Gloria
Anzaldua
"How to Tame a Wild Tongue" ***
In this essay, Anzaldua discusses the effects of language identities, cultural norms, and conforming to society. She elaborates on how we live in a man's world, and are forced to speak specific languages in certain environments. (She spoke Chicano Spanish, and not "true Spanish".
In this poem, Alzaldua encourages Chicana people to resist the urge to conform to society. She refers to how people stole land that had originally belonged to them (ex. "And yes, they’ve taken our lands.").
She urges Chicana people to fight back, even if they are starving of hunger, because at least they will be living. (ex. "And alive mi ijita, very much alive.")
"Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza"
In this text, Anzaldua elaborates on the various metaphorical and literal "borders" of certain groups of people. Such examples include men vs. women, heterosexual people vs. homosexual people, and latinos/latinas vs. whites. Anzaldua encouraged Chicano people to adapt mestiza consciousness in order to merge all regions together and accept all heritages.
Gloria Anzaldua was a published poet, author, and scholar.
Her works were often filled with encouraging words that supported feminism, homosexuality, and Chicana culture. Perhaps her most famous book, Borderlands/La Frontera, introduced the concept of mestiza consciousness - the act of merging regions together in an attempt to accept all heritages.
*** Note: This link directs to a subpage of the University of Nevada, Reno. I included this .pdf copy of the essay instead of the one provided in our class, because the link provided in our course requires an FSU username and password.
