Chicano literature

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Luis J. Rodriguez (2009) Day one- Diverse Cultures Innovator Luis Rodriguez.jpg
Luis J. Rodriguez (2009)

Chicano literature is an aspect of Mexican-American literature that emerged from the cultural consciousness developed in the Chicano Movement. [1] [2] Chicano literature formed out of the political and cultural struggle of Chicana/os to develop a political foundation and identity that rejected Anglo-American hegemony. [1] [3] This literature embraced the pre-Columbian roots of Mexican-Americans, especially those who identify as Chicana/os. [3] [4]

Contents

Chicano literature first emerged in the mid-1960s and is notable for its early embrace of Spanglish in published literature as well as its use of hybrid forms and styles. [2] [5] Chicana/o writers often include earlier published literature as residing within or as being a precursor to the tradition. [6] [7] In addition to prose, Chicano poetry and playwriting are included as forms of Chicano literature. [3] [5]

History

Chicano literature in the Chicano Movement

Octavio Romano helped establish Quinto Sol in 1967. It was the first publisher focused on Chicano literature. Octavio Romano, Announcement Poster for event (title unknown).jpg
Octavio Romano helped establish Quinto Sol in 1967. It was the first publisher focused on Chicano literature.

Chicano prose was established as a distinct literary tradition in the mid-1960s. [1] José Antonio Villarreal’s Pocho (1959) is commonly cited as the first widespread Chicano novel. [3] Poets and writers in the 1960s defined themselves in their own terms, different from the white Anglo-Saxon protestant gaze that, as written by Alurista, sought to "keep Mexicans in their place." [8]

The first publishing house dedicated to Chicana/o writers was Quinto Sol, which was established in 1967 by Andres Ybarra, Nick Vaca, and Octavio Romano. [1] Early works which became benchmark's in the field of Chicano literature were Tomás Rivera’s ...y no se lo trago la tierra (1971) and Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima (1972). [1] Bless Me, Ultima used colloquial Spanglish in its linguistic form and inspired others to develop their own approach to Chicana/o themes. [2] Anaya is sometimes cited as the 'father' of Chicano literature. [9]

In a 1979 essay on Chicano literature, Arnulfo D. Trejo wrote that this literature was important in establishing a unique self-image for the Chicano: "the Chicano self-portrait is long overdue." [3] Trejo outline six qualities of the Chicano novel or narrative fiction: [3]

  1. Social and political autonomy for La Raza
  2. True-to-life experiences of the Chicana/o
  3. Focused on the contemporary, yet grounded in history
  4. Characters are real or relatable people
  5. Use of English and Spanish
  6. A greater message for the reader [3]

By this criteria, in 1977 he named the following works as examples of Chicano novels: Chicano (1970) by Richard Vasquez, Rivera's ...y no se lo trago la tierra (1971), (3) Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima (1972), and Peregrinos de Aztlán (1974) by Miguel Méndez. [3] Aside from narrative fiction, other notable works included Abelardo Delgado's poetry in 25 Pieces of a Chicano Mind (1969), [5] Oscar Zeta Acosta's autobiographies The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo (1972) and The Revolt of the Cockroach People (1973). [10] In 1977, Trejo acknowledged that there was an "omission of Chicano women in Chicano literature." [3]

Chicana literary developments

Gloria Anzaldua. Oakland, Ca. 1988, queer Chicana poet author of Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987). Gloria Anzaldua. Oakland, CA, 1988.jpg
Gloria Anzaldúa. Oakland, Ca. 1988, queer Chicana poet author of Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987).

Chicana literature is a form of literature that has emerged from the Chicana Feminist movement. It aims to redefine Chicana archetypes in an effort to provide positive models for Chicanas. Chicana writers redefine their relationships with what Gloria Anzaldúa has called "Las Tres Madres" of Mexican culture (i.e. Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Malinche and La Llorona) by depicting them as feminist sources of strength and compassion. [11]

According to the Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity and Society, "Chicana feminist writings helped to develop a discourse in opposition to the Eurocentric frameworks." Chicana writing grew out of Chicana feminism, through the feminist journals founded since the 1960s – one of which led to Norma Alarcón's Third Woman Press ; the assertions of Chicana feminism in essays; and the portrayal of the gender crisis in the Chicano Movement in the poetry and fiction of Chicana authors. [12]

Indigenous thematic developments

In the 1960s and 1970s, Chicano literature tended to primarily focus on a connection with Aztec history and culture, particularly through the homeland of Aztlán. [4] One exception was Pensamiento Serpentino (1973) by Luis Valdez, which drew on the Mayan concept of In Lak'ech ("you are the other me"). [13]

Later developments in the 1980s and 1990s, particularly by Chicana authors, began to expand this focus to include many different Indigenous peoples of Mexico and connected to their struggles. [4] Novels by Estela Portillo-Trambley and Graciela Limón referenced Rarámuri ancestry. [4] Lucha Corpi and others referenced Yaqui ancestry. [4] Ana Castillo and Chicano poet Juan Felipe Herrera have referenced Mayan ancestry and themes in their work. [4]

Forms and styles

Chicano prose

Chicano prose is unique as a literary tradition for its strong embrace of hybridity in both its form and style. This often meant the inclusion or embrace of Spanish or Spanglish, the use of themes related to magical realism, and a integration of different literary genres into one work, such as fiction and autobiography. [2] [3]

Chicano poetry

Chicano poet Alurista performing a poetry reading (1982) Colegiopoetryreading.jpg
Chicano poet Alurista performing a poetry reading (1982)
Chicano poetry is a subgenre of Chicano literature that stems from the cultural consciousness developed in the Chicano Movement. [14] Chicano poetry has its roots in the reclamation of Chicana/o as an identity of empowerment rather than denigration. [15] [16] As a literary field, Chicano poetry emerged in the 1960s and formed its own independent literary current and voice. [14] [17]

Chicano playwriting

Chicano playwriting emerged in the 1960s firstly through the work of Luis Valdez with Teatro Campesino. [3] Chicano playwriting emerged with a dedication to the farmworker's political struggle for rights. [3] Valdez himself stated: "We don’t think in terms of art," but in terms of message to the audience. [3] By 1973, there were about thirty Chicano theater groups, including Teatro de la Esperanza under Jorge A. Huerta. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicano</span> Subculture, chosen identity of some Mexican Americans in the United States

Chicano, Chicana, is an identity for Mexican Americans who have a non-Anglo self-image. Chicano was originally a classist and racist slur used toward low-income Mexicans that was reclaimed in the 1940s among youth who belonged to the Pachuco and Pachuca subculture. In the 1960s, Chicano was widely reclaimed in the building of a movement toward political empowerment, ethnic solidarity, and pride in being of indigenous descent. Chicano developed its own meaning separate from Mexican American identity. Youth in barrios rejected cultural assimilation into whiteness and embraced their own identity and worldview as a form of empowerment and resistance. The community forged an independent political and cultural movement, sometimes working alongside the Black power movement.

<i>Bless Me, Ultima</i> Book by Rudolfo Anaya

Bless Me, Ultima is a coming-of-age novel by Rudolfo Anaya centering on Antonio Márez y Luna and his mentorship under his curandera and protector, Ultima. It has become the most widely read and critically acclaimed novel in the New Mexican literature canon since its first publication in 1972. Teachers across disciplines in middle schools, high schools and universities have adopted it as a way to implement multicultural literature in their classes. The novel reflects Hispano culture of the 1940s in rural New Mexico. Anaya's use of Spanish, mystical depiction of the New Mexican landscape, use of cultural motifs such as La Llorona, and recounting of curandera folkways such as the gathering of medicinal herbs, gives readers a sense of the influence of indigenous cultural ways that are both authentic and distinct from the mainstream.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudolfo Anaya</span> American author (1937–2020)

Rudolfo Anaya was an American author. Noted for his 1972 novel Bless Me, Ultima, Anaya was considered one of the founders of the canon of contemporary Chicano and New Mexican literature. The themes and cultural references of the novel, which were uncommon at the time of its publication, had a lasting impression on fellow Latino writers. It was subsequently adapted into a film and an opera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherríe Moraga</span> American writer and activist

Cherríe Moraga is a Chicana feminist, writer, activist, poet, essayist, and playwright. She is part of the faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara in the Department of English. Moraga is also a founding member of the social justice activist group La Red Chicana Indígena which is an organization of Chicanas fighting for education, culture rights, and Indigenous Rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quinto Sol</span>

Quinto Sol was the first fully independent publishing house to surface from the Chicano movement in the Sixties. Editorial Quinto Sol was founded in 1967 at UC Berkeley by Octavio I. Romano, a Professor of Behavioral Science and Public Health, in collaboration with Nick C. Vaca and Andres Ybarra. The name "Quinto Sol" is Spanish for "Fifth Sun" and it refers to the Aztec myth of creation and destruction. Since the beginning of the Chicano movement in the 1960s, this concept has become a pathway to cultural expression. The Fifth Sun has constantly been integrated into the music, art and literature of the Chicano idea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicanismo</span> Ideology of the Chicano movement

Chicanismo emerged as the cultural consciousness behind the Chicano Movement. The central aspect of Chicanismo is the identification of Chicanos with their Indigenous American roots to create an affinity with the notion that they are native to the land rather than immigrants. Chicanismo brought a new sense of nationalism for Chicanos that extended the notion of family to all Chicano people. Barrios, or working-class neighborhoods, became the cultural hubs for the people. It created a symbolic connection to the ancestral ties of Mesoamerica and the Nahuatl language through the situating of Aztlán, the ancestral home of the Aztecs, in the southwestern United States. Chicanismo also rejected Americanization and assimilation as a form of cultural destruction of the Chicano people, fostering notions of Brown Pride. Xicanisma has been referred to as an extension of Chicanismo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norma Elia Cantú</span> American writer

Norma Elia Cantú is a Chicana postmodernist writer and the Murchison Professor in the Humanities at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicano Movement</span> Social and political movement combating racism in the United States

The Chicano Movement, also referred to as El Movimiento, was a social and political movement in the United States inspired by prior acts of resistance among people of Mexican descent, especially of Pachucos in the 1940s and 1950s, and the Black Power movement, that worked to embrace a Chicano/a identity and worldview that combated structural racism, encouraged cultural revitalization, and achieved community empowerment by rejecting assimilation. Before this, Chicano/a had been a term of derision, adopted by some Pachucos as an expression of defiance to Anglo-American society. With the rise of Chicanismo, Chicano/a became a reclaimed term in the 1960s and 1970s, used to express political autonomy, ethnic and cultural solidarity, and pride in being of Indigenous descent, diverging from the assimilationist Mexican-American identity. Chicanos also expressed solidarity and defined their culture through the development of Chicano art during El Movimiento, and stood firm in preserving their religion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicana feminism</span> Sociopolitical movement

Chicana feminism is a sociopolitical movement, theory, and praxis that scrutinizes the historical, cultural, spiritual, educational, and economic intersections impacting Chicanas and the Chicana/o community in the United States. Chicana feminism empowers women to challenge institutionalized social norms and regards anyone a feminist who fights for the end of women's oppression in the community.

Latino poetry is a branch of American poetry written by poets born or living in the United States who are of Latin American origin or descent and whose roots are tied to the Americas and their languages, cultures, and geography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alurista</span>

Alberto Baltazar Urista Heredia, better known by his nom de plume Alurista, is a Chicano poet and activist. His work was influential in the Chicano Movement and is important to the field of Chicano poetry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicano poetry</span> Subgenre of Mexica-American literature

Chicano poetry is a subgenre of Chicano literature that stems from the cultural consciousness developed in the Chicano Movement. Chicano poetry has its roots in the reclamation of Chicana/o as an identity of empowerment rather than denigration. As a literary field, Chicano poetry emerged in the 1960s and formed its own independent literary current and voice.

Mexican American literature is literature written by Mexican Americans in the United States. Although its origins can be traced back to the sixteenth century, the bulk of Mexican American literature dates from post-1848 and the United States annexation of large parts of Mexico in the wake of the Mexican–American War. Today, as a part of American literature in general, this genre includes a vibrant and diverse set of narratives, prompting critics to describe it as providing "a new awareness of the historical and cultural independence of both northern and southern American hemispheres". Chicano literature is an aspect of Mexican American literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorna Dee Cervantes</span> American poet

Lorna Dee Cervantes is an American poet and activist, who is considered one of the greatest figures in Chicano poetry. She has been described by Alurista, as "probably the best Chicana poet active today."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicana literature</span> Form of literature that has emerged from the Chicana Feminist movement

Chicana literature is a form of literature that has emerged from the Chicana Feminist movement. It aims to redefine Chicana archetypes in an effort to provide positive models for Chicanas. Chicana writers redefine their relationships with what Gloria Anzaldúa has called "Las Tres Madres" of Mexican culture by depicting them as feminist sources of strength and compassion.

Latino literature is literature written by people of Latin American ancestry, often but not always in English, most notably by Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and Dominican Americans, many of whom were born in the United States. the origin of the term "Latino literature" dates back to the 1960s, during the Chicano Movement, which was a social and political movement by Mexican Americans seeking equal rights and representation. At the time, the term "Chicano literature" was used to describe the work of Mexican-American writers. As the movement expanded, the term "Latino" came into use to encompass writers of various Latin American backgrounds, including Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicanafuturism</span>

The term Chicanafuturism was originated by scholar Catherine S. Ramírez which she introduced in Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies in 2004. The term is a portmanteau of 'chicana' and 'futurism', inspired by the developing movement of Afrofuturism. The word 'chicana' refers to a woman or girl of Mexican origin or descent. However, 'Chicana' itself serves as a chosen identity for many female Mexican Americans in the United States, to express self-determination and solidarity in a shared cultural, ethnic, and communal identity while openly rejecting assimilation. Ramírez created the concept of Chicanafuturism as a response to white androcentrism that she felt permeated science-fiction and American society. Chicanafuturism can be understood as part of a larger genre of Latino futurisms.

A Mexican American is a resident of the United States who is of Mexican descent. Mexican American-related topics include the following:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chicano cinema</span>

Chicano cinema is an aspect of Mexican American cinema that refers to the filmmaking practices that emerged out of the cultural consciousness developed through the Chicano Movement. Luis Valdez is generally regarded as the first Chicano filmmaker and El Teatro Campesino as the first theater company.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Castillo, Rafael C. (2019). "Chicano Literature". Oxford Bibliographies. Retrieved 2023-01-25. Chicano literature is therefore written by a group of people who identify with the political, cultural, and social Chicano movement... to document the history of Chicano consciousness in the United States... Chicano literature then becomes a response and counter-narrative to the hegemony of American literature that excluded ethnic voices not germane to the Anglo-American literary heritage.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Introduction to Chicano Literature". anaya.unm.edu. Retrieved 2023-01-25. Although "Chicano" and "Mexican-American" are often used interchangeably, the former indicates an added political sensibility; an asserted self-awareness of a cultural identity that cannot be separated from social and material struggles for equality and inclusion.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Trejo, Arnulfo D. (1979). "As We See Ourselves in Chicano Literature". University of Arizona Press. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Martínez, Elizabeth (2001-04-01). "Maya Theme s in U. S . Latino/Chicano Literature". NACCS Annual Conference Proceedings: 147–150.
  5. 1 2 3 "TSHA | Chicano Literary Renaissance". www.tshaonline.org. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  6. Staff, Daily Chela (2023-01-10). "A 400 Year Visual History Of Chicano Literature". The Daily Chela. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  7. "Chicano Literature". The New York Times. 1981-11-22. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  8. Alurista (1981). "Cultural Nationalism and Xicano Literature during the Decade of 1965-1975". MELUS. 8 (2): 22–34. doi:10.2307/467145. ISSN   0163-755X. JSTOR   467145.
  9. Parnell, Lindsay (2012-05-15). "Rudolfo Anaya: Father of Chicano Literature". Culture Trip. Retrieved 2023-01-26.
  10. Augenbraum, Harold; Stavans, Ilan (1993). Growing Up Latino: Memoirs and Stories. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. xvii. ISBN   978-0-395-66124-6.
  11. Herrera 2014.
  12. Schaefer 2008, pp. 490–493.
  13. Marie Contreras, Sheila (2009). Blood Lines: Myth, Indigenism, and Chicana/o Literature. University of Texas Press. pp. 85–88. ISBN   9780292782525.
  14. 1 2 Sedano, Michael Victor (1980). Chicanismo in Selected Poetry from the Chicano Movement, 1969-1972: A Rhetorical Study. University of Southern California. pp. 2–4.
  15. Ramírez, Catherine Sue (2000). The Pachuca in Chicana/o Art, Literature and History: Reexamining Nation, Cultural Nationalism and Resistance. University of California, Berkeley. pp. 178, 198.
  16. Villa, Raúl (2017-10-23), Flores, Juan; Rosaldo, Renato (eds.), ""El Louie" by José Montoya: An Appreciation", A Companion to Latina/o Studies, Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, pp. 180–184, doi:10.1002/9781405177603.ch16, ISBN   978-1-4051-7760-3 , retrieved 2023-01-25
  17. Pérez-Torres, Rafael (1995). Movements in Chicano poetry : against myths, against margins. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN   0521470196. OCLC   30783346.

Works cited