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Talk:Mexican-American literature

A fact from Mexican-American literature appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 22 September 2008, and was viewed approximately 394 times (disclaimer) (check views). The text of the entry was as follows: Did you know... that the origin of Chicano literature, the literature of Mexican-Americans in the U.S., has been traced back as far as 1542 and the chronicle of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca? A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2008/September.

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Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignmentbyPrimeBOT (talk) 17:22, 16 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]

OK, so here's my tentative plan for this article...

1. I need to do some quick and dirty expansion so that the article is eligible for DYK. I think I have sufficient resources for that already. Even now the article has around 1400 characters, and a couple of sources, so I'm well on the way.

    Done

2. It would be nice to find a decent article that can be some kind of model for what I want to do here. I doubt I'll take this to FA, though you never know... But a GA should be possible, though it's a big topic with a lot written on it (and increasingly so).

    Done. As below, I think that Swedish literature is the most obvious model (though as Gguy points out, it's a little boring...) --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 18:12, 26 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

3. I may drop a note with the relevant wikiprojects (e.g. WikiProject Mexican-Americans), though frankly all of them look pretty moribund right now.
4. I already have a bunch of books; I need to get some more, and have a look through them, to establish a bibliography. I know I won't be able to cover everything, and hope to use summary style for at least some sections (see below).
5. Someone's dropped a note suggesting that I get some images... Good idea.
6. I'll then work first on the history section. This needs major expansion, but I've made a start at least. There will probably be sub-sections eventually, but perhaps not. The bulk of this history will be post-1848.
7. I hope that themes will emerge from my further reading, so I can expand that section.
8. I expect I'll junk the major figures section; I'm just keeping it there now as it's a remnant from what was here before, and there's so little in the article otherwise. (Perhaps I'll change my mind on this; if so, it'll be in summary style rather than just a list; but I'd rather include that information in the "History" section.)
9. I may however add a key texts section, which can be in summary style. Though again, perhaps this can go in the "History" section.
10. The lead requires significant expansion, but I'm happy to leave most of that until near the end.
11. GAN by November 12.

Any help is most welcome... --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 09:49, 17 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Re point 2, the obvious think to do is to check out existing GAs and FAs. Well, I guess you've done this, but at GA, as well as the obvious place, check out this list. Maybe something along the lines of Drum and bassorChristian metal may suit this article better than, say, the Anglo saxon literature model. Cheers, Geometry guy 10:07, 17 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Heh. Thanks! I actually think that this is the most obvious comparator. It's best to treat this as a national literature. (Though another note to self: I'll have to touch upon the definition and boundaries of Chicano literature at some point, but not, I hope, at great length.) --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 10:20, 17 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No probs. I'm sure you are right, but I hope you (or your younger colleagues!) will also get something out of the comparison with a more recent genre than the Swedish one. :-) Bon courage! Geometry guy 20:25, 17 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe you should (unless you already had this mind...I can't tell from your plan) include some mention of the language issue with Chicanos...the "Spanglish". I went to the Fiestas Patrias Mexicanas in Seattle last week and I went to this lecture about language and the Chicano movement...It seemed that the language/loss of language/creation of new language is a central issue to Chicano culture. Schools prohibited Spanish and then taught Castilian Spanish to children, denouncing their mixed language as "bastard" and improper. Since language is so closely linked with identity.... --Valerieraynard (talk) 23:13, 18 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, this is a good point. Language is definitely an issue. In fact, I added something about this before seeing your note. The question is whether or not this deserves a separate section. I tend to think not, though we'll see how I go with my research. --jbmurray (talk • contribs) 23:45, 21 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This is where I'm getting together a bibliography on the subject, which I will use to expand the article:

• Allatson, Paul (2002), Latino Dreams: Transcultural Traffic and the U.S. National Imaginary, Amsterdam: Rodopi. Koerner library: PQ7082.P76 A45 2002.
• Augenbraum, Harold; Fernández Olmos, Margarite (1997), "Introduction: An American Literary Tradition", in Augenbraum, Harold; Fernández Olmos, Margarite (eds.), The Latino Reader, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, ISBN 978-0395765289. An anthology, with a useful introduction.
• Calderón, Héctor; Saldívar, José David, eds. (1991), Criticism in the Borderlands: Studies in Chicano Literature, Culture, and Ideology, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, ISBN 978-0822311430.
• Caminero-Santangelo, Marta (2007), On Latinidad: U.S. Latino Literature and the Construction of Ethnicity, Gainesville: University Press of Florida. Koerner library: PS153.H56 C36 2007.
• Dowling, Lee (2006), "La Florida del Inca: Garcilaso's Literary Sources", in Galloway, Patricia Kay (ed.), The Hernando de Soto Expedition: History, Historiography, and "Discovery" in the Southeast, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 978-0803271227.
• García, Mario T. (2000), Luis Leal: An Auto/Biography, Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, ISBN 978-0292728295.
• Leonard, Kathy S. (2003), Bibliographic Guide to Chicana and Latina Narrative, Westport, CT: Preager. Koerner library (reference): PS153.M4 L466 2003. Bibliography. Need to check this out.
• Jacobs, Elizabeth (2006), Mexican American Literature: The Politics of Identity, London: Routledge, ISBN 9780203015933. Koerner library: PS153.M4 J33 2006. Looks like useful (and recent) overview.
• Paredes, Raymund (Fall 1995), "Teaching Chicano Literature: An Historical Approach", The Heath Anthology of American Literature Newsletter (12), retrieved 2008-09-20{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link).
• Saldívar, Ramón (1990), Chicano Narrative: The Dialectics of Difference, Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press, ISBN 978-0299124748. A series of essays. Rather theoretical. Saldívar is an important figure. Chapters on Paredes, Rivera, Zeta Acosta, Anaya, Arias, Hinojosa, Ríos, Cisneros, and Morraga. Also on different genres (folk, autobiography, etc.) and themes (race, class, gender).
• West-Durán, Alan, ed. (2004), Latino and Latina writers, New York: Scribner’s Sons. Koerner library (reference): PS153.H56 L39 2004. Useful collection of essays.

Watchlisting this article on behalf of the FA-Team, I am concerned about the lack of progress. The prose remains undeveloped and rushed, with many statements of opinion lacking citations. I can't help much while there is so little to work on. The North of the Rio Grande editor involved is not heading for a good grade at the end of the semester at the moment. :-) Geometry guy 21:49, 22 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Haha! Yes, I agree. Wrad (talk) 22:07, 22 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This article states that Mexican American literature has its origins in centuries past, and indeed has been in existence as pertaining to the United States since the 19th century. We should name this article what it actually is: Mexican American Literature. The term “Chicano” only came into use (and only by a sub-group of Mexican Americans) in the mid-1960’s. Why then should all of Mexican American literature, from the 1840’s to 1960’s (almost a hundred years) go by that name, if it existed long before? There are many outside sources that just call it “Mexican American Literature”, which it is what it is, including ^{[1] [2][3]} The main article should be called such, and a “Chicano” sub-genre could be talked about from the 60’s onward. Most Mexican Americans do not identify with the word “Chicano/a” anyway and this article should reflect that, as well as the fact that Mexican-Americans had written long before this term was made up. CMD007 (talk) 06:32, 15 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]