochitl and Muiioz Carnargo took necessarily the episteinological position which W.E.B. DuBois termed “double consciousness.’’ For Amerindians there existed no difference between “moral” and “natural” history. Modern scholarship accepts diverse epistemologies. Mignolo points out that Amerindian writers today, therefore, are able to present their “border” epistemology from a subaltern perspective. This position allows them to participate in the imaginary of the colonial difference. Frances M. Lopez-Morillas, who also translated Alvar Nuiiez Cabeza de Vaca’s Naz/fi-ugios, renders an excellent translation of the Histor-iu. Acosta’s elegant, simple prose is captured completely by the translator. The work reads so smoothly one might think that its original language is English. Lopez-Morillas deserves particular commendation given the vast number of places and topics that Acosta discusses. In spite of these factors and the length of the work (449 pages), the high quality of the translation never wavers. The edition is carefully indexed and provides an ample up-to-datc bibliography without annotations. Mangan also includes regional maps of the Andes, Mesoamerica, and the Valley of Mexico. Mignolo makes use of plates to emphasize visually the important points he is presenting. The edition’s annotations, introduction, and cominentary undeniably place Acosta’s Histor-iu in the context of contemporary scholarship. Mangan’s edition is an excellent example of thoughtful and scrupulous research and reflection. I highly recommend that it become an essential work for consultation by serious scholars and students of colonial Latin America. Cliarles Knrgledei. Spring Hill College Reuque Paillalef, Rosa Isolde. When a Flower is Reborn: The Life arid Times o f a Mapirche Fernittist. Ed., Trans., and with an Introduction by Florencia E. Mallon. Duke University Press, 2002. Thefield of Latin American tesfiino17io literature continuesto expand into new subaltern voices and themes, and to cinploy increasingly collaborative methodologies. When u Flower-I S Rehorn: The Life and Tinies of n M~ipziche Feininist by Rosa Isolde Reuqiie Paillalef, a Mapuche (indigenous people who comprise nearly ten percent of the Chilean population) leader, and Florencia E. Mallon, a United States academic born in Chile, provides a unique perspective on the intersections and complexities of identities and SELA S u mI ieI /Fa 112003 ideologies-indigenous, Catholic, feminist-and charts new ground in the authors’approach to recreating representations of the past. Where testimorzios like I, Rigober-tuMenchzi,Don 1Be Afraid Gringo, and Let Me Speak reveal a certain distance and disconnect between the speaker and editor, Mallon’s introduction and the text itself disclose the cooperation and exchange between Mallon, the interviewer and editor, and Reuque, the subject-agent.’ Even where more collaborative testimonios like Hear My Testimony divulge the process of creating the text and the exchange between interviewerieditor and speaker, Reuque and Mallon go further by including the perspectives of Reuque’s family to confirm, contradict, and nuance Reuque’s perceptions.’ The result provides a lens into the multiple and shifting Mapuche identities and diversity of experiences under the August0 Pinochet dictatorship (19731989 ) and Chile’s subsequent democratic government. Reuque’s testimonio discloses how, as a Mapiiche leader, she shaped the society in which she lived and how larger political, social, economic, and cultural forces both motivated and discouraged her activism. She became an activist in high school during the 1973 military coup when she formed a group to defend people “disappeared” by the dictatorship; thus began a commitment to political and social organization, which she maintained throughout her life. The catalyst that mobilized many Mapuche people was the Pinochet military regime. Beginning in 1978 Mapuche communities united under the umbrella organization called Ad-Mapu to advocate for indigenous rights and oppose the dictatorship. However, by 1983 a divisive land reform law, the interventions of political parties and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), foreign aid, and an emphasis on class (as opposed to ethnic) struggles undermined Ad-Mapu’s political cohesion. In addition, as other groups such as the Catholic church discovered, Mapuche organizations found it more...