Human Metamorphosis In Latin American Culture

Humans are resilient. Like chameleons, human beings can adapt and transform themselves in various ways. Certain types of transformations can be attributed to biological needs and drives, while others arise from personal motives or fantasy. Human transformation can be seen in myriad genres of film, literature, and art throughout various cultures. The idea of transformation can be seen as a reoccurring theme in the literature of Latin American culture. This notion of human metamorphosis is also visible in the origins of Latin American civilization from the Olmec people, a pre-Columbian civilization that thrived from 1200-400 BC (Cartwright, "Olmec Civilization"). The history of the Olmec people is rich with beliefs on human transformation. Their
beliefs were translated into their artwork; an example can be found in the Mesoamerican exhibit in the Snite Museum of a man converting to a jaguar. A parallel may be drawn between this Olmec belief and certain stories of modern Latin American literature. Short stories such as “Axolotl” by Julio Cortazar, “The Warrior and the Captured Maiden by Jorge Luis Borges, and “Chac Mool” by Carlos Fuentes each posses a type of transformation, which slightly mirrors that of the Olmec’s yet maintaining unique characteristics that distinguish one from the other. The Olmec people of the pre-Columbian era of Mesoamerica were a mysterious group.
Although they kept meticulous records of “their gods and religious practices using symbols,” little is known of their ethnic beginnings and of details about their settlements (Cartwright, "Olmec Civilization"). “Virtually everything that scholars know about them is based on the remains of cities and on comparisons between their artifacts and imagery and those of later civilizations (Lemonick 56).” Despite being enigmatic, enough is known to consider the Olmec an “advanced” group and are seen as “evident in later civilizations” such as the Mayans and the Aztecs, recognized as the “mother culture” by scholars (Grove 148). A potential reason for the Olmec’s influence could be attributed to their massive trading network. Their system of trade expanded northwestward in the Valley of Mexico to the southeast, to parts of Central America, allowing them to reach more territory and indigenous tribes (“Olmec”). Many of the Olmec’s characteristics such as “monumental sacred complexes, massive stone sculpture, ball games, chocolate drinking and animal gods” would be acquired by later Mesoamerican civilizations, the Mayans and Aztecs (Cartwright, "Olmec Civilization"). The Olmec’s legacy can be seen “in Classic Maya monumental art and symbols of royal power” while “monumental art executed to Olmec stylistic was present” after 700BC in southern parts of Mesoamerica (Grove 148,
155). A fascinating facet of Olmec society was their ideology on human transformations.
The notion of man and animal transforming was part of the Olmec’s society, under religious contexts. They had several different gods who incorporated an animal of some sort: serpent, bird, dragon, jaguar, etc. (Cartwright). The were-jaguar, a hybrid of jaguar and human, is associated with the shamans or shaman-kings and the transformation they undertook (“Were-Jaguar”). These hybrids have taken form in the artwork and statues of the Olmec. In the Snite Museum, there is a particular Olmec sculpture that illustrates the transformation from man to a jaguar. The brief explanation of the artwork, located below the sculpture in the museum, provides details of the sculpture’s jaguar qualities and explicitly states, “This unusual sculpture depicts the head of a ruler in the liminal state of transformation into a jaguar, probably in preparation for entering the spirit world to secure favors for his people.” The Snite’s were-jaguar sculpture is only one of numerous Olmec sculptures that encapsulate human
transformation.