Essay about Anzaldúa’s Genre Borderlands - 532 Words

Anzaldà ºa’s Genre Borderlands Gloria Anzaldà ºa writes of a Utopic frame of mind, the borderlands created in and lived in by the new mestiza. She describes the preexisting natures of the Anglos, Mexicanos, and Chicanos as seen around the southwest U.S. / Mexican border, indicative of the nations at large. She also probes the borders of language, sexuality, psychology and spirituality. Anzaldà ºa presents this information in various identifiable ways including the autobiography, historical/informative essay, and poetry. What is unique to Anzaldà ºa is her ability to weave a ‘perfect’ kind of compromised state of mind that melds together the preexisting cultures while simultaneously formulating a fusion of genres that stretches previously†¦show more content†¦Anzaldà ºa finds that combining the two distinct forms adds a new dimension that is necessary to fully comprehend the history of a people. Sexuality and spirituality thrives as other topics in which Anzaldua combines genres. In this instance she combines history and autobiography. Again this gives a more humane look at history. However, this use is more distinctly personal whereas the previous combination of history and poetry provided a more universal personal approach. This talks about Anzaldà ºa’s part in history. Anzaldà ºa writes, â€Å"Being lesbian and raised Catholic, I was indoctrinated as straight, I made the choice to be queer (for some it is genetically inherent)† (41). This line is found in a section dealing with homophobia that resides heavily in the cultures she identifies with. While this phobia exists in the culture at large and is recorded as such, Anzaldà ºa provides a personal account as an example. In another way, language also provides this dynamic that Anzaldà ºa aims for. Anzaldà ºa takes the separate Spanish and English languages and her own Chicana tongue and creates a book that makes uses of both. Both languages are vital in some way. While the book is primarily written in English, often titles, sentences, and poetry parts are in a Spanish that more than likely is not easily translatable to those who are not bilingual. Language seems to best sum up the importance of her borderlands in genre and life. Anzaldà ºa says,Show MoreRelatedSemiautobiographical Work- Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldà ºa1286 Words   |  6 Pageselements like genre, discourse, and code. Borderlands/ La Frontera: The New Mestiza is a semi-autobiographical work by Gloria Anzaldà ºa. She examines the relations of her lands, languages, and herself overall. She defines the borders she has around herself in the preface of the book: â€Å"The actual physical borderland that I’m dealing with in this book is the Texas-U.S. Southwest/Mexican border. The psychological borderlands, the sexual borderlands and the spiritual borderlands†¦the Borderlands are physicallyRead MoreThe s Borderlands / La Frontera852 Words   |  4 PagesAnzaldà ºa’s Borderlands/La frontera is a very interesting piece of writing to read because it covers a lot of issues such as identity, language, and gender. The fact that she combines several genres in her writing offers another amazement. Like a powerful concoction, her writing which embodies personal, cultural, and political realities, in a way, reflects not only the richness of her multiple cultural backgrounds but also her efforts in cultivating those cultures. In terms of language for exampleRead MoreThe, Mexican Feminist Theorist Gloria Anzladua s An Analytical Framework For Considering The Relationship Between Minority Faces,3216 Words   |  13 PagesIn Borderlands/La Frontera, Mexican Feminist theoris t Gloria Anzladua’s introduces an analytical framework for considering the relationship between minority faces, spaces, and languages as they compete, interact and inform America’s institutionalized whiteness. While her book specifically deals with the â€Å"minority faces† of Mexican immigrants, the epigraph suggests, racial minorities who interact with historically white spaces cross a â€Å"border† that is at once culturally and linguistically metaphoric