Synopses & Reviews
Latinos comprise the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States, and this interdisciplinary anthology gathers the scholarship of early career and senior Latina/o scholars whose work explores the varied and unique latinidades, or Latino cultural identities, of this group. Using an interdisciplinary perspective, the authors deploy various theoretical tools to examine the realities and lived experience of Latinas/o in the United States. While the editors of the book in their method of organization seek to present a wide panoramic view of the Latina/o condition, the authors of the individual essays use specific methodologies: empirical, ethnographic, linguistic, and literary and textual analysis along with cultural studies and other appropriate approaches.
Review
“This interdisciplinary project reflects the contemporary, transnational experiences of many Latinas/os and would prove an important addition to our understanding of Latin culture and experience in the United States. The collection explores a number of interesting areas, some of which have only had only cursory attention by scholars in the past. This broad focus is clearly one of the collections strengths, since it allows one to create connections across different disciplines and to recognize, for instance, the ways in which the twentieth century legal challenges faced by Latinas/os inform our understanding of the ways in which Latinas/os are marginalized from positions of power in the U.S. military. The book will appeal to undergraduates and graduates as well as scholars in the field.”--Kevin Concannon, Assistant Professor of English at Texas A&M--Corpus Christi
About the Author
Norma E. Cantú, a daughter of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, currently serves as Professor of English and U.S. Latin@ Literatures at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Author of the award-winning Canícula Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera, and co-editor of Chicana Traditions: Continuity and Change, Telling to Live: Latina Feminist Testimonios (2002) and Dancing Across Borders: Danzas y Bailes Mexicanos (2009), she is known internationally as a poet, fiction writer, folklorist, and scholar of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and of Latin@ cultural production.
María E. Fránquiz is Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas-Austin and is a native of Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. Her research focuses on bilingual/multicultural education and language/literacy studies. She co-edited Scholars in the Field: The Challenges of Migrant Education and is co-editor of The Bilingual Research Journal. Fránquizs publications appear in national professional journals including Journal of Latinos and Education, English Leadership Quarterly, Multicultural Perspectives, The Journal of Border Educational Research, Language Arts, California English, The High School Journal, Reading Research Quarterly, Journal of Classroom Interaction, and in professional journals for an international audience including TESOL Quarterly, Education Research and Perspective.
Table of Contents
Introduction--María E. Fránquiz * PART I: HISTORICAL ROOTS AND CONTEMPORARY REALITIES
* Changing the National Ethos, or Just Being American? Latin@ Political Participation--Sylvia Manzano and Arturo Vega * State-Federal Relations Concerning Latin@ Civil Rights in the United States--Norma V. Cantú * Latin@s in the US Military--Jorge Mariscal * The Swirl Migration of Mexican-Origin Students: A Cross Border Analysis Using the Mexican and US Census--Stella Flores and German Treviño * PART II: POPULAR AND TRADITIONAL CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS * Making, Buying, Selling, and Using the Umbrella: Recognizing the Nuances of Latin@ Popular Culture--Patricia Marina Trujillo * Traveling on the Biliteracy Highway: Educators Paving a Road toward
Conocimiento--María E. Franquiz * Traditional Cultural Expressions: An Analysis of the Secular and Religious Folkways of Latin@s in the United States--Norma E. Cantú * Language and Identity of Immigrant Central American Pentecostal Youth in Southern California--Lucila D. Ek * PART III: PERFORMANCE ARTS AND LITERATURE
* Staging the Self, Staging Empowerment: An Overview of Latina Theater and Performance--Rita Urquijo Ruiz * Literary Currency: Coined Contributions of Latin@s in the United States--Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs * Politics of Aesthetics: Mariachi Music in the United States--Russell C. Rodríguez * From Boricua Dancers to Salsa Soldiers: The Cultural Politics of Globalized Salsa Dancing in Chicago--Frances Aparicio