Motorized Bums

         'Motorized Bums’: Che Guevara’s Shifting Identities in Motorcycle Diaries

                                                 Session III: Che Guevara and Identity                             
                                                (Click for recording of paper presentations)   

      

SESSION III – Theme: Che Guevara and Identity (11:30 AM – 12:45 PM)
Chair: Yugank Naik, Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations, Goa University

Time	Paper Title	Presenter
11:30 AM – 11:40 AM	Machismo in Latin American society through Che Guevara’s Writings and Life	Shwetha Rathod, Student; Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
11:45 AM – 11:55 AM	CHElevance: The Legacy of a True Revolutionary	Sarena Coelho, Delanne Dias & Nikkita Kole, Students; St. Xavier’s College, Goa
12:00 PM – 12:10 PM	‘Motorized Bums’: Che Guevara’s Shifting Identities in Motorcycle Diaries	Brian Mendonca, Assistant Professor; Carmel College for Women, Goa
12:15 PM – 12:25 PM	Che Guevara: From Revolutionary Cuban to Global Phenomenon	Shannon D’Souza, Merlyn De Souza & Jayden Pais, Students; St. Xavier’s College, Goa
12:30 PM – 12:40 PM	The Remarkable Leadership of Che Guevara	Heloise D’Souza & Shanaiya Britto, Students; St. Xavier’s College, Goa

                                                                                                   

                                                                       Abstract

 Che Guevara’s Motorcycle Diaries: Notes on a Latin American Journey is usually seen as an absolute narrative – integral to the formation of his alter ego. Yet the text is full of hesitancies, contradictions, aporias and shifting signifiers. Che candidly refers to themselves as ‘motorized bums,’ but in a fascinating unravelling he also calls himself a hobo, a removalist, a barbecue attendant, a stowaway, a bourgeois, a Bohemian, and an ‘eclectic dissembler of doctrine.’

 It is possible to divide Che’s epic journey into three phases, each with its own set of identities viz. i. Argentina ii. Chile iii. Peru.  In his travels in Argentina we see the playful Che - the buffoon - falling headlong on his bike ‘La Poderosa.’As he crosses into Chile over lake Esmeralda, his character changes as he comes face to face with the misery of the Chilean people. Che crosses the Chilean border into Peru. With each crossing he breaches a new frontier. His critique of colonialism is articulated amidst the cathedral of Cuzco. In his final speech in Iquitos, Peru, on his 24^th birthday he calls for a United Latin America.

Motorcycle Diaries is a journey, both outward and inward. This paper will probe the shifting identities of Che which make up the man as he travels Siempre al norte / Ever Northward.

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International Webinar on ‘Che Guevara: The Man and the Myth,’ Online. 27^th November 2020. Organized by Department of English, Carmel College, Nuvem, Goa and Department of International Relations, Goa University, Goa.