Wikipedia

Chicano poetry

Chicano poetry is a subgenre of Chicano literature that stems from the cultural consciousness developed in the Chicano Movement.[1] Chicano poetry has its roots in the reclamation of Chicana/o as an identity of empowerment rather than denigration.[2][3] As a literary field, Chicano poetry emerged in the 1960s and formed its own independent literary current and voice.[1][4]

Chicano poet Alurista performing a poetry reading (1982)

History

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Poetics of the Chicano Movement

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The Chicano Movement inspired the development of a poetic current among the Mexican Americans who embraced Chicana/o identity.[1][4] Chicanos and Chicanas both addressed marginalization, racism and vanquished dreams in the United States. Many Chicana/o poets retold the history of Mexican Americans that differed from the dominant narrative of mainstream Anglo-Americans.[3] The surge of creative literary activity among Chicana/o authors in the 1960s and 1970s became known as the Florecimiento, or Renaissance.[5]

Chicano poets in the Chicano Movement

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Chicano poets reclaimed the Pachuco, who was historically framed negatively, as a figure of empowerment.

Chicano poets focused on the effects of racism on the Chicana/o community and the perseverance of Chicanos to maintain their cultural, political, and social identity. Nephtalí De León was one early pioneer, writing a poetry book Chicanos in the early 1960s as well as the poems "Hey, Mr. President, Man!," "Coca Cola Dream," and "Chicano Popcorn."[6]

Chicano poets reframed the Pachuco figure of the 1940s, who was historically looked down upon by the Mexican American community.[2] One of the most notable poems to do this was “El Louie” by José Montoya.[3] For Chicano poets, this was true to a lesser extent for the Pachuca figure, who was embraced mainly as a lover to the Pachuco.[2]

Abelardo "Lalo" Delgado's poem "Stupid America" written in the 1960s discussed the poor treatment of Chicanos and their erasure as artists, poets, and visionaries who are not permitted by the American mainstream to reach their potential.[7] Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales' poem "Yo Soy Joaquin" was widely influential, being adapted into a 1969 film by Luis Valdez of the same name. The poem reviewed the exploitation of the Chicano:

Yo soy Joaquín,
perdido en un mundo de confusión:
I am Joaquín, lost in a world of confusion,
caught up in the whirl of a gringo society,
confused by the rules, scorned by attitudes,
suppressed by manipulation, and destroyed by modern society.
My fathers have lost the economic battle
and won the struggle of cultural survival.[8]

Chicana poets in the Chicano Movement

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Chicana poets challenged the role of women in the community through their poetry and spoke to a variety of issues.[9][10] Chicana feminist poets used poetry to express their views of aggressive masculine pride or machismo,[11] which had excluded them from the movement.[12] This included the poem "Machismo Is Part of Our Culture" by Marcela Christine Lucero-Trujillo.[13]

In the interwar period, unmarried Mexican American women were often mandated by their families to be accompanied by a male when going out, who would watch over them throughout the night.[13] A woman's purity was linked to the family's reputation and a chaperone was sent to watch on their daughter's activities.[13] Women sought freedom yet also sought to be good daughters to their families.[13] Chicana feminist poets addressed this in their work, such as "Pueblo, 1950" (1976) by Bernice Zamora, who discussed the consequences young, unmarried, Mexican-American women would face from a simple kiss:[14]

I remember you, Fred Montoya
You were the first vato to ever kiss me
I was twelve years old.
my mother said shame on you,
my teacher said shame on you, and
I said shame on me, and nobody
said a word to you.
 
Pachucas have been valorized in the works of Chicana/o poets, including Inés Hernández-Ávila's poem "Para Teresa."[2]

Chicana poet Inés Hernández-Ávila valorized the Pachuca in her poem "Para Teresa."[2] Other poets who reframed the Pachuca figure were Alurista, José Montoya, and raúlrsalinas.[15] Poems the reframed the Pachuca also included “Los Corts (5 voices)” and “and when I dream dreams” by Carmen Tafolla, and “Later, She Met Joyce” by Cherríe Moraga.[15]

An example of Chicana poetry is “La Nueva Chicana” by poet Viola Correa,[12]

Hey
She that lady protesting injustice,
Es mi Mamà
The girl in the brown beret,
The one teaching the children,
She’s my hermana
Over there fasting with the migrants,
Es mi tía.
These are the women who worry,
Pray, iron
And cook chile y tortillas.
The lady with the forgiving eyes
And the gentle smile.
Listen to her shout.
She knows what hardship is all about
All about.
The Establishment calls her a radical militant.
The newspapers read she is
A dangerous subversive
They label her name to condemn her.
By the FBI she’s called
A big problem.
In Aztlàn we call her
La Nueva Chicana.

Chicana/o poetics, post-Chicano Movement

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Trinidad Sanchez Jr.'s "Why Am I So Brown?" discussed issues of childhood internalization of colorism.

While the Chicano Movement itself experienced a decline by the late 1970s, poets who embraced Chicana/o identity continued to carry the consciousness of the movement forward through their poetry. Trinidad "Trino" Sánchez's "Why Am I So Brown?" (1991).[16] The poem was inspired by the daughter of one of his friend's experience of colorism for her darker skin color, when she came home asking her father the question.[16][17]

The latter part of the 20th century saw the emergence of Juan Felipe Herrera as a dominant force in the genre.[18] In Herrera's works, cultural expression is shown from the 1960s to the present. His poetry is most known for being willful, expressing a unique voice.[19]

Themes

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Chicana/o poets continue to address experiences of racism in the United States. A strong undercurrent among Chicana/o poets is planting the community's roots in Mesoamerican civilizations and how the indigenous people of those civilizations continue to live through the Chicano people who are predominantly of mestizo (mixed) ancestry.[5] For example, Chicana poet Lucha Corpi published a collection of poetry authored "LLuvia/Rain." This work creates a framework on cultural remembrance with an emphasis on the sensuality of rain referencing the Nahua god of rain (tlaloc).[4]

Chicana poets continue to expand on the theme of marginalization beyond only focusing on racism and marginalization. Chicana poets also focus on themes of sexual abuse, misogyny, and the creation of a complex Chicana identity. The great thematic diversity of the field is owed to the many reflections of Chicano/a poets.[5]

Awards

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In 2015, Juan Felipe Herrera became the first Chicano or Latino United States Poet Laureate.

Important publishers

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A handful of U.S. publishers specialize in Chicano poetry, including the following:

List of major Chicano poets

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Main article: List of Chicano poets

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Sedano, Michael Victor (1980). Chicanismo in Selected Poetry from the Chicano Movement, 1969-1972: A Rhetorical Study. University of Southern California. pp. 2–4.
  2. ^ a b c d e Ramírez, Catherine Sue (2000). The Pachuca in Chicana/o Art, Literature and History: Reexamining Nation, Cultural Nationalism and Resistance. University of California, Berkeley. pp. 178, 198.
  3. ^ a b c Villa, Raúl (2017-10-23), Flores, Juan; Rosaldo, Renato (eds.), ""El Louie" by José Montoya: An Appreciation", A Companion to Latina/o Studies, Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, pp. 180–184, doi:10.1002/9781405177603.ch16, ISBN 978-1-4051-7760-3, retrieved 2023-01-25
  4. ^ a b c Pérez-Torres, Rafael (1995). Movements in Chicano poetry : against myths, against margins. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521470196. OCLC 30783346.
  5. ^ a b c "Contemporary Chicano/a Literature" Contemporary Literary Criticism Select. 2008 Detroit: Gale.
  6. ^ "Oral History Interview with Nephtali De Leon, 1999". library.uta.edu. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  7. ^ Gilb, Dagoberto (2008). Hecho en Tejas: An Anthology of Texas-Mexican Literature. UNM Press. p. 174. ISBN 978-0-8263-4126-6.
  8. ^ Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales. "Yo Soy Joaquin." 1967.
  9. ^ Sanchez, Marta, E. (1992). Contemporary Chicana Poetry: A Critical Approach to an Emerging Literature. Berkeley: University of California Press. Retrieved 2017-10-25.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Sandoval, Anna Marie (2008). Toward a Latina Feminism of the Americas: Repression and Resistance in Chicana and Mexicana Literature (1st ed.). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
  11. ^ Bui, Ngoc H.; Diaz, Tanya (2017-04-01). "Subjective Well-Being in Mexican and Mexican American Women: The Role of Acculturation, Ethnic Identity, Gender Roles, and Perceived Social Support". Journal of Happiness Studies. 18 (2): 607–624. doi:10.1007/s10902-016-9741-1. ISSN 1573-7780. S2CID 254690864.
  12. ^ a b "The Strength of la Chicana · ¡El Grito Para La Igualdad!/The Cry for Equality! · 1970/2020: Chicano Moratorium 50th Anniversary Project". chicanomoratorium.omeka.net. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  13. ^ a b c d Ruíz, Vicki (2008). From out of the shadows : Mexican women in twentieth-century America (10th anniversary ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195374773. OCLC 555994926.
  14. ^ Madsen, Deborah L. (2000). Understanding Contemporary Chicana Literature. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-57003-379-7.
  15. ^ a b Ramírez, Catherine Sue (2009). The woman in the zoot suit : gender, nationalism, and the cultural politics of memory. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822342861. OCLC 272303247.
  16. ^ a b Boyd, Melba Joyce; Liebler, M. L. (2001). Abandon Automobile: Detroit City Poetry 2001. Wayne State University Press. p. 322. ISBN 978-0-8143-2810-1.
  17. ^ Lea, Virginia; Sims, Erma Jean (2008). Undoing Whiteness in the Classroom: Critical Educultural Teaching Approaches for Social Justice Activism. Peter Lang. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-8204-9712-9.
  18. ^ Arteaga, Alfred (1997-07-28). Chicano Poetics: Heterotexts and Hybridities. Cambridge University Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-521-57492-1.
  19. ^ Rodriguez, Andres (1996). "Contemporary Chicano Poetry: The Work of Michael Sierra, Juan Felipe Herrera and Luis J. Rodriguez". Bilingual Review. 21 – via Academic Search Complete.
  20. ^ "Los Angeles Review of Books". Los Angeles Review of Books. 2020-11-14. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  21. ^ "UTSA associate professor Carmen Tafolla named Texas State Poet Laureate 2015-16". utsa.edu.
  22. ^ "Juan Felipe Herrera Named U.S. Poet Laureate". NPR. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
  23. ^ "Los Angeles Review of Books". Los Angeles Review of Books. 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  24. ^ "Former San Antonio and Texas Poet Laureate, Laurie Ann Guerrero, returns to her roots to teach at Texas A&M University-San Antonio". www.tamusa.edu. Retrieved 2017-09-09.
  25. ^ "Fountain, Pérez named next Poets Laureate of Texas". Lone Star Literary Life. 2019-03-19. Retrieved 2019-09-28.
  26. ^ "Texas Commission on the Arts - TCAnet".
  27. ^ Martinez, Manuel Luis (2003-11-20). Countering the Counterculture: Rereading Postwar American Dissent from Jack Kerouac to Tomás Rivera. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 345. ISBN 978-0-299-19283-9.
  28. ^ "Chicano Poet by Reyes Cárdenas – Aztlan Libre Press". Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  29. ^ "Chiricú Journal: Latina/o Literatures, Arts, and Cultures". scholarworks.iu.edu. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
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