Mexican American & Chicano Literature

1. Mexican American & Chicano Literature A Short Story Unit to Accompany Mexico & The Poetry

2. Why-you-should-still-care about the Mexico unit… • University of Washington (2009) 2,155 (5.1% of the students) • USC (2010) 13% of student population • Santa Clara University (2010) 13% of the students • Brown & Westpoint ~ 8% • Mercer Island High School~ 2 %

3. Defining “Chicano Literature” • “Chicano” itself transformed as a term. • Chicano Literature can refer to people of Mexican ancestry who have resided permanently in the U.S. for an extended period. • ~this makes it synonymous with Mexican American Literature, and some make the distinction that “Chicano” connotes a degree of cultural awareness and political activist. (Neither Chicano nor Mexican American literature needs a crystallized definition as a by-product of Chicano identity & social protest.)

4. Chicano Literature • The Hispanic Period (up to 1821) marked by descriptions of explorers (conquistadores were avid story tellers) • The Mexican Period (1821 – 1848) marked by unique spiritual struggle between Hispanic Mexicans remaining loyal to Mexico or fighting for their own independence • Transition Period ( +/- 1848) after the Mexican American War • Interaction Period (1910 – 1942) marked by the large influx of immigrants crossing the border & birthing American citizens • Chicano Period (1943 – now) ~ a new type of literature animated with rebellious spirit, Chicano search for identity (exploring roots and barrio influence) • Developed further during the turmoil of Mexican Revolution (1910 – 1920) • +/- around the 1970s described as “Chicano Renaissance” • Where to put it? Should Mexican American literature be separated from American ilterature?

5. Characteristics/Descriptions ~ NOT to be confused with definitions • “possible adventures, thoughts, dream, sensuality are exhibited on the same plane and analyzed with the same good will.” • “…it’s roots are to be found in the long literary tradition of Mexico, while its flowers grow for the English or bilingual reader.” (Leal) • “contain much of that mystic absorption in sensibility as the ultimate creative force of intelligence…” • “oriented in the struggle toward free thought away from traditional conclusions” • “visions of more lasting truths – truths, that while being lucid, wise universal truths, have yet known how to be in their hands so peculiarly Mexican truths” • “…form of cultural expression by a people who have survived and grown through responding to conditions of domination.” (Sommers, Ybarra-Frausto)

6. Excerpt from Interview of Short Story Writer & Critic Stuart Evers • “So, the ability to do absolutely anything with a short story is what appeals to me. It’s also the ability to glimpse small parts of people’s lives, ordinary people’s lives. Novels tend to centre on the bigger characters, characters can take you through 300 pages. Short stories can contain a character and a situation that is appealing and can reveal something. My favourite short story writers, Raymond Carver, Richard Yates, Grace Paley – do this magnificently. They tell stories in a way you wouldn’t think about. One of my favourite stories, ‘Fat’ by Raymond Carver, starts with a woman describing to another woman a fat man who came into her restaurant. By the end, though, it’s not about any of those things. The more I read that story I think Carver’s doing incredible things under the surface. That’s an amazing talent to have and it’s only applicable in a short story context. Then you have Lydia Davis, who can have a three line short story and it has all the resonance of a 400 page novel. It’s that freedom of form and knowing you can stop whenever you like.”

7. Poetry of Octavio Paz • Use of nature, human relationship with nature • Heavy contrast ~ sky-to-sea, living-dying, fantasy-reality, abyss-clarities, etc. • Contrast and paradox • Inclusion of fantastical elements • Cryptic/indirect story telling • Historical acknowledgment • Repetition of words or “anaphora” • Stars, celestial reference • Physical action described through

8. Poetry of Pablo Neruda • Lack of sequence • Heavy use of metaphors • Bringing things close together and far apart (night and shadows, stars and feet) • Love described through animals, nature • Gender representations, perhaps sexist or suggestive of complicated male-female relationships • Weird/disorienting passage of time

9. Poetry of Gabriela Mistral • Recognition of suffering • Part representing the whole (synecdoche) • Religious interpretations (The Trinity, Genesis) • Relationship with death • Metaphor • Contrast and paradox (sunny poor earth, lovely revenge)

10. Daniel Chacon “Day of the Dead” • Time alteration (opens with the introduction of dead mother) • History learned later • Courage inspired by history • Sudden, omniscient narration • Rawness, adolescence • Oedipal reference to fate, stalled awareness of history, bravery

11. Augusto Monterroso“The Eclipse” • Don’t mess with culture or ancestry, it=death • Acceptance of Death • Understated reactions, passive ambivalence • Loses control/steps out of his domain • Elitism • Orientalism/underestimates the “old world” • Isolated from others/hero’s path • Indigenous reign triumphant • Humor ~ a twist • Stars, etc.

12. Luis Alberto Urrea“The White Girl” • Incorporates a sense of culture into the tone of the passage • Abandons part of himself and discovers a new identity • Values “The White Girl”/allows her to embody his work/immortalizes her • By spreading “The White Girl’s” image, he releases her from captivity in the junkyard • Starts in one place, goes to a complete other one • Odd, effective writing • Creepy • Represents inside and outside of it • Light and dark • Transcendence

13. Alma Luz Villanueva“People of the Dog” • Reincarnation/dead boys spirit/baby spirit • Forgetting-what they thought of • River as symbolic – Jungian water as life motif • Transition between old/new/Mexico city ~ unborn fetus, • Female, gender, young boy all as dog • Likened to animals, inference of indigenous • Magical inclusions • Eagle, cactus, , snake • Imperfection • Kid going through passage of life & death • Paradox of dog • More life prospects that perhaps evident • Poetic • Subordinate/going along with everything • Narration Going backwards? • Pre-death vision? Divine • Life versus death/circle of life • Spirit speaking, going to afterlife • Heaven as represented by familiar city • “remembering Will’s birth”

14. The Short Story Assignment (Flash Fiction, Latino Literature) • You will write your own short story inspired by one or more of the short stories and poems we have read (Mistral, Neruda, Paz, Villanueva, Venegas, Urrea, Monterroso, Chacon). • You can refer to your journal entries, the Powerpoint, or the texts themselves for characteristics that will inspire your writing. • “Inspiration” could be the use of a literary or narrative technique, using nature as a metaphor, feeling of timelessness, star motif, paradox, etc. • You will write a brief explanation of your inspiration (a paragraph at most). • Length: +/- one to four pages. • Feel free to draw from your studies of Mexico (lecture, movies, text). • Due Tuesday the 17th. Typed. Double Spaced. 35 points.