Chicano literature chronicles the lives and experiences of Mexican Americans in the United States, and is used as a cultural education tool to keep the Chicano heritage alive through text. Although there have been many different Chicano authors, most Chicano literature revolves around themes of culture and Mexican history and issues with identity and cultural discrimination. Many Chicano authors have used writing as a vehicle to express themselves and have a sense of representation that they would not normally be entitled to. In Luis Omar Salinas’ poem Aztec Angel, he uses vivid imagery to paint a picture of what his socio-political complaint is all about. Before delving into Aztec Angel, closer examination of Chicano literature will serve as an excellent primer for understanding how Salinas felt when writing the piece.
It was supposed to stand for all Mexicans. Ibid., 163. The Mexican people needed an identity and like all other nations needed to come together on common ground to form a nation. There were more then just books and short stories that were used as visual practices to construct a nation-state in early Latin America.
“A Mixed Tex-Cal Marriage” is a amazing article by Jose Antonio Burciaga about the vast desert that separates Texas and California also differentiating the culture and style of Chicanos. It is based primarily on a true story of Jose Antonio Burciaga and his wife Cecilia also how they met and their culture. Therefore, Cecilia and Jose discuss what has united them and “according to Cecilia, my wife, we have a mixed marriage.” When Cecilia and Jose first met they had may things in common one being that they were both young professional Chicanos that lived in Washington, D.C., in which they both supported the United Farm Workers’. One of the other qualities they shared was that they both spoke the same language of Spanish and graduated from Catholic schools. Furthermore, after their marriage they decided to go live to California, Cecilia’s home State.
Follow Me on Twitter @CDunkins Professor Mike Fraga CHS 100 November 13, 2012 Book Review: Song of the Hummingbird by Graciela Limon The novel, Song of the Hummingbird by Graciela Limon is a gripping and scintillating story about Mexico’s conquest by the Spaniards in the 16th century. In order to employ Chicana Literature, the author uses Huitzitzilín who is a female protagonist to recount the story from her perspective. Huitzitzilín is very adamant about contrasting the illustrious historical colonial portrayal of the conquest of the indigenous people of Mexico. She is unapologetic and quite proud of her savage roots, which were destroyed by the Spanish colonialists. The novel was set about sixty years after the fateful intrusion
This topic is relevant because Mexico City is the center of the political decisions in the country and important reforms have been implemented in the last decade to increase citizen participation through mechanisms established in the new laws. Even though democracy and citizen participation has been part of the Latin American political system for a long time, countries like Mexico are still struggling to have the right mechanisms and motivations for citizen involvement in public issues, mainly because of the lack of an authentic democratic tradition and a history of strong centralist governments. In this paper I will analyze the particular situation of citizen participation in Mexico City, and will consider Delegación Cuajimalpa as my case study. From the data retrieved I will investigate if the recent efforts have been successful in increasing citizen participation and as a consequence increase the citizen’s quality of life and safety. BACKGROUND It is relevant for the purpose of this study, to give a brief explanation of the historical background of citizen participation and democracy in Mexico, in order to understand the reason why such political system has had difficulties to prosper in the region after all these years of hard efforts.
Rodriguez shares this same family quality like Tan and her mother’s language. Rodriguez and his family, which are Mexican immigrants, have a special family language as well (Spanish) which is used primarily at home. Rodriguez thought of Spanish as more of a private language, "I'd hear strangers on the radio and in the Mexican Catholic church across town speaking Spanish, but I couldn't really believe that
The cultural iconography of the film lone star cannot be mistaken. It is however the exact type of iconography that Jose Limon speaks of in his essay, a shift of the social relations between Anglos and Mexicans during a specific time frame in the southwest. From a generalist’s perspective, lone star is the story of a man on the search for the answer to a mystery and in the process discovers more of his own personal history. Inside this story however John Sayles seamlessly weaves in little tidbits of others lives into the grand scheme of the story. The most important detail in understanding these tidbits is to understand that almost all of them in some form or another revolve around history, the history of a family, friends, a town, and a relationship.
The Aztec and Mayan Civilizations in the Americas Ashley M. Carpenter Western Civilization II National University June 2, 2012 Abstract From 250 A.D. to the late 1500’s A.D. the Mayans and the Aztecs controlled Central and South America. Each was unique, but still shared a few of the same traits. Both had their own calendar system, counting system, and Polytheistic religious beliefs along with similar temples built to worship their deities. While the Aztecs were the most prominent users of human sacrifice, the Mayans also participated in such rituals. A few differences between these civilizations were the social structure, natural resources, and differing cultural strengths.
For Aztec dancers, Conquest is a complex concept. It is not only associated to European and Euroamerican dominance, as it is in the case of American Indians in the United States, but to a certain sense of liberation. Before the Spaniards, there were indigenous groups that dominated the others, most of the times by means of war and cruelty. The Conquest, for Mexican Indians was a way to build on a new society, the Conquest was, beyond military, cultural; and it set the grounds for mestizaje, the cultural syncretism which is the root of our present society, in which we still have our Aztec dances, or variants such as Matachines, in Señora de Guadalupe
Radio light operas or music that has political and social significance in a changing world 1st visit fall of 1932 Conceived writing a piece based on Mexican themes Began working on it in 1933 – Completed in 1936 Popular dance hall called Salon Mexico Copland’s hope was to “reflect the Mexico of tourists Salon Mexico was a “…hot spot, one felt in a very natural and unaffected way, a close contact with the Mexican people. It wasn’t the music I heard, but the spirit that I felt there, which attracted me?” – Aaron Copland Most themes come from Cancionero Mexicano by Frances Toor El Folk-lore y la Musica Mexicana by Ruben M. Campos Titles included in the El Salon Mexico are: El Mosco (Campos) – El Palo Verde and La Jesusita STRUCTURAL / HARMONIC ISSUES: Divided into TWO large harmonic parts Short melodic themes Asymmetrical rhythms Primitive Orchestration using Mexican percussion – very nationalistic G major to E major then back to G Major Represents a series of moods and expressions which appear in this order: Lyrical