Mara Sol Torres

Intercultural Studies
29/05/17

2) The American folktale chosen is Cowboys in Heaven retold by

After cow punching for nigh on fifty years, a Texas cowboy went on to his reward. There
was considerable excitement in heaven when he reached the pearly gates. The arrival of
a real Texan cowboy was considered something of an event in heaven. Saint Peter
himself came right over and insisted on giving the cowpoke a tour. Things were right
friendly-like until the cowboy spotted half-a-dozen cowpokes staked out like broncos.

"Why are all those men staked out?" he asked Saint Peter.

Saint Peter replied: "Those are cowboys from the Panhandle. Every time we let them
Schlosser.

The Argentinian legend selected is Gauchito Gil retold by Mara de

Hoyos y Laura Migale.

Con los aos era tanta la cantidad de promesantes que iban a visitar la tumba del
Gauchito Gil y le encendan velas, que el dueo de la estancia sinti temor que le
incendiaran el campo e hizo llevar su cuerpo al cementerio local. Dicen que este
estanciero era un hombre rico, con una familia sana y bien constituida. Pero desde el
momento que decide sacar de all el oratorio comenz a tener problemas econmicos,
muere uno de sus hijos de una extraa enfermedad, la hacienda se enferme y los
campos se secaban. l mismo cae en cama y los mdicos no aciertan con el
diagnostico.
Un da una curandera le dice al estanciero que iba a mejorar solo cuando volviera a
traer el oratorio del Gauchito a su lugar. Entonces, el estanciero construyo un mausoleo
junto con una cruz tallada en fina madera en el sitio donde muri y cedi, adems, un
amplio espacio. A partir de este momento todo mejor para el dueo del campo. El

To begin with, in order to analyze these folktales from a sociocultural

perspective, it is important to define what culture is. According to
Moran (2001) culture is the evolving way of life of a group of persons,
consisting of a shared set of practices associated with a shared set of
products, based upon a shared set of perspectives on the world, and
set within specific social contexts. In other words, culture as an
evolving way of life reflects the dynamic nature of it. Each
sociocultural system has a history and a tradition to the components
of culture, which are common to all of these systems. In fact, these
components are the products, practices, perspectives, communities
and persons (Moran, 2001).
The products refer to all objects, both tangible and abstract, created
or embraced by the members of a culture, including those in the
environment. For example, in Cowboys from Heaven, the main
products identified are heaven, the state of Texas in the United

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States, the spoken English language and the institution of religion,

among others. On the contrary, the products displayed in the
Gauchito Gil legend are a chapel, the countryside, a wooden cross, a
mausoleum, a religious cult, the spoken Spanish language, the
institution of family and religion and the like. Consequently, these
products mentioned are located and organized in physical places.
As for practices, Moran (2001) states that these involve the full range
of actions and interactions that members of a community carry out,
individually or with others. For instance, the Gauchito Gil legend
depicts the action of the rancher getting ill and his interaction with
the healer. Moreover, the construction of the mausoleum and the
healers advice to the rancher to take the Gauchitos chapel back to
his ranch are also examples of interactions. Nevertheless, in Cowboys
in Heaven, the main action and interaction consists of the Texas
cowboy going to heaven and being greeted by Saint Peter.
With reference to perspectives, these embody the perceptions,
beliefs, values, and attitudes that underlie the products and that
guide persons and communities in the practices of the culture.
Moreover, they are often implicit rather than explicit (Moran, 2001).
An instance of this is the perception displayed by the value given to
cowboys in the American folktale Cowboys in Heaven. In the United
States, cowboys are often considered highly responsible humans.
They signify protection, loyalty and honor because of their great work
on earth. On top of that, cowboys are usually regarded as actual
heroes because they braved Indian attacks, wild horses, stampedes
and every other form of horrible death imaginable. As a result, this
folktale embodies the underlying belief that Americans have of
cowboys as hard-working people. Apart from this, Schlosser mentions
Heaven and Saint Peter, which are beliefs corresponding to the
Catholic faith. Saint Peter is regarded as the holder of the Keys of
Heaven and therefore, as a relative figure of paramount importance
for the Catholic people. In such a way, the interaction given between
Saint Peter and the Texas cowboy depicts a meeting between two
highly regarded figures by Americans and more precisely by Catholic
ones. Accordingly, the implicit belief portrayed by this folktale might
be that hardworking people like cowboys go to heaven and are even
greeted by Saint Peter himself for that feature. Not to mention the
fact that the cowboys want to go back to earth to continue their
hardworking life.
Similarly, the Gauchito Gil legend depicts one of the predominant
traditional figures of Argentina: the gauchos. The gauchos, as
cowboys in America, helped settling the country and are often
regarded as kind and warm men who protect the countryside and the
cattle. Moreover, the legend displays a belief of many Argentinian
people in this secular saint. The Gauchito Gil was a gaucho who lived
in the countryside in the state of Corrientes and who was murdered in
the 1800 but was actually innocent. From that moment onwards,

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some people believe he grants wishes to those that worship him.

Apart from this, the people that believe in him usually also worship
San La Muerte-another profane saint- who supposedly grants wishes
as well. In such a way, the legend embodies many Argentinians belief
in these secular saints. However, when contrasting this aspect with
Cowboys in Heaven, a difference is found. In the Gauchito Gil
legend, the Gauchito is regarded as profane by the Catholic Church
since he is considered to have been a robber, a kind of Argentinian
Robin Hood. Nonetheless, in Cowboys in Heaven, Saint Peter
himself, a Catholic saint supported by the church, is the one to greet
the Texas cowboy. To clarify, the religious belief displayed in Cowboys
in Heaven about the existence of Heaven and Saint Peter is
supported by the Catholic Church whereas the one displayed in the
Gauchito Gil legend is secular and not accepted by the
aforementioned church. Apart from this, cowboys are not believed to
grant wishes or perform miracles as the Gauchito Gil figure
supposedly does.
Additionally, according to Moran (2001), the communities of
sociocultural systems refer to the specific social contexts,
circumstances, and groups in which members carry out cultural
practices. Moreover, these circumstances and social contexts are in
specific relationships with one another: cooperation, collaboration,
conflict, separation, etc. Namely, the communities that are pointed
out in Cowboys in Heaven are the United States population
(especially western America), the cowboys community and the
Catholic people. Nevertheless, the Argentina population, gauchos
community and the Gauchito Gil worshippers are the ones referred
to in the Gauchito Gil legend. As a result, the relationships shown by
both the folktale and the legends circumstances are that of
collaboration and cooperation displayed in the support of nationalism
and the worship of a saint, secular or not.
Along with the last concept, the last component of culture are the
persons. These refer to the individual members who embody the
culture and its communities in unique ways. (Moran, 2001). On top of
that, each person constitutes a mix of experiences and communities.
For example, the healer in the Gauchito Gil legend seems to
represent one of many followers of the Gauchito. Likewise, the Texas
cowboy might represent loyalty and responsibility to the nation.
Nevertheless, Saint Peter seems to represent the Catholic community
whereas the Gauchito Gil might embody the belief of many
Argentinians in Catholic and secular figures at the same time.
These components of culture are part of a bigger institutional
structure, which has different functions according to the human
society to which it belongs. This structure along with its functions
belongs to a sociocultural system that differs according to the
characteristics of the particular elements of culture that constitute it.

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Therefore, the aspects of the sociocultural systems belonging to the

United States and Argentina identified on the respective folktale and
legend are education and system of beliefs.
As regards education, that is to say, the process by which the culture
of a sociocultural system is impressed and imposed upon the plastic,
cultureless infant, two varieties are recognized. On the one hand, in
Cowboys in Heaven, a formal transmission of education may be
identified because the Catholic religion and American History- where
cowboys are studied- are taught and learned in a systematic and
intentional way as elements of the culture through the Catholic
Church and school. Not to mention that religious private schools
transmit both elements conjointly. On the other hand, in the Gauchito
Gil legend, there might exist an informal education type of
transmission as the child who is born in a family constituted with
fervent worshippers of the Gauchito is raised in contact with that
and therefore, adopts their faith to become part of the group. The
child might not learn about the Gauchito neither at a Catholic Church
because it portrays him as a secular saint- nor at school as part of
the official curriculum. Moreover, the family raises the child in that
faith not being aware of this slow adoption because it is carried out in
a non- systematic way. Overall, both types of education are relevant
to sociocultural systems in that they reassure the continuity of
culture.
Finally, two different systems of belief are identified in both the
legend and the folktale. As for system of belief, it is understood as the
doctrine that everything is alive and possesses mental faculties like
those possessed by men. To illustrate this, in the Gauchito Gil
legend, a magical system of belief is displayed because of profane
characteristic of the Gauchito himself. Therefore, since the Catholic
Church does not accept it, this figure might be considered antisocial
and immoral. On the contrary, in Cowboys in Heaven, the system of
belief refers to the catholic religion, because Saint Peter is named,
and so it might be recognized as social and institutional. However,
both cases manifest implicit ways of regulate and control behavior by
accentuating the kindness and hard-working nature of the Gauchito
Gil and cowboys as positive features to be adopted by people.

3) I would work with the Cowboys in Heaven folktale with teenagers

that have an intermediate/upper-intermediate level of English.
Additionally, I believe that the tasks designed to achieve this aim
will accordingly fulfil the purpose of contributing to learning EFL
because, firstly, new vocabulary will be learnt. Moreover, reading
comprehension and oral production- through a group discussion-
will be encouraged. Apart from that, through the jigsaw listening
activity, listening comprehension will be fostered as well. As well
as that, written production will be stimulated by asking the

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students to rewrite the folktale using the figure of gauchos. On top

of that, students will be encouraged to look for information about
cowboys and their relation to the USA history so that they can
learn a little more about the cultural practices carried out in this
particular country.

1. Warm-up: shows the picture of a cowboy in a cattle ranch. Ask

students questions like:
Who is that?
What is he wearing?
Where is him?
What do you think is his job?
Can you find a comparison to him in Argentina? Here the teacher
presents a picture of a gaucho and encourages students to find
similarities between both of them.
Where are cowboys from?
2. Sticks a picture of the United States. Ask students to look up
information on their cellphones about the main characteristics
of cowboys and where they lived within the USA. They have one
minute to do this.
3. Students are encouraged to write key words on the board next
to the picture of the cowboy. In addition, the teacher shows a
map of USA for them to point to the cowboys predominant
locations.
4. Shows a wordcloud with the unknown words from the folktale.
Encourages students to look them up in groups as a game.
5. Shows the folktale and tells students that they are going to read
a folktale about cowboys that is called Cowboys in Heaven.
She writes three words on the board: Cowboy- Heaven- Saint
Peter and tells students these words are in the text. Then, she
asks them to guess what might be the relations between those
words in the folktale.
6. Teacher separates students into 4 groups of 3 or 4 students
each. She gives each group one part of the folktale and asks
them to read it in silence. Then, all the groups come together
and try to sequence the folktale with the information each of
them has in their respective groups.
7. Once they have sequenced the folktale the teacher makes a
group discussion about it with questions like:
Where is this cowboy from?
What was his job back on earth?
What do you think is implied by golden gates? What is it
representing?
Why is he on heaven and not on hell?
Who is Saint Peter? What does he do?
What happens to the other Cowboys?
Why do you think they wanted to escape?

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Why wanted Saint Peter to hold them back?

Do you think cowboys are portrayed as important in this
folktale? Why?
Do you believe cowboys are important in Argentina?
Why?
Are gauchos as important in Argentina as Cowboys are in
the USA? Why?
Why are cowboys important in the USA?
8. Students have to rewrite the folktale in groups but instead of
writing about cowboys, they must do it about gauchos implying
their importance in Argentina. The teacher provides an
example.
9. Then, students tell their productions to their classmates. For
example:

After riding his horse, a gaucho from Chaco went on to his reward. There was
considerable excitement in heaven when he reached the pearly gates. The arrival of
a gaucho was considered of great relevance in heaven. Saint Peter himself came
right over and insisted on giving the gaucho a tour. Things were right friendly-like
until the gaucho spotted half-a-dozen gauchos staked out like horses.

"Why are all those men staked out?" he asked Saint Peter.

Saint Peter replied: "Those are gauchos from the Corrientes. Every time we let them

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Intercultural Studies
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Works cited/consulted
De Hoyos, M. and Migale, L. (2017). GAUCHITO GIL - Diccionario de
Mitos y Leyendas. [online] Cuco.com.ar. Available at:
http://www.cuco.com.ar/gauchito_gil.htm [Accessed 14 May 2017].
Ducksters. (2017). Cowboys. [online] Available at:
http://www.ducksters.com/history/westward_expansion/cowboys.ph
p [Accessed 19 May 2017].
Encyclopaedia Britannica. Macropaedia. Vol. 16 (874-881).
Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. 1994.
Moran, P (2001). Language and Culture. In Teaching Culture:
Perspectives in Practice (pp. 23-33). Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.
Scholesser (2017). Cowboys in Heaven: From Tall Tales at
Americanfolklore.net. [online] Americanfolklore.net. Available at:
http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2010/08/cowboys_in_heaven.ht
ml [Accessed 14 May 2017].