"The Space In-Between"

In Silviano Santiago’s The Space In-Between he examines the issues of hybridity and the so-called “space in-between” in postcolonial Latin American culture. Santiago discusses the issue of original versus copy when he states, “It is a curious truth that preaches the love of genealogy and a curious profession which, with it’s gaze turned toward the past and to the expensive of the present, establishes value as dependent on the discovery of a contacted debt, a stolen idea, or a borrowed image or word. The prophetic, cannibalistic voice of Paul Valery calls us: “nothing more original, more intrinsic to itself than feeding on others. But it is necessary to digest them. The lion is comprised of ingested sheep”” (Santiago 32). In other words, Valery is saying that it is crucial for a country to considered and be informed of outside countries in order to be a strong well-rounded country. He also brings up the idea of dominant and dominated culture but also acknowledges how problematic European historical influences can be in Latin American culture. One of my favorite quotes from Santiago’s text is when he states, “Somewhere between sacrifice and playfulness, prison and transgression, submission to the code and aggression, obedience and rebellion, assimilation and expression there, in this apparently empty space, its temple and its clandestinity, is where the anthropophagous ritual of Latin American discourse is constructed” (Santiago 38). This quote caught my attention because it basically sums up Santiago’s text. He is talking about the in-betweeness and how Latin American culture is a consumption of all those things and in-between.