Thinking en español
Interviews with Critics of Chicana/o Literature
By Jesús Rosales; Foreword by Rolando Hinojosa-Smith
The University of Arizona Press
Thinking en español captures conversations with leading Chicana and Chicano literary critics. This unique book consists of interviews with founding members of Chicano criticism conducted by the author, Jesús Rosales, who, through his conversations with leaders such as Luis Leal, María Herrera-Sobek, Tey Diana Rebolledo, and Juan Rodríguez, shows the path of criticism from 1848 to the present.
The twelve critics interviewed for this project share certain characteristics. For each one, Mexico plays an essential role in his or her personal and academic background, and each is bilingual and bicultural, having received formal literary education in Spanish graduate programs. As products of the working class, each scholar here shares a sense of social consciousness and commitment that lends an urgency to their desire to promote Chicano literature and culture at the local, regional, national, and international levels. They serve as a source of inspiration and commitment for future generations of scholars of Chicano literature and leave a lasting legacy of their own.
Thinking en español legitimizes Chicana/o criticism as an established discipline, and documents the works of some of the most important critics of Chicano literature at the turn of the twentieth and into the twenty-first century. This timely book immortalizes literary historical figures and documents the trajectory of Chicano criticism.
The twelve critics interviewed for this project share certain characteristics. For each one, Mexico plays an essential role in his or her personal and academic background, and each is bilingual and bicultural, having received formal literary education in Spanish graduate programs. As products of the working class, each scholar here shares a sense of social consciousness and commitment that lends an urgency to their desire to promote Chicano literature and culture at the local, regional, national, and international levels. They serve as a source of inspiration and commitment for future generations of scholars of Chicano literature and leave a lasting legacy of their own.
Thinking en español legitimizes Chicana/o criticism as an established discipline, and documents the works of some of the most important critics of Chicano literature at the turn of the twentieth and into the twenty-first century. This timely book immortalizes literary historical figures and documents the trajectory of Chicano criticism.
“It really is time to publish something like this that immortalizes these literary historical figures and documents the trajectory of Chican@ criticism.”—Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, author of Rebozos de Palabras: An Helena María Viramontes Critical Reader
This book is a living testimony to the birth and expansion of Chicana/o literary criticism as a valid field of scholarly pursuit.’—Spencer Herrera, co-author of Sagrado: A Photopoetics Across the Chicano Homeland
Jesús Rosales is an associate professor of Spanish at Arizona State University. He is the author of Alejandro Morales: Encuentro, Historia y Compromiso Social. He serves as the editor of the annual publication Puentes: Revista México-Chicana de Literatura, Cultura y Arte.
by Rolando Hinojosa-Smith
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Thinking en español
Chapter 1. Erlinda Gonzales- Berry: New Mexican de hueso colorado
Chapter 2. María Herrera- Sobek: Chicana Feminist Critical Theory
Chapter 3. Nicolás Kanellos: El guardián de pasados literarios
Chapter 4. Gary F. Keller: The Bold Caballero of Bilingual Review Press
Chapter 5. Luis Leal: Chicano Literary History
Chapter 6. Francisco A. Lomelí: Ambassador of Chicano Letters
Chapter 7. Felipe de Ortego y Gasca: The Chicano Renaissance Man
Chapter 8. Tey Diana Rebolledo: Mujer Singing in the Snow
Chapter 9. Juan Rodríguez: The Communicator (sin pelos en la lengua)
Chapter 10. Rosaura Sánchez: La pensadora chicana
Chapter 11. Charles M. Tatum: Chicano Popular Culture
Chapter 12. Tomás Ybarra- Frausto: Rasquachismo ¿y qué?
References
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