Being a Latino in the United States is a scary thing. But so is being in the country where they are fleeing from. But through Latino literature, that fear can help smooth interactions among the diverse ethnic groups and cultures in the United States. We Were Here, La Linea, and Loteria are novels that relate to the issues of many Latino people. La Linea deals with children crossing the border. Loteria and We Were Here are both journal formatted novels, telling the story through a first person perspective. These novels have a great significance to the genre as they bring to light the issues that normally no one talks about in the Latino community; such as abandonment and abuse. These novels have a common running theme of the search for a place …show more content…
to call home, individually and as a whole. Are we at home in America? This question of home results in tension between rebellion and the need for some type of shelter, doing anything in their power to grasp that. Latino literature is an intellectual and reputable part of literature because it looks into two diverse cultural perspectives as well as giving a broader view of the issues that affect Latinos and develops the bigger problems that are not usually talked about. Latino literature is a genre not talked about as often as romance, mystery, or drama genres, but it is a very important one.
The term “Latino” is for all citizens of the United States whose heritage is Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central American, and South American. The majority of Latino Literature is in English, with some works of particular importance are presented in Spanish. Latino literature dates way back into the 1800s. There came a time when after World War II, Latin America enjoyed increasing economic prosperity, and a newfound confidence in writing also gave rise to the famous literary boom. From 1960 to 1967, some works of the boom were published and became widely popular and admired, especially beyond Latin America itself. Many of these novels were rebellious and apart from the general beliefs of Latin American culture, the works challenged authority. Authors would cross traditional boundaries, experimented with language, and often mixed different styles of writing in their works. This was the age of Latin …show more content…
Literature. La Linea by Ann Jaramillo is a third person tale of a fifteen year old boy who takes a journey across the border to reunite with his parents who left him and his sister back in San Jacinto, Mexico to make sure they lived a good life while they earn enough money to bring them one by one to California. On his birthday, he received a letter from his father that it was his time to come to California. Excitedly, he packs up important things and leaves, looking behind at the small town that he grew up in and so desperately wanted to leave. Halfway through his journey he encounters a problem. His sister Elena is in disguise, trying to also cross the border without Miguel knowing. Miguel is angered and believes that his plans are ruined, he wants to take Elena back but soon plans change and they both have to count on each other in order to get passed La Linea. They come across the point of near death when walking through the dry desert. But manage to finally make it across the border. The ending is abrupt and incomplete, leaving the reader to question whether or no they managed to actually see their parents. The novel touches on many subjects such as self discovery, and challenges that affect the character. The protagonist is about to leave a place rich in culture, where people kill their food in order to eat, where everything must either be traded, or grown. Often times, when young Latinos change from being in a small village to an urban city in America, they forget where they come from. They deny the fact that they speak Spanish simply because they want to leave their old life behind. Here, in the United States, the culture is completely different from that of Latin countries. So a change from the same thing to something completely different can easily change a person. And it did change Miguel. But not in a bad way where he became corrupted, but in a way where he matured into someone better than his old stubborn fifteen year old self. Having to move to a completely different country by yourself and only being a 15 year old is something that not a lot of people from the United States can say they have experienced. La Linea’s running theme of self discovery and the search for identity, which can also tie into the part of “finding home” or a “place to belong”. It is also a novel that deals greatly with the issue of immigration. These are often times difficult topics to depict or discuss, but the author, Ann Jaramillo, has seen the struggles of her own latino students and wrote La Linea as a way to better display the issues on child immigration. The character of Miguel is an embodiment of all the children who have crossed the border into the United States. He is one of the characters who make it past it. In real life, most children don’t even set foot on American land before they are attacked by wild animals or shot on sight by border patrol. Others are arrested, and taken to jail, where they are held until they know what they want to do with them. It’s a cruel reality, but it is one that needs to be greatly addressed. Miguel, on the other hand, is a character who does make it across, and has a successful future. Realistically, it’s not that simple. But this novel simply makes it easier to explain the delicate subject of immigration. On Educator’s Guide: La Linea, states that the novel “puts a very human face on immigration.” People often dehumanize immigrants who come to the United States, and turn their heads at the slight mention of immigration. Educator’s Guide also believes that La Linea “easily lends itself to a history or social studies lesson on immigration.” Teaching children early on the issues of immigration are important, but it is also a strenuous topic to teach. But with novels like La Linea, educating the younger generations can become a thing that won’t be foreign to anyone, which will make all the difference in society. The most important scene from La Linea is the desert scene, where Miguel is faced with a great dilemma.
He loses not one but two good friends as he treks through the unforgiving environment. It takes a toll on him, but with everything else going on, he has to move forward. This is not just a story of the journey of an immigrant child, but it is also a story that can help those going through problems of their own, not specifically speaking about what Miguel is going through, but more as in a metaphorical way. Miguel goes through many complicated obstacles, overcomes them, and rises above. This is motivation, in a way for those who need it. Educator’s Guide: La Linea, very much understands the emotional journey of Miguel, while also stating that it “allows the story to remain accessible both to students who have had similar experiences as well as those who haven’t.” Even if certain readers never experienced the things Miguel has, they understand the mental issues that come along with those difficulties. They relate to Miguel, and that’s what’s so important about this novel, the protagonist and major events help readers understand even if they are from a way more different culture than
Miguel. Loteria by Mario Alberto Zambrano is a first person narrative, written in journal entry form. It deals with the tragic life of eleven year old Luz Maria Castillo. She suffers with a broken family. Her sister is in critical condition at the ICU. Her mother left one day without a trace. And her father? In jail. Not everything is going well for Luz at this point, and she is then sent off to a group home, until they could find some way to get Luz’s father out of jail. There could be one way to possibly get her father out of jail, Luz must tell the truth about her father in order for him not to end up in jail for a lifetime. But Luz struggles with this as she wishes to stay silent, because she fears that no one will believe her. Her aunt in Mexico, Tencha, advises her to use her deck of Loteria cards to help her remember the incidents that happened in her life. She also has to make the difficult choice of either staying in the United States in a group home, or going to Mexico to live with her aunt. Through these cards, Luz tells her life. Loteria is a novel with an invisible theme, abandonment. By “invisible theme” it means that these types of topics are usually very abruptly talked about or ignored completely. This novel also talks about all the mental and physical issues that come with being left alone. There are no filters in this, no hints at anything, it’s all simply put straight out. It’s a good thing too, this theme is ignored enough as it is and there’s no need to play guessing games when it comes to subjects like this. Abandonment and abuse are two very delicate themes that are not discussed because of it’s sensitive formality. But it is also a topic that is needed to be talked about in order to bring change to the Latino community. Everyone just sees it happening, everywhere, everyday, but no one does anything to change it. Loteria brings in the heat with not only talking about it, but also displaying it in a way that can be easily understood.
In a story of identity and empowerment, Juan Felipe Herrera’s poem “Borderbus” revolves around two Honduran women grappling with their fate regarding a detention center in the United States after crawling up the spine of Mexico from Honduras. While one grapples with their survival, fixated on the notion that their identities are the ultimate determinant for their future, the other remains fixated on maintaining their humanity by insisting instead of coming from nothingness they are everything. Herrera’s poem consists entirely of the dialogue between the two women, utilizing diction and imagery to emphasize one’s sense of isolation and empowerment in the face of adversity and what it takes to survive in America.
Martinez’s story is not so much one that pieces together the events of the crash, nor the lives of the three youths, but it is an immigrant’s tale, discovered through the crossings of the various Chavez family members and profiles of Cheranos in Mexico.
In Sueños Americanos: Barrio Youth Negotiating Social and Cultural Identities, Julio Cammarota studies Latina/o youth who live in El Pueblo, and talks about how Proposition 187, the anti-immigrant law, is affecting Latina/o youth in California (Cammarota, 2008, p. 3). In this book review, I will write about the two main points the author is trying to get across. The two main points I will be writing about are how Proposition 187 is affecting the Latina/o community, and about how Latina/o youth are copping in the El Pueblo barrio. Afterward I write about the two main points the author is trying to get across, I will write a brief description of the author and write about the author’s strengths and weaknesses.
In both the movie, La Misma Luna, and the newspaper series, Enrique’s Journey, migrants are faced with many issues. The most deadly and scarring issues all relate back to bandits, judicial police, and la migra or Mexican immigration officers. The problems that arise are serious to the point of rape, robbing, and beating. It is not easy crossing the border illegally and secretly, but the successful ones have an interesting or even traumatic story about how it worked for them.
The book, “Y no se lo trago la tierra” by Thomas River grasp a point of view of a migrant community, as manifestations of Chicano culture, language, and experience as understood by a first person point of a young male protagonist. The setting of the book takes place of a year during the 1950s and uses a variety of perspectives and voices to follow the boy’s passages into adolescence. As the setting of the book moves from Texas to upper Midwest to the ye...
Islas, Arturo. From Migrant Souls. American Mosaic: Multicultural Readings in Context. Eds. Gabriele Rico, Barbara Roche and Sandra Mano. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. 1995. 483-491.
As a young child, Rodriguez finds comfort and safety in his noisy home full of Spanish sounds. Spanish, is his family's' intimate language that comforts Rodriguez by surrounding him in a web built by the family love and security which is conveyed using the Spanish language. "I recognize you as someone close, like no one outside. You belong with us, in the family, Ricardo.? When the nuns came to the Rodriquez?s house one Saturday morning, the nuns informed the parents that it would be best if they spoke English. Torn with a new since of confusion, his home is turned upside down. His sacred family language, now banished from the home, transforms his web into isolation from his parents. "There was a new silence in the home.? Rodriguez is resentful that it is quiet at the dinner table, or that he can't communicate with his parents about his day as clearly as before. He is heartbroken when he overhears his mother and father speaking Spanish together but suddenly stop when they see Rodriguez. Thi...
Enrique and many other Central American kids have a hard life. They come to America where they think their mothers will magically solve their problems because their mothers are supposed to be perfect. Enrique and others realize this isn’t true and goes on to accept it. Migrants resent their mothers a little bit, but come to start loving them as the migrants did before their mothers left. Migrants also learn about life lessons on the trains. Migrants learn that people should not be trusted, but not all people are bad. The migrants just have to learn which people are bad and which aren’t. Migrants also learned that you shouldn’t have high expectations of everything and also that you shouldn’t put your problems on one person and expect them to go away. You have to figure life out on your own.
Torres, Hector Avalos. 2007. Conversations with Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Writers. U.S.: University of New Mexico press, 315-324.
Literary magazines were not remotely interested in publishing Gilb’s stories, which focus primarily on the professional and personal struggles of working-class Mexican Americans. But his unapologetic stories about working-class Mexican Americans have made him a voice of his people (Reid130). Gilb’s short stories are set vividly in cites of the desert Southwest and usually feature a Hispanic protagonist who is good-hearted but often irresponsible and is forever one pink slip or automotive breakdown away from disaster (Reid130).
The eternal endeavor of obtaining a realistic sense of selfhood is depicted for all struggling women of color in Gloria Anzaldua’s “Borderlands/La Frontera” (1987). Anzaldua illustrates the oppressing realities of her world – one that sets limitations for the minority. Albeit the obvious restraints against the white majority (the physical borderland between the U.S. and Mexico), there is a constant and overwhelming emotional battle against the psychological “borderlands” instilled in Anzaldua as she desperately seeks recognition as an openly queer Mestiza woman. With being a Mestiza comes a lot of cultural stereotypes that more than often try to define ones’ role in the world – especially if you are those whom have privilege above the “others”.
The struggle to find a place inside an un-welcoming America has forced the Latino to recreate one. The Latino feels out of place, torn from the womb inside of America's reality because she would rather use it than know it (Paz 226-227). In response, the Mexican women planted the seeds of home inside the corral*. These tended and potted plants became her burrow of solace and place of acceptance. In the comfort of the suns slices and underneath the orange scents, the women were free. Still the questions pounded in the rhythm of street side whispers. The outside stare thundered in pulses, you are different it said. Instead of listening she tried to instill within her children the pride of language, song, and culture. Her roots weave soul into the stubborn soil and strength grew with each blossom of the fig tree (Goldsmith).
Today, the Hispanic population has grown tremendously over the years. We have watched the Hispanics community growth rate grow faster than any other racial and ethnic group in the nation. The Hispanic culture and community has populated all around the United States, introducing new traditions and customs. I was traveling to different to city in the States, I notice the wide spread growth of Hispanic communities, For Instance in Miami the Cuban and El Salvadoran culture is heavy populate in the area. In New York the Puerto Rican culture is dominating through out the several boroughs. I have come around town and Hispanics are known for their good food, which tends to have more diverse people try new cultural customs. Hispanic or Latino Americans are a group of people made up of distinct characteristics. Hispanics or Latinos are defined as a people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish speaking cultures.
The emotional letter that Juan left for his mother might be one of the most emotional scenes in the documentary. The pure emotions that the letter was written by Juan to her mother leaves the audience with the bonds and emotions felt between the kids and families. Juan Carlos’s father abandoned the family years ago and left to New York, consequently Juan believe it is his responsibility to provide for his family. He also wants to find his father in New York and confronts him about why he has forgotten about them. The story of Juan is not just about migration of children, but also the issue of family separation. The documentary does not dehumanize but rather bring the humane and sensitive lens to the story of Juan where the human drama that these young immigrants and their families live. Juan Carlos is not the first of Esmeralda’s sons to leave for the United states, his nine-year-old brother Francisco was smuggled into California one month earlier. Francisco now lives with Gloria, his grandmother, who paid a smuggler $3,500 to bring him to Los Angeles, California. Once Juan Carlos is in the shelter for child migrants his mother eagerly awaits him outside. After she sees him she signs a paper that says if Juan Carlos tries to travel again, he will be sent to a foster home.
...ave satirized the Boom, defining it as the most exclusive club that the cultural history of Latin America has known." ) Clearly, modern Latin American writers live in the shadow of these men and their prodigious work. However Latin Americans may feel about the Boom and the legacy which it left, there can be no doubt that it also paved the way for Latin American writers in many ways by making them visible to the rest of the world.