Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of
Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and
Speaker 1: this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from
Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas,
Speaker 1: and monsters in time. Spanish artist Francisco Goya's seventeen nine
Speaker 1: collection Los Capricios consists of eighty different prints, each critiquing
Speaker 1: a different folly of contemporary Spanish society. While number forty three,
Speaker 1: The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, is perhaps the most
Speaker 1: famous selection from this album. Today, I'd like to talk
Speaker 1: about Capriccio number three. Here comes the boogey Man or
Speaker 1: care Vienna el Coco. In the illustration, a hooded figure
Speaker 1: approaches a mother whose children's squirn and horror. The mother's faith, however,
Speaker 1: is not possessed by fear. She seems eager, even as
Speaker 1: described on met museum dot org. The image is thought
Speaker 1: to express Goya's criticism of the indoctrination of Spanish children
Speaker 1: into the terror of supernatural beings in both the home
Speaker 1: and the educational system at large. But who or what
Speaker 1: was El Coco? In Carol Rosa's Giants, Monsters and Dragons,
Speaker 1: The folkloreist described it as a kind of ogre used
Speaker 1: to scare children into good behavior. Better be good children,
Speaker 1: or El Coco will come and take you away. Better
Speaker 1: listen to mother, or el Coco will come and eat you.
Speaker 1: The figure also appears in Portuguese traditions as well as
Speaker 1: throughout the Spanish and Portuguese speaking world. Its female counterpart
Speaker 1: was known as the Kuca. Descriptions of the monster's appearance
Speaker 1: are terrible but vague, often invoking shagginess, burning eyes, novel size,
Speaker 1: and comparisons to skulls or disembodied heads. In fact, the
Speaker 1: old Portuguese word coco meant head or skull. When Portuguese
Speaker 1: and Spanish explorers ventured amid the Pacific Islands, they discovered
Speaker 1: something most unusual, a shaggy head shaped object with three holes,
Speaker 1: reminiscent of a human skull. This, of course, came to
Speaker 1: be known as the coconut. So the next time you
Speaker 1: enjoy a coconut water or a perhaps a pina colada,
Speaker 1: give a thought to El Coco, the terror of children
Speaker 1: for centuries and propagator of supernatural anxiety. Tune in for
Speaker 1: additional episodes of the Monster fact each week. As always
Speaker 1: You can email us at contact at stuff to Blow
Speaker 1: your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is
Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts for
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