Reconstructing a Chicano/a Literary Heritage: Hispanic Colonial Literature of the Southwest (review)

Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies 275 Reconstructing a Chicanola Literary Heritage: Hispanic Colonial Literature of the Southwest The University of Arizona Press, 1995 Edited by Maria Herrera-Sobek Is it feasible to consider Hispanic colonial literature of the Southwest as the basis for a Chicano literary heritage? This question has been debated since the beginning of the Chicano movement in the 1960s. Many scholars argue that 1853, the date of the Gadsen Purchase, is the obvious point that divides Spanish/Mexican and Chicano literature. Yet, there are those who reason that the roots of Chicano literature directly stem from the Spanish letters of the colonial period. This anthology edited by Maria Herrera-Sobek leans towards the latter argument, and although the opinions of the eight contributing authors do not always coincide , they do provide a mosaic of perspectives that succeed in constructing a Chicano literary heritage. In her introduction, Herrera-Sobek compares the colonization of the New World to the Chicano plight. Just as Colombus and other Spaniards violently denied the indigenous peoples their language, culture and history, she likens this situation to the attival of the Anglos in the Southwest and the silencing of Mexicans in the area. According to the author it was not until the 1960s that "this ethnic group began to reassert itself into the national consciousness" (xxii). From this brief introduction Herrera-Sobek presents and summarizes the essays that are included in the anthology. Het introduction is concise and informative, although it lacks a general overview of the criteria one should employ in the reconstruction of this literary heritage and some of the main points that the reader can utilize when considering the Hispanic colonial literature as the backdrop for Chicano literature. Nevertheless, Juan Bruce-Novoa's essay "Shipwrecked in the Seas of Signification: Cabeza de Vacas La Rekcion and Chicano Literature" does address this debate. As part of his analysis of Cabeza de Vacas La Región, Bruce-Novoa maps out the similarities between this text and Chicano literature. He finds parallels in the cultural and linguistic adaptation of Cabeza de Vaca and of ChÃ-canos in the experience of different cultures and in the transformation into a new being. He concludes that La Región is a cornerstone text and that colonial Hispanic works have significantly influenced Chicano literature. He writes: "We can legitimately expect contemporary Chicano works to manifest aspects of characteristics found in colonial writings" (4). 276 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies "Discontinuous Continuities: Remapping the Terrain of Spanish Colonial Narrative" by Genaro Padilla offers another valid viewpoint on this issue. Padilla is of the belief that Chicano literature begins in 1846 with the US invasion of Mexico. He recognizes, however, the roots of Chicano literature in colonial texts, hence his title "Discontinuous Continuities ." His essay explores the different aspects of the debate by comparing Rafael Chacon's "Memorias" (1870) to texts produced before and after the Gadsen Purchase. Tino Villanueva's essay, "A Franciscan Mission Manual: The Discourse of Power and Social Organization," is much more specific in that it analyzes a Franciscan text written for the instruction of new ministers for the PurÃ-sima Concepción Mission in San Antonio, Texas. According to Villanueva, all texts are in some way ideological, and this manual is an example of a hegemonic society intent on changing and Europeanizing the indigenous peoples. The essay emphasizes the clergy's use of literature as a powerful tool which enables the contemporary reader to better understand the roots of Hispanic and Chicano literature. "The Politics of Theater in Colonial New Mexico: Drama and the Rhetoric of Conquest" by Ramón A. Gutiérrez offers an alternative view to the notion that colonial works of drama were innocent folkloric representations .Through his analysis of works such as "Los Moros y Cristianos" Gutiérrez concludes that these plays, directed by the Spanish hegemonic society, were used to promote submissiveness and obedience. He does note, nevertheless, that the Indians were not always passive and that they inserted subversive elements. In her essay "The Comedia de Adán y Eva and Language Acquisition : A Lacanian Hermeneutics of a New Mexican Shepherd's Play," Maria Herrera-Sobek also...