Border renaissance : the Texas centennial and the emergence of Mexican American literature / John Moran Gonzalez.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

González, John Morán.

Series:

CMAS history, culture, & society series.

CMAS history, culture, & society series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

American literature--Mexican American authors--History and criticism.

American literature.

Mexican Americans in literature.

Race in literature.

Mexican Americans--Intellectual life--20th century.

Mexican Americans.

Literature and history--Texas.

Literature and history.

Texas--In literature.

Texas.

Texas--Centennial celebrations, etc.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (276 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Texas Centennial of 1936, commemorated by statewide celebrations of independence from Mexico, proved to be a powerful catalyst for the formation of a distinctly Mexican American identity. Confronted by a media frenzy that vilified "Meskins" as the antithesis of Texan liberty, Mexican Americans created literary responses that critiqued these racialized representations while forging a new bilingual, bicultural community within the United States. The development of a modern Tejana identity, controversies surrounding bicultural nationalism, and other conflictual aspects of the transformation from mexicano to Mexican American are explored in this study. Capturing this fascinating aesthetic and political rebirth, Border Renaissance presents innovative readings of important novels by María Elena Zamora O'Shea, Américo Paredes, and Jovita González. In addition, the previously overlooked literary texts by members of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) are given their first detailed consideration in this compelling work of intellectual and literary history. Drawing on extensive archival research in the English and Spanish languages, John Morán González revisits the 1930s as a crucial decade for the vibrant Mexican American reclamation of Texas history. Border Renaissance pays tribute to this vital turning point in the Mexican American struggle for civil rights.

Contents:

Texanizing Texans: Texas centennial discourses of racial pedagogy

This is our grand lone star state: reclaiming Texas history in Elena Zamora O'Shea's El mesquite

Forging bicultural U.S. citizenship: LULAC and the making of Mexican American aesthetics

A Mexico-Texan interlude: Americo Paredes, border modernity, and the demise of patriarchal anticolonialism

Mujeres fronterizas: writing tejana agency into the Texas centennial era.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-292-79353-7

OCLC:

497122373