Herencia Journal

Cover, Index and Presentation

2023-01-28T22:12:19-06:00

Urban modernity, flats and pioneers (The manufacture of mosaics in Costa Rica: 1880-1905)

2023-01-29T12:38:19-06:00

The purpose of this essay is to investigate historically the use, importation and first production of mosaics for floors and walls in the city of San José, in the period between 1880 and 1905; known as urban modernization of San José. By then, the wealth generated by the cultivation and export of coffee to international markets allowed, like other Latin American cities, the capital of Costa Rica to be urbanistically modernized, so that San José’s upper and middle strata changed their consumption patterns accordingly. This was expressed directly in public and residential architecture, works in which, along with the architectural languages and construction techniques, the design of the internal space also experimented notable changes. The most notorious change was the introduction of Victorian design mosaics on the floors and walls of certain rooms. For that reason, this essay investigates the evolution of importation, first, and then the production of mosaics in Costa Rica: showing different techniques that were used traditionally, as terracotta, ceramics and hydraulic cement.

An account of the history of biology in Costa Rica, in the voice of Dr. Rafael Lucas Rodríguez Caballero

2023-01-29T12:58:04-06:00

Half a century ago, in December 1972, came into light an account titled History of Biology in Costa Rica, by the eminent botanist Rafael Lucas Rodríguez Caballero. It corresponded to the written version of a lecture delivered for a seminar at the Centro Universitario Regional de San Ramón, University of Costa Rica. Thus far it has remained unknown since it was initially published as a booklet that was not widely disseminated. Nevertheless, it is of great value, as it represents the first synthesis about the history of biology in Costa Rica. Therefore, herewith it is rescued and transcribed in full, in addition to interpreting various aspects of its content through footnotes and including some pertinent illustrations.

EULALIA BERNARD, IN MEMORIAM

2023-01-28T23:41:50-06:00

Within the framework of a social action project of the University of Costa Rica that arose at the beginning of the 2010s, and in collaboration with Radio Universidad, Macarena Barahona and Mónica Perea hosted a radio program called Verso y acorde en voz alta, a space for the reading of poetry in the voice of their own authors, with the aim of rescuing the voices of poets, mainly national and Latin American, although programs with authors from other parts of the world were also carried out.

The publication of the collection of poems Tatuaje by Eulalia Bernard Little, motivated the visit of Macarena Barahona to the house of the poetess to record the reading of some of her most recent poems on June 2, 2011, in her house in San Pedro de Montes de Oca. The recording was made by the producer of Radio Universidad, Leo León. Eulalia's poetry is a disruptive poetry with respect to Costa Rican literature of the 70s and 80s. She was a protesting voice, a powerful voice, a woman from migrant families from Jamaica; she made her poetry a flag against racism, against segregation, against patriarchy.

José Carlos Becerra: the poet at the wheel of eternity

2023-01-29T11:26:50-06:00

This article reconstructs the misfortune suffered by José Carlos Becerra, a Mexican poet, who died at the age of 34 in Brindisi, Italy. More than half a century after the event, his poetry is in good health because of the reprint of his poems and because more and more young people have joined who read with amazement the verses of the writer born in Tabasco, southern land of poets.

In his youth, Becerra found recognition for his work, like the praise he received -through a letter- from the poet Octavio Paz; however, his scriptural process stopped when he lost his life in that car accident, a fact that shocked the academic community, cultural and literary of Mexico in 1970.

Although José Carlos Becerra knew what to do with words, he was not skilled with the steering wheel, according to testimonies of friends and close to the poet who was looking, on the day of misfortune, for a sea trip to Greece.

Jose Carlos Becerra the poet of the youth of Mexico

2023-01-29T12:00:07-06:00

In this profile, a poetic corpus by José Carlos Becerra is presented. The selection of poems from the Mexican poet was made by Macarena Barahona Riera, the texts are taken from the book Poesía joven de México (1967) by Alejandro Aura, Leopoldo Ayala, José Carlos Becerra and Raúl Garduño, Editorial Siglo XXI. pp. 71-75.

Science in the service of art: observation of two watercolor pictorial works by Fausto Pacheco through multiple analysis

2023-01-25T15:18:08-06:00

Conservation of artworks is a fundamental aspect of the immensity of human culture and artistic expression. Two watercolor were examined: Paisaje con casa campesina and El puente, belonging to the collection of the Central Bank of Costa Rica attributed to the national artist Fausto Pacheco Hernández. Particularly, the exclusive approach to explore these artworks is characterized by being a multiple analysis, where non-invasive techniques such as multispectral photography were applied. Based on this technique along with the use of novel computational tools such as RegionsOfInterest and Golden Artists Colors, information about the artist's pictorial palette and creative process was determined. Multiple analysis also allowed identifying areas of interest such as dark spots and other patterns that could be associated with microbial growth. This pioneering study is the starting point to establish indicators that will allow, to evaluate the possible authenticity of these artworks based on the establishment of the artist's pictorial palette, materials used, creative processes and historical context. The application of science to know the characteristics of materials contributes significantly to determining the most efficient way to preserve cultural heritage.

Trends in State Cultural Management in Costa Rica: ministerial structure and action in culture in 21st century

2023-01-28T22:24:56-06:00

This article analyzes the trends of cultural management in Costa Rica from the state vision of culture. For this, it considers that the Ministry of Culture is the entity that materializes cultural actions. The five administrations that go from 1998 to 2018 are considered. In addition, it's reviewed the Ministry's structure, the dependencies that comprise it and those that have been created in the period, and the lines of work held of the institution. The analysis of the actions in reports and institutional memories that were carried out during the period is also deepened and they are classified according to the State makes through the Ministry. These data allow us to identify at least two trends in cultural management, one that corresponds to the historical evolution and the work of the arts, and another that includes changes in the form of management, focused on the economic.

Critical literacy in intercultural contexts: the case of the Bilingual Primary School Emiliano Zapata

2023-01-28T22:41:06-06:00

This paper describes the experience of the project Los siete ratones ciegos dan la vuelta al mundo, developed in the Bilingual Elementary School Emiliano Zapata of Sector 02 of the Indigenous Education System from Puebla state (Mexico), and also how teachers, students, mothers and fathers, as well as collaborators from all over the world gathered to celebrate International Mother Language Day. At the same time, we propose a reflection on the implications both pedagogic and intercultural, as well as human, of a collective exercise. From the critical perspective of both literacy and discourse studies and linguistic diversity studies, we account how the school-academic, the literary and the personal identity, as well as the emotional, are articulated in a horizontal and transversal exercise of knowledge construction within intercultural education. Through the pedagogical exercise described, it was possible for the indigenous students of this school to shape their identity from the value of their first language in dialogue with other languages and not from the conception of a vulnerable group.

Iconography of Saint Joseph in Costa Rica

2023-01-28T23:04:07-06:00

This paper exposes Saint Joseph representations on different art pieces of the Catholic Church in Costa Rica, including artworks in churches where people pay special devotion to him, and other places where his figure is merely decorative. In this way, the article is a theoretical and methodological effort, looking to understand Saint Joseph iconography through Cristianity history in Costa Rican territory. For this reason, it does an overall reading of about 155 art pieces, between sculptures, stained glass and paintings, representing the religious character as the main topic, or as a secondary role in the artistic composition.

San Pedro, a prominent site in the history of Cuba

2023-01-28T23:20:31-06:00

The historic combat developed in San Pedro, on December 7, 1896, one of the most controversial in Cuban military history against Spanish rule due to the numerous versions that were given of it, had a fatal outcome because of the loss of Major General Antonio Maceo Grajales and his exemplary assistant Panchito Gómez Toro.

About how the death of Maceo and Panchito happened, their versions, the evolution of the place and its subsequent transformations until today, deepens the present essay. Highlighting its importance as a historical site and relevance as a National Monument. In addition to reflecting the signage of the land to the present, stopping at the main projects designed to perpetuate it for the new Cuban generations.

Universidad, cultura y libertad: afiches de Valeria Varas

2023-01-29T12:12:04-06:00

On April 28, 2022, the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Costa Rica (UCR), mounted the exhibition entitled: University, culture and freedom. Posters and covers of Valeria Varas, which was replicated on September 12, 2022 (without the covers), at the School of General Studies of the UCR, in recognition of the solidarity work that the designer carried out in the 80s, in Costa Rica, in favor of human rights protection in Central America.