User:RM395/Course/Manypedia/Pancho Villa

--Brodmont (talk) 00:48, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

I decided to compare the English and Spanish articles for Pancho Villa, as I thought this would be a figure who might be treated differently between the two languages. For this exercise I've been comparing articles in English and Spanish, as I understand both languages well. In the case of Pancho Villa I have a personal interest: My uncle traveled frequently in Mexico and befriended Pancho Villa's surviving wife, so I have a souvenir photo of Villa, autographed by the señora.

The English-language article (about 8,000 words) is actually longer than the Spanish (about 5,000 words). The two introductory background sections are approximately the same length, cover about the same material, and present Villa in about the same light, indicating that the editors of both versions are attempting to maintain a neutral point of view.

In the introductions, I did notice a subtle contrast that could be due to differing points of view of editors south and north of the border. The English version says at one point:

"After Villa's famous raid on Columbus, New Mexico in 1916, U.S. Army General John J. Pershing tried unsuccessfully to capture Villa in a nine-month pursuit that ended when the United States entered into World War I and Pershing was called back."

At that same point, the Spanish article says,

"Después del ataque de Villa a Columbus, en 1915, el general John J. Pershing trató infructuosamente de capturar a Villa durante un año."

What's of particular interest here is that the English version says that Columbus is part of New Mexico, a U.S. state, whereas the Spanish version only mentions the name of the town, not acknowledging it as part of the United States. Someone writing from a Mexican cultural perspective might be more reluctant to recognize Columbus as belonging to the U.S., perhaps viewing parts of the Southwest U.S. as territories illegally annexed from Mexico. Also, the Spanish version does not include the detail that Pershing was a U.S. Army general and does not mention the United States' entry into World War II.

It's also noteworthy that the English article says the Battle of Columbus took place in 1916, but the Spanish version says 1915. In fact, the Batalla de Columbus has its own article, which gives 1916 as the date. Given this discrepancy, I left a note on the [Spanish Talk page] for the Pancho Villa article. This article in Spanish is locked, so I was not able to make the change myself.

The long history sections of the two articles seem to correspond fairly well. They are obviously written by different authors, but they cover approximately the same ground and do a good job of maintaining neutral point of view. They even use many of the same photos and place them at approximately the same points in the narratives.

The greatest contrast between the two articles shows up in the section about Villa's retirement and assassination. The English version is much longer and enters into extensive discussions of the two main theories behind the assassination, both of which place the blame on plots against Villa by Mexican interests (one suggests it was an act of family revenge, the other that it was political). The Spanish version gives only a brief account of the assassination. Interestingly, the Spanish version doesn't acknowledge either of the conspiracies mentioned in the English version, but places the blame on U.S. interests:

"No se duda que hayan intervenido elementos norteamericanos en la eliminación de Villa."

Also, the Spanish editor of this section perhaps reveals some degree of reverence for Villa in describing the mutilation of his body:

"Ni de muerto lo dejaron descansar a Pancho Villa. Decapitaron su cadáver, en esta profanación y necrofilia intervinieron ayudantes locales y el norteamericano Handal, pagado por el rey de la prensa norteamericana, Hearst[59]. Quien desembolsicó cinco mil dólares por la cabeza de Villa, trocado en dantesco trofeo."

So, while the general section on Villa's history could be said to be written in a neutral point of view in both language versions, the section on Villa's death in Spanish does seem to reflect some degree of bias. Among many Mexicans, Villa is still viewed as a revolutionary hero.

Of interest to those of us who own autographs from Pancho Villa's wife, the Spanish article includes a subheading "Villa y sus esposas," which says that it is not known for sure how many wives he had, but that he was said to have been legally married 75 times. Oh, well.

--Brodmont (talk) 00:48, 25 March 2013 (UTC)