THE NEW AMERICANS: THE PUBLIC VOICE AND HYBRIDIZATION OF CULTURES
A Thesis
Presented
to the Faculty of
California State University, Chico
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts
in
English
by
Francisco J. Arriola
Fall 2015
THE NEW AMERICANS: THE PUBLIC VOICE AND HYBRIDIZATION OF CULTURES
A Thesis
by
Francisco J. Arriola
Fall 2016
APPROVED BY THE INTERIM DEAN OF GRADUATE STUDIES:
Sharon Barrios, Ph.D.
APPROVED BY THE GRADUATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE:
Jeanne E. Clark, Ph.D. Matthew Brown, Ph.D., Chair Graduate Coordinator
Aiping Zhang, Ph. D.
II
DEDICATION
I would like to dedicate this thesis to my mother because she helped me come up with the idea for this project and pushed me to finish this thesis. Also, I want to dedicate this thesis to my good friend Taylor Tay-Tay Martin who encouraged me explore this topic and was always willing to listen to my late night rants about this topic and because he is not here anymore to see the final product of my work.
III
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Dr. Matthew Brown who was very helpful in shaping my scholarly journey here at Chico State. Matt’s passion for teaching literature is what got me curios in American literature and inspired me to continue my education in literature at Chico State. Thank you Matt for the conversations and endless hours spend talking about scholarly ideas and about the world with me in your office. I will never forget our deep conversations and your advice on life you gave me. I hope Chico
State hires more teachers like you in the future. It was truly an honor and privileged to study under your guidance. I’d also want to thank Dr. Aiping Zhang for his encouragement and motivation to pursue a graduate degree. Thanks Aiping for helping become a better writer and develop my passion for literature since 2009.
Also, I would like to thank Dr. Geoff Baker for taking the time to helping me understand the subject matter and improve as a scholar. It was a pleasure working under these amazing scholars at Chico State. I’m extremely grateful for getting this opportunity and academic experience. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with me.
I owe many thanks to my mother Patricia Arriola for her tremendous support throughout my academic journey and for making this possible. Completing this degree was only possible because of the motivation, encouragement, and unconditional love she provided.
IV
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Dedication……………………………………………………………………………………………….……. iii
Acknowledgments..………………………………………………………………………………………… iv
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………………………… vi
CHAPTER
I. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………. 1
Literature Review………………………………………………………………………………. 5
Skyhorse and Rodriguez’s Background……………………………………………….. 13
Silent Language (Spanish) vs. Public Language (English)……………………… 16
Victimized by Linguistic Assimilation……………………………………………………. 19
Cultural Betrayal…………………………………………………………………………………. 22
II. Not English or Spanglish: Exploring Spanglish……………………………………………. 29
English or Spanish………………………………………………………………………………… 31
Working Class Language………………………………………………………………………. 37
Language of Identity and Cultural Loyalty……………………………………………... 40
III. Assimilation and Silence: Drifting Apart and Struggling Together in Spanglish and A Better Life…………………………………………………………………………………………… 43
Dual Language: Private and Public Identities Resisting Colonization………... 47
The Space Between Us and Them: Emerging Identities…………………………… 51
From Spanish to English: Spanglish Identity…………………………………………… 52
Language: Cultural Values……………………………………………………………………... 55
Spanish: Language of Life and Devotion………………………………………………… 56
Works Cited………………………………………..……………………………………………….. 60
V
ABSTRACT
THE EXPLORATION OF LINGUISTIC HYBRIDIZATION IN
BRANDO SKYHORSE’S THE MADDONAS OF ECHO PARK AND RICHARD
RODRIGUEZ’S HUNGER OF MEMORY
by
Francisco J. Arriola
Master of Arts in English
California State University, Chico
Fall 2016
This study examines the idea of cultural hybridity in the United States by using Brando
Skyhorse’s The Madonnas of Echo Park (2010) and Richard Rodriguez’s autobiographical novel Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez (1982). First, this thesis explores the effects of cultural dislocation of Mexican immigrants and the hybridity of language in the U.S. as it relates to identity. By studying Skyhorse and Rodriguez’s texts we are presented with an examination of Spanglish in the U.S. and how it contributes to a hybrid identity. Also, this thesis examines two films, Spanglish (2004) by James L. Brooks and A Better Life (2011) by Chris Weitz, which contribute to the study of linguistic identity and give us a better understanding of contemporary immigrant experience in America.
VI 1
CHAPTER I
CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC DISPLACEMENT
INTRODUCTION
Daniel Venega’s Las Aventuras de Don Chipote, or Cuando Pericos Mamen (The
Adventures of Don Chipote; Or, When Parrots Breast-Feed (1928) is regarded as one of the most important novels regarding the immigrant journey of Mexicans to America.
Venega’s novel revolves around a migrant worker who leaves Mexico in pursuit of economic mobility in the U.S but finds himself struggling to preserve his cultural identity. The novel reads that the only solution to preserving a Mexican identity/culture is to return to the homeland. From Venega’s publication in 1928, the majority of immigrant texts to the present are not centered around the “American Dream, but on the dream of return to the homeland” (Kanellos 21). Not all immigrants dream of returning to their native land, but this idea is prevalent within the Mexican culture. Indeed, Mexican immigrant literature is significantly noted for revealing narratives of immigrants with hopes of returning to their country.
The attitude of not assimilating may be traced back to the early days of Mexicans immigrating to America in the 1880’s. An editorial of March 24, from 1880, in El
Horizonte reads as follows: “Los Mexicanos, bien lo sean o hayan renegado de este titulo, so siempre tratados con injusticia y prevencion…” (Kanellos 53). The writer employs the term “renegado” (renegade) to illustrate the fear of losing a Mexican identity in the
2
United States. The term renegade continues to be used time and again in Mexican immigrant literature in order to bring lessons regarding the dangers of assimilation to the
American culture. The idea of a Mexican “renegade” gained momentum as Mexican immigrants assimilated and their successive generations explicitly pronounced the desire of assimilation, rather than achieved the “American dream”. Instead of completely rejecting assimilation, Mexican literature contends with the idea of preserving a cultural identity, and native language, while attempting to assimilate to some aspects of the
American culture.
This chapter explores the effects of cultural dislocation on Mexican immigrants as exposed in the key texts and the hybridity of language as a way to scope the liminal space of immigrant generations in the U.S. The hybridity of language, liminal space of immigrants, and assimilation to an American culture creates an “unauthentic culture” within hybrid identities. I focus this discussion on Brando Skyhorse’s The Madonnas of
Echo Park (2010) and Richard Rodriguez's autobiographical novel, Hunger of Memory:
The Education of Richard Rodriguez (1982). In both novels, the struggle of losing a cultural identity in pursuit of the American dream can be seen as a painful assimilation, though to a different effect. In The Madonnas of Echo Park, identity crisis illustrates the social alienation immigrants encountered in America. The identity crisis works to critique the displacement from the cultural values and is influenced by mainstream America. In
Hunger of Memory, identity crisis is used to represent the cost that immigrants are forced to acquire the public language of an American society: English. The effect of an identity crisis in the novels functions as a form to represent the “unauthentic culture” within
Mexican American generation.
3
The complex identities of Mexican immigrants descents portrayed in the novels generate the profound crisis of identity and culture. Both narratives carry the reader through the protagonist’s intricate journeys dabbling between two cultures. Skyhorse’s
The Madonnas of Echo Park follows the intersecting lives of eight residents of Echo
Park, a neighborhood in Los Angeles to dramatize the lives of Mexican Americans and immigrants struggling to find a sense of belonging between assimilation and cultural barriers while pursuing the American dream. Rodriguez’s autobiographical novel,
Hunger of Memory laments the alienation he feels from his immigrant family and cultural values, as a result from his intellectual interest, and the desire to gain “complete” assimilation. Both of these novels encapsulate the epitome of “migration, dislocation,” and the “ ensuing marginality… of the most important influences subverting long- standing beliefs in the linearity of progress and the stability of cultural identity” as they allow us to question the conditions of assimilation and the contemporary immigrant life in America (Kanellos 3). The themes of hybrid identities and bilingual education are continuous themes in both novels. By closely looking at the two novels, we can gather that Rodriguez and Skyhorse guide us to a discussion of linguistic hybridization and identity. Essentially, the focus of this chapter is to examine the effects of assimilation relating to a native language and a cultural identity.
The usage of both English and Spanish dialogue in Rodriguez’s Hunger of
Memory represents the mixing of languages in the United States. Similarly, Skyhorse’s text underscores the same theme to a different effect. Skyhorse introduces us to Felicia who speaks broken English and often times speaks Spanish to communicate, which illustrates to the linguistic struggle to assimilate to the dominant language. That being
4 said, Rodriguez and Skyhorse’s narratives provide a voice to an emerging generation that identifies with the “Spanglish” language as their third language. Although we can say
Rodriguez might view the idea of “Spanglish” as a hybrid language that attempts to reject assimilation and the enhancement of progress in America. Granted that in Hunger of
Memory he reveals a tension between the trope of a second language that clearly shows
Rodriguez’s struggle to reconcile the enduring of his two binary languages. It also, represents America’s once detested view on using other languages besides English.
Rodriguez’s text offers a crucial insight into the perplexing decades in America regarding bilingualism as an insignificant attribution to society. Since the publication of Hunger of
Memory in 1982, the conversation of bilingualism has shifted favorably in America into the conversation regarding Spanglish. Skyhorse’s Madonnas of Echo Park invites us into the conversation to view the generational differences and evolving of acceptance of hybrid language and identity in the United States.
Skyhorse and Rodriguez present the inner struggle of immigrants struggling to assimilate through the way they depict their identity crisis. Identity crisis is often portrayed in the novels as a burden, rather than a struggle to gain complete assimilation without casting off their Mexican culture. My study brings up analysis concerning assimilation, cultural dislocation and discourses from other scholars that contribute to explaining Skyhorse and Rodriguez’s reasoning behind their views on cultural identity and language.
5
Literature Review
Rodriguez’s Hunger of Memory gained much criticism from the scholars regarding his view on bilingualism and cultural identity. Hunger of Memory opens up the discussion about linguistic change as the essence of assimilation, without explicitly claiming the relinquishment of a native language and cultural identity. Rodriquez views the Spanish language as the silent language and English as the active and public language underlines a sense of cultural and ethnic identity negation. Tomás Rivera, a prominent
Mexican American author, weighs in on the idea of Rodriguez’s cultural, native and ethnic negation in his article, “Richard Rodriguez’ Hunger of Memory as Humanistic
Antithesis.” Rivera claims that Rodriguez's regard of Spanish as the silent language is the
“negation of what is fundamentally the central element of the human being the cultural root, the native tongue… (Rivera 12).” Rivera considers Hunger of Memory “anti- humanistic” because it misguides the representation of the Hispanic community. Rivera says that Rodriguez’s book is a personal expression of his own views regarding Mexican culture, Spanish, and bilingualism. Rivera argues that his book should not be used as a
“single way or method of understanding the bilingual, bicultural phenomenon of the
Hispanic group (Rivera 5).” Rivera argues that Hunger of Memory establishes the ideas of “silence and centrality of language—silence versus non-silence, silence and active language, and culture, and intelligence” (Rivera 6). The idea of “silence” indicates that if a person does not speak he or she lacks intelligence. Such indications relate to
Rodriguez’s idea of silence and the public voice. According to Rivera, Rodriguez’s text is underlined with “negative elements, regressive ones” regarding his own culture and personal voice, Spanish (Rivera 6). There are two Spanish verbs in Hunger of Memory
6 that Rivera draws our attention to support his claim regarding Rodriguez’s negativity towards his culture, native language and Hispanic identity: The two verbs Ser and Estar meaning, “to be.” These two verbs are used in the text to allow Rodriguez to disassociate from his native language. Rivera’s examination tell us that “to leave the Ser only for the
Estar is a grievous error” and Rodriguez explicitly implies that being “authentic is and can only be in the Estar (public voice) and only there is he/she complete” (Rivera 7). The two verbs serve as a major role in Rodriguez’s text to set the claim that “authenticity can only come by being an exterior being in English in the English speaking world” (Rivera
7). Cleary Rivera indicates that Rodriguez is discrediting and undervalues the Hispanic world.
Rivera proposes that Rodriguez should have given credit to the development of the Spanish language, which has flourished in the world of literature and has “existed of over six hundred years” (Rivera 8). Instead Rodriguez flees from his native language and from a human achievement. Rivera does acknowledge Rodriguez’s reason for fleeing his native world, due to “pressures of the Americanization process” (Rivera 8). Rivera’s main contention is that Rodriguez, in Hunger of Memory, completely discredits the
Spanish language and does “not dare to signal the importance that the language has”
(Rivera 8). Rivera punches the fact that Rodriguez, an educated humanist, does not acknowledge significant “element of Hispanic-culture—the context of the development of the distinct religions in the Spanish peninsula—the Judaic, the Christian, and the
Moorish” (Rivera 8). Essentially, Rivera is stating that Spanish, is as the language of the
Hispanic world, has elaborated and developed throughout history; however, Rodriguez seems to overlook the value of the Spanish language.
7
Rivera does not agree with the idea of negating a native culture and casting off a native language. Essentially, he views Rodriguez’s book as a tool to attempt to subjugate immigrants who carried their cultural identity and native language. Rivera reinforces this claim by saying that Rodriguez book shows us a pattern of negation, but it is softened somewhat when he talks about his parents. Rodriguez attempts to softened his negativity towards his culture and Spanish but he “comes to the thesis that his silence and the consequent inactive community is something regressive or negative” (Rivera 6).
Rodriguez asserts in his novel that if a person does not speak the public language, he or she is silent. Rodriguez mentions that Spanish is his personal voice, private and intimate language but his public voice, active language, is English, which reflects one of the many effects of assimilation. However, Rivera deflects Rodriguez’s idea that abandoning a native language as a means to completely assimilate by stating that Hunger of Memory imbues the “negation of what is fundamentally the central of human being— the cultural root, the native tongue” (Rivera 9). Rivera is not opposing the notion of assimilation, rather indicating that the disintegration from a native language should not be used as a measurement of assimilation.
Rivera calls our attention to a pivotal scene in Rodriguez’s last chapter in “Mr.
Secrets” in Hunger of Memory. In the last chapter, Rodriguez’s family is leaving after a dinner and everyone is standing outside, his mother asks him to get a sweater to his father because he is cold. The last words of this chapter are “I take it [the sweater] and place it on him. In that instance I feel the thinness of his arms. He turns. He asks if I am going home now, too. It is, I realize the only thing he has said to be me all evening” (Rodriguez
155). Following this statement, we can gather that Rodriguez’s father has been silent all
8 evening. We are able to view the disconnection between a father and son. In a sense, we can say that language is the main factor Rodriguez is not bonding with his father. Rivera makes the assertion that Rodriguez does not tell us about “his own type of silence” because he does not want to communicate his “more intimate memories” (Rivera 13).
Rivera strongly believes that reclaiming those “intimate memories” are painful because
Rodriguez only chooses memories that are relative to the English-Speaking world. In the end, Hunger of Memory is a personal novel that retells Rodriguez’s attempt to decolonize
“himself by seeking to free himself from a personal voice, but in so trying he will likely enter another colony of despair” (Rivera 13). Although, Rivera perceives Rodriguez’s ideologies regarding language and culture as dogmatic but we have to understand the other spectrum he is coming from and what he wants to accomplish. So it is necessary to call attention to Rodriguez’s literacy development and understand his personal frame of reference regarding assimilation.
Similarly, Lizabeth Parawisini-Gebert evaluates Rodriguez’s effect of assimilating to
American society and the impact on his identity. Gebert’s article “Richard Rodriguez’s
Hunger of Memory (1982) and the Rejection of the Private Self” contends that
Rodriguez’ explains selective differences between American culture and Mexican culture on the “basis of dichotomies” (Parawisini-Gebert 83). Gerbert states that Rodriguez
“valorizes the public over the private man, posting the dichotomy as it were indeed a natural one, as if an individual, when seeking to define his or her identity, were forced to select only from among many possibilities of development (Parawisini-Gerbert 84).”
Clearly, Rodriguez does not provide any opportunity to embrace his own transcultural identity by employing the notion that the only language “in private-with intimates- is
9 separateness from the crowd a perquisite from individuality” as a means to gain full assimilation (Rodriquez 27).
Rodriguez is under the impression that assimilation is “achieved, paradoxically, by those who are able to consider themselves members of the crowd” and as it happened for him (Rodriguez 25). To become part of the crowd one has to cast off their native culture and most importantly their native language. Hunger of Memory takes us into Rodriguez’s life long journey towards assimilation. The most important component of assimilation is language and it is tied to cultural identity. In the novel, he progressively becomes part of the crowd and finally thinks of himself as an “American, no longer an alien in gringo society” (Rodriguez 26). This shows his relinquishment of the Spanish language that would accommodate a full assimilation. The idea of abandoning the Spanish language to enter the public sphere is apparent when Richard mentions “the day I came to believe that my name, indeed, is Rich-heard Rod-ree-guess” reveals his separation from his own native language, to seek an American identity (Rodriguez 27). Similarly, Gerbert asserts that
Rodriguez brings to the reader the “argument concerning the need to embrace an
‘American’ identity (a step that necessitates his relinquishing his Mexican culture) and his reduction of Spanish to the private sphere” (Gerbert 84). This is constructed as Richard’s assimilation becomes apparent and as he thrives within the English language that leads “to the assumption that in order to become ‘American’ and enter the public sphere, he must cease to be ‘Mexican’ he must sacrifice all aspect of his identity that can be traced to his parents’ ancestry and culture” (Gerbert 85). Indeed, Rodriguez does not explicitly suggest the rejection of cultural identity and native language, such “rejection” is embedded with importance of acquiring the public language and reinventing a new
10 linguistic/cultural identity. Drawing from these implications, scholars often overlook
Hunger of Memory as a text that explores the ramifications of cultural disassociation and the intellectual emancipation of a Mexican-American.
Jeehyun Lim, in I Was Never at War With my Tongue: The Third Language and the Performance of Bilingualism in Richard Rodriguez, examines the “disavowal of
Spanish” that runs through Rodriguez’s writing. Lim mentions that theory of a “dormant bilingual” is closely reflected in Hunger of Memory. Dormant bilingual it examines a phenomenon of “language forgetting” a process which many immigrants and their children take on—which helps us to better understand Rodriguez’s relationship to English and Spanish (Lim 519). The “dormant bilingual” points to the post-Civil Rights era in the
U.S. when there were social prohibitions against languages other than English. The loss of home languages is viewed as a process of assimilation, which is reflective of social and cultural structure of language in the U.S. According to Lim, Rodriguez’s opposition to bilingual education demonstrates the “recognition of the deep divide between private and public spheres in the post-civil rights” and the sacrifice language minorities were forced to make for “ a public presence” (Lim 523). Furthermore, Lim suggests that Rodriguez’s
Hunger of Memory “conflates bilingualism and diglossia.” In 1956, Linguist Charles A.
Ferguson theorized “diglossia” as the idea that of a language “learned largely by formal education… is used for most written and formal conversation” (Lim 39). A connection between Rodriguez’s experience of bilingualism and Ferguson’s theory of “diglossia” allows us to see the distance between his “public working-class dialect and the language of high society” (Lim 39). Hunger of Memory attempts to show us how language “effects
11 inclusion and exclusion” which underlines Rodriguez’s suggestion that class is more significant factor, as opposed to race (Lim 525).
Lim views Rodriguez as a “dormant bilingual” who struggles to keep two languages in two separate spheres to feel publicly accepted; however, Renny Christopher refutes this claim in Rags to Riches to Suicide: Unhappy Narratives of Upward Mobility:
Martin Eden, Bread Givers, Delia’s Song, and Hunger of Memory as he argues that the narrative illustrates a struggle for upward mobility. Christopher writes that the novel constructs the “sense of loss that haunts upward mobility” (Christopher 31). We can assert that Rodriguez’s motivation to separate from his native language is to gain social mobility.
The silence that Rodriguez speaks of in Hunger of Memory is the feeling of feeling lost after gaining upward mobility. Such mobility cost him to negate his native language and culture. Essentially, Rodriguez’s ability to stay in two spheres was impossible in order to achieve his ideal gaining upward mobility.
Rodriguez’s and Skyhorse’s narratives were written three decades apart, and they represent different social perspectives regarding Mexican American and a Mexican immigrant identity. In the mid 1960s, the civil rights struggle and avatars of the counterculture movement created the Chicano Movement, a social reform environment propelling Mexican Americans to create a sense of unity. This was fostered by the opposition to call oneself Mexican American as it came under attack by political activist because it set implications of an “affirmation of the gradual loss of cultural and ethnic characteristics” (Novoa 227). As a result the “Chicano” term was chosen by political activist to replace other self-denominators: Mexican, Mexicano, or Mexican American.
The adaptation of the “Chicano” term allowed many Mexican Americans to gain a sense
12 of identity and incorporate their culture in the U.S. Skyhorse and Rodriguez fall under the categorization of being “Chicano” authors, while their narratives heavily read to the idea of finding common ground between their own ethnic identity and an American identity.
Interestingly, Rodriguez does not personally identify as a Chicano writer but as an
American writer as does Skyhorse as well. Rodriguez and Skyhorse are not rejecting their cultural identity but by identifying themselves as “Chicano”, they rather are put in a different spectrum of identity and their right to choose their own identity is stripped.
The construction of the “Chicano” culture carries different values and ideologies that prompt Rodriguez and Skyhorse to shift away from it. According to Carlos H. Arce,
Mexican Americans refer themselves as “Chicanos” because “they are increasingly labeled in social research literature and in the mass media—today maintain a tenacious hold on significant elements of their culture and share an ethnically salient identity” (Arce
177). Yes, they might be labeled as “Chicanos”, but it does not hold any truth because other Mexican Americans are not receptive to this identity. As we see, Rodriguez does not accept the “Chicano” term as an applicable identity. Rodriguez only wants to have an
American identity. However, scholars such as Arce point out that Mexican Americans should identify themselves as Chicanos because they have developed a “social identity (or sense of peoplehood) based exclusively on the host society” (Arce 177). In a sense, Arce is indicating that individuals from Mexican heritage should align under the Chicano category; however, he does suggest that some individuals who are “assimilated Mexican
American can coalesce socially or politically on an ideology of shared self-interest that do not include, and may even reject, Mexican cultural heritage” (Arce 177). It is easy to conclude that Rodriguez and Skyhorse reject their Mexican heritage but what is at stake
13 here is the battle to choose their cultural identity. Their heritage should not dictate what cultural identity they must choose and follow. What these authors are suggesting is that social identifications regarding culture have flaws. Rodriguez and Skyhorse are American born citizens, thus they have the right to simply be identified as American.
Rodriguez’s Hunger of Memory and Skyhorse’s Madonnas of Echo Park shed light on the struggle to find a cultural balance in the U.S. Social commentary has not only regarded these authors as Chicano writers but “Pochos” as well. The notion of a Pocho identity surfaces within their subtext, and it is often regarded as a stigma within the Mexican culture. Pocho is a pejorative term that was invented by Mexicans as a way to categorize people of Mexican descent living in the U.S. Interestingly, this term was invented to underscore the cultural trap of being called a Mexican American, although it names both nationalities, it emphasizes the disjunction and duality. Historically, it primarily stems from the idea of being a Mexican outside of Mexico; one is converted into an “exile” and or “expatriate” most importantly, distant from an “authentic national culture” (Castillo
226). Granted, Skyhorse and Rodriguez are descendants from a Mexican immigrant family, and their narratives explore the dilemma of being absent from their own culture due to crushing pressures exerted by the American culture (Castillo 227).
Skyhorse and Rodriguez’s Background
In order to completely understand Rodriguez and Skyhorse’s thinking it is imperative for one to acknowledge their upbringing as it heavily influenced their narratives. Skyhorse grew up in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Echo Park, once a middle class neighborhood and home to the film industry until the effects of suburbanization and “white flight” caused a withdrawal of employment and social
14 services. In result, the neighborhood of Echo Park became an affordable area for many immigrants in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Skyhorse grew up in the ‘80s, when Echo Park became a central neighborhood for many first generation immigrant families and better known for its drive-by shootings, crime, and violence. Therefore, social circumstances made him feel like an outsider in the neighborhood. Skyhorse stated in an interview, he “didn’t hangout with gangs, or anything. I don’t ever think I even considered it an option because I wasn’t cool enough for that. I wasn’t even worthy enough to be hassled by them. I was just total invisible” (Del Barco). Skyhorse became uncertain whether he was a Mexican immigrant because, like Rodriguez, his demeanor set him apart; however; this uncertainty primarily stems from his own ethnic identity confusion as a child. Skyhorse’s mother instilled in him the idea to embrace the Native American heritage despite his Mexican ethnicity. His birth name was Brando Kelly Ulloa, but his Mexican father abandoned the family when
Brando was three years old. Following Brando’s family misfortune, the last name
“Skyhorse” was given to him by his mother as a means to disguise his authentic ethnicity.
Several years later, he found himself with a fabricated ethnic identity living in a neighborhood of Mexican immigrants. Clearly Skyhorse was thrown into a predicament of ethnic identity at a young age. In interviews the author explains after learning of his authentic ethnicity he continued to hide his Mexican identity because his mother, “who was Mexican, was passing as Native American identity” (Del Barco).
It is interesting to note that Skyhorse draws on his personal experience of dwelling between two identities and his exposure to the movement of immigrants settling in Echo
Park, which allows him to render an engaging observation of displacement and cultural disempowerment driven by American conventions. However, the novel is not explicitly
15 autobiographical, although it does seem like it is through the way the characters are depicted. Skyhorse is attempting to work through an identity crisis and bring up questions about the role of immigrants in contemporary America. The exploration of cultural identity and social alienation can be viewed in Rodriguez’s Hunger of Memory (1982) as a collective observation of a personal journey of a unconventional immigrant upbringing, which exhibits the dimensions of a Mexican American identity in America.
Rodriguez was born in 1944 in San Francisco, CA and became a notable Mexican
American author whose works reveal an uncanny narratives of growing up in a working class Mexican immigrant family. Unlike Skyhorse, Rodriguez was raised in a neighborhood in Sacramento, CA as he refers it living among “gringos” (Rodriguez 23).
Rodriguez only spoke Spanish for the first five years of his life; however, the sounds of
Spanish were invaded with the words of the English language once his parents enrolled him at private Catholic school. Upon acquiring confidence in the English language,
Rodriguez’s English proved to be the catalyst for his high achievements in the classroom.
His academic excellence gained him scholarships, awards, and many other academic merits. His academic success and mastering the English language pronounce him to be conscious of his own ethnic identity. Considering he was born into a Mexican immigrant family, Rodriguez felt he was progressively disconnecting from this cultural and ethnic identity as he progressively succeeded academically and socially. This effect is largely due to his parent’s determination to completely assimilate to an American culture, rather reinvent themselves and their family. Taking into account that he grew up the in the
1950’s, we can conclude there was not much advocacy for the Spanish language or
Mexican culture. Not until the sixties, when political movements of Hispanic groups,
16 initiated a battle for bilingual education and social stigmas regarding a Mexican
American identity (Kanellos 45). Evidently, Rodriguez’s immigrant family was under pressures to assimilate to the American culture and adopt a new language. His parents were forced to compromise their Mexican identity because “the acquisition of a new language came the acceptance of a new identity” (Rodriguez 24). Rodriguez’s family’s encouragement to master the public language ascribes to the one of many traditional ways America assimilates immigrants to the American culture.
Silent Language (Spanish) vs. Public Language (English)
In the first chapter of Hunger of Memory, “Aria” Rodriguez outlines his own assimilation experience by discussing the private language (Spanish) and public language
(English). He recounts his experience as a child who was strongly encouraged to speak only English at school and at home. The presentation of speaking Spanish in private and only speaking English publically underlies the most critical facet of assimilation process for many immigrants in America. Rodriguez’s assimilation experience aims to explain the power of a public language (English) that not only alienated his immigrant family, it also “ trivialize(s) the nature of intimate life-a family’s language” (Rodriguez 12). Spanish, the intimate language is “trivialize” by subliminal oppression express by “ los gringos”
(Rodriguez 12). The narrator, Rodriguez himself, says that his “mother and father were annoyed than intimidated by those two or three neighbors who tried initially to make us unwelcome “keep your brats away from my side-walk!” (Rodriguez 12). Clearly, the aggravation by the neighbors simultaneously provokes an attitude of difference based on language. Also, this shows that the public language can operate as a device of suppression and progressively disintegrate a native language. This is further reinforced when
17 protagonist mentions it was troubling to hear his parents speak English, and hear “their high-whining vowels, and guttural consonants…confuse syntax; the hesitant rhythm of sounds so different from the way gringos spoke” (Rodriguez 15). In this passage, Richard expresses a struggle and anguish of acquiring the public language that underlines contempt, yet claims that it is an “obligation – to speak the public language of los gringo”
(Rodriguez 19).
The importance of keeping Spanish as a private language can be viewed as a representation of his immigrant parents resilience to completely assimilate. At its core,
Rodriguez asserts that the public language is the mere catalyst for his complete assimilation, but most importantly a separation from an intimate language “that had revealed and accentuated… a family’s closeness” (Rodriguez 21). Rodriguez heavily blames language as the culprit for the separation from his family and culture; Skyhorse does highlight this same idea, but he deflects this claim by depicting one of his characters,
Felicia, longing to acquire the English language. Skyhorse is attempting to tell us that the public language is imperative to gain upward mobility, as he illustrates Felicia’s character as a Mexican American woman who works for wealthy families cleaning their homes and doing drudgery work. She struggles to find opportunities because she does not know
English. Through the portrayal of Felicia, Skyhorse is examining the difficulties of assimilation in way that superseded the issues solely of ethnic identity and culture, because her lack of English inhibits her ability to assimilate. Although Felicia was born in the U.S, she did not acquire the English language because in “Los Angeles, you could rent an apartment, buy groceries, cash checks, and socialize, all in Spanish” (Skyhorse 28).
Being able to communicate in native tongue without learning English, as Felicia does, sets
18 the implications of closeness to a cultural identity. Felicia’s character opens up the idea that assimilation is possible without cutting ties with one’s native language; however, her struggle to ground herself with a good job tell us there is repercussions in regards to social mobility. Skyhorse does not explicitly tell us that language is the mere catalyst for social mobility, unlike Rodriguez, who clearly tells us that learning the “public language” has granted him success both academically and socially. If we further examine Felicia’s character, we can assert that Skyhorse indirectly tell us that English is the essence to gain complete assimilation.
Felicia’s persistence to learn English results from her motivation to find better opportunities that will aide her social plight. Her motivation is highlighted when she is trying to learn English by going to the movies everyday although certain days Mexicans were “restricted to the balcony” but she would sneak in because she “wanted to be more
American” (Skyhorse 29). The determination to learn English and become “more
American” although she is a born citizen of the United States show us public language plays a major constructing an identity—such as American identity (Skyhorse 29). In a sense, this shows us that birth doesn’t quite immediately make you an American, rather being able to speak the common language English, does. Also, if we look at the fact, that the movie theatre was “restricted” to Mexicans tells us that language plays a significant role not only in assimilation but as well transcending social classes. The restriction that
Felicia encounters at the movies reinforces the idea of lacking the English language serves as tool to subjugate individuals. Often the idea of resisting to adopt the English language is viewed as loyalty, but often it victimizes individuals socially. One of the first examples occurs when Felicia meets the Calhoun’s at their house, which she will be cleaning. The
19 conversation between Mrs. Calhoun, and Felicia show us the cultural distance between two Americans:
“Oh, the photo. The one with your friends. Amigos. Amigas? I’m sorry
my Spanish isn’t better…” I understood this [Felicia] said, in English,
“It’s okay, my English should be better. It’s America, your country… Oh,
I thought you were born here and [Felicia] says, I was, but it’s your
country” (Skyhorse 31).
It is apparent that Felicia feels as an outcast from mainstream America by not being well- versed in English. It is evident that this cultural distance is rendered by language, and despite the fact that both characters are born in America. What Skyhorse is trying to explain to us is that language can be a major factor for upward mobility and to feel accepted. Essentially this exchange between them serves as an insight into the mode in which language can inhibit admission to mainstream America, and allows us to see whether language is the foundation of assimilation but often a jarring and emotional process as Rodriguez claims it is.
Victimized by Linguistic Assimilation
One might argue Richard’s assimilation process is complete as he declares himself a fully “middle-class American man” however, within the subtext, the narrative elegizes the despair from the detachment from Spanish. Switching from Spanish to English not only completely assimilates Rodriguez into mainstream America; rather, he becomes a “victim to a disabling confusion” (Rodriguez 29). The “disabling confusion” reads to the protagonist’s linguistic predicament that progressively separates from an authentic language. We can assert that Rodriguez’s adds this romantic idea around the Spanish
20 language to convey the emotional detachment from ha dialectical intimacy to alienation.
This becomes apparent when Rodriguez’s grandmother calls him in Spanish while he is playing with his friend, “the gringo” (Rodriguez 31). His friend wanted to know what she said, and Richard cannot translate: “The problem was…that though I knew how to translate exactly what she had told me, I realized that any translation would distort the deepest meaning of her message. It had been directed to me. This message of intimacy could never be translated because it was not in the words she had used but passed through them… any translation would be wrong” (Rodriguez 31). This incident in the text draws the conception of living in between two separate linguistic cultures most importantly highlights Richard’s contempt process of assimilation that is progressively separating him from his private language, and trivializing it. The “message of intimacy could never be translated” because the authenticity of the private language cannot be “distort” that allows
Richard to have only one form of an emotional connection with his cultural background.
Richard’s opposition to translate his grandmother’s words of Spanish suggests that language alone has the power to diminish intimacy. Although, language is suggested as perpetrator, Rodriguez indicates that his “social” change is at fault for diminishing the intimacy of his private language. The withdrawal of an intimate language cannot be said that Rodriguez is revealing contempt to the idea of assimilation but suggest that a linguistic change is collectively foster by academics, eventually cease an intimate bond with her mother. Similarly, Felicia’s character in Skyhorse’s novel supports Rodriguez’s idea of losing intimate language but most important a familial connection.
This matter becomes apparent when Mrs. Calhoun and Felicia talk about their irregular communication. Mrs. Calhoun does not quite often interact with Felicia, rather
21 she writes notes for her. Felicia is able to translate her notes with a dictionary or ask her twelve-year old daughter Aurora. Felicia does not have much communication with Aurora because she “forgets her Spanish” and she is “straight A student…(Skyhorse 41).” Thus, this implies that Aurora’s academic achievements are separating her from native language, but most importantly dwindling her from this “closeness” from her mother. Furthermore,
Felicia says “silence with my daughter is good” which evokes the idea sacrificing her native language, as a means successfully integrate to society (Skyhorse 41). Though, we can assert that this transformation is inevitable within immigrant families, as they assimilate. While Rodrigues text tell us that even though assimilation diverges one's native language and heritage—it is a requirement for “assimilation (Rodriguez).” The question becomes apparent whether Rodriguez and Skyhorse are suggesting that the power of linguistic can overthrow a native language and cultural identity rendering the abandonment of one’s ethnic heritage.
William B. Lalicker’s essay, “Social Constructionist Composition and the Hunger of
Imagination” discusses Richard’s linguistic change is heavily foster by social constructions. Lalicker asserts that Rodriguez’s text Hunger of Memory claims the loss of a native language is inevitable because communication is “ a social activity, within a social context…” and carries “social consequences” and “we can never control…. the way we use language” to the effect of depleting from an intimate language, as Richard experiences (Lalicker 26). Rodriguez defines such “consequences” that make individual
“powerless, diminished, slaves to one social construct or another, with no real bilinguality, with only the monistic choice of which master to serve (Lalicker 26). Lalicker also indicates that the consequences alienate Richard from his parents, because he enters the
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“public English…. Worlds that his-fluent parents cannot enter… language, the new voice itself, operates as a wall between social constructs” (Lalicker 25). The public language plays a major role in Richard’s separation from his private language, but most importantly reveals his alienation from his cultural family that can be regarded as one of the most severe “consequences” of his assimilation.
Cultural Betrayal
Richard Rodriguez's autobiographical novel Hunger of Memory reveals that English
(public language) has granted Richard complete assimilation into mainstream America at the cost of familial and cultural detachment. This becomes evident when Richard notes that his parents “did not followed their children all the way down the path to full
Americanization” and they become progressively distant from each other (Rodriguez
177). The refusal of the parents to pursue a “path to full Americanization” serves as a platform for Rodriguez to claim that language is the mere essence for a complete assimilation, despite other social constructions. Rodriguez does not explicitly tell us that his parents refused to adapt to the public language; yet, we can conclude as his parents progressively “became more easy in public, less withdrawn and uncertain… but something remained unchanged in their lives” (Rodriguez 177). What “remained unchanged in their lives” is their native language as they continue to “note the difference between private and public life” (Rodriguez 177). Holding their native language and distinguishing their public and private expresses a sense of contempt for a complete assimilation. We can assert that Rodriguez’s slightly criticizes the idea of clenching onto a native language while assimilating into mainstream America. Although, Rodriguez is slightly criticizing the idea possessing two languages, he acknowledge his “betrayal” by
23 moving away from his private language that once created this intimate and unity with his family. Lalicker, states that usage of “Betrayal” allows Richard to establish “ an active condition of heuristic ambivalence, establishes dialectic between two languages as the individual creates an intellectually whole self” to view the values of both languages).
Furthermore, Lalicker asserts that Richard can posses both languages “without loss of individuality and intimacy in the family social construct”. It is, indeed, possible for
Richard to keep both of his languages; however, Rodriguez places more substantial value on the public language than on the private language that awakens such sentiments of betrayal.
The sentiments of betrayal that become apparent in Rodriguez’s narrative, conceptualize a claim regarding language as an instrumental device that fosters the detachment from native a language, which allows us to explicate the quintessential ramifications ensue by assimilation. The notion of “betrayal” can be viewed as the cost for complete assimilation. I have suggested that language is the mere “perpetrator” for
Richard’s separation from his native language (Spanish). One might argue that the (English) public language is not the perpetrator for Richards’s detachment from his private language and detachment from his culture because he reveres the public language which has garnered him success and the scope for upward mobility. One can draw this from Rodriguez’s unease over affirmative action and bilingual education. This is explicitly illustrated when Rodriguez “propose contrary ideas” regarding bilingual education and stating he was no “longer like socially disadvantaged Hispanic American” because the private language has granted him an “admission” to become a “successful teacher of white middle-class students” (Rodriguez 164). As he applauds his “success” in mainstream
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America, it is view as a form to cope with the alienation from his culture, and separation from a familial language of intimacy and unity.
Rodriguez’s alienation from his culture and native language sets him as if he was
“ denying racial pride” or denying his “racial identity”, as he states: “ One Mexican
American said I was a minority whether I wanted to be or not…. I was a Chicano”
(Rodriguez 148). Such accusation of denying his “ racial identity” is fallacious because
Rodriguez is not denying his ethnicity rather separating himself from his Mexican culture due to his linguistic change. In the chapter, “the Profession”, we are informed that he is invited to Chicano meeting and social events but he “never went” which indicates his separation between his world and a Mexican culture (Rodriguez 160). The “distance” that
Rodriguez speaks of is influence by his inability to speak Spanish. If we further look beyond the linguistic barrier, we can see that there is a sense of resentment for his linguistic transformation, which causes him to cast off his native language and culture but most importantly to be torn between two cultures:
“I kept my distance. I was a scholarship boy belonged to an earlier time. I
had to come to the campus singly they had come in a group… I had been
submissive, willing to mimic to my teachers, willing to re-from myself in
order to become ‘educated’… I had long before accepted the fact that
education exacted a great price for its equally great benefits. They denied
that price—any loss” (Rodriguez 160).
This passage reinforces idea that acquiring the public language has cast off Rodriguez native language and culture, but as well isolated from a social change, which alienates him from a cultural identity. When Rodriguez says that he “belonged to an earlier time” and
25 enter the “campus singly”, he is referring to his struggle to culturally and linguistically assimilate. Yet, there is a “price” that is the loss of culture, and language. As the idea of cultural rejection appears in the text, it is worthy to note that Rodriguez is lamenting the loss an intimate language that slightly communicates a sense of regret as a means to unveil the transcendence of language. He is not completely rejecting the Spanish—he is attempting to show us the how his linguistic change made him a victim—both in private and public society. The idea of being victimized by his own linguistic transformation marks the dominance of language to the effect of estranging Rodriguez from his culture and native language that was once an “intimate utterance” of unity (Rodriguez 37).
Skyhorse underscores similar ideas regarding the impact language has on a native language. In the chapter, “The Hustler”, Skyhorse’s views on culture and language are exposed through Freddy’s character. Freddy’s character is featured as an individual who was raised in under privilege neighborhood. Skyhorse show us Freddy’s only struggle is social and gang affiliations but as well the preservation of his Mexican culture and language. This becomes apparent when Freddy’s dad mention Spanish should not be spoken because this is America:
“Before I go on, I want to make it clear to you that I speak ingles
Entiendes, mendes? This is America and I speak America’s language. No
translation needed. See, I never had a problem speaking English. My old
man told me that, to make it in America, all you need to do is keep
talking…. Don’t ever shut up. The louder you are the better—that’s the
American way” (Skyhorse 106).
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This passage is crucial because Skyhorse is telling us that a native language often times is threaten by social pressure to use predominant language of the cultural host. Freddy’s dad is under impression that speaking only English is going to grant him social success. The first step to gain this success Freddy’s dad speaks of is to cut any cultural ties regarding the Spanish language. Freddy is adamant about this idea because the Spanish language is part of his cultural identity and heritage. Avoiding Spanish will estrange him from his culture. Skyhorse is telling us that by linguistically changing one can drift apart from their native culture. Freddy’s situation with his father ascribes to the many immigrants who find themselves in a dilemma between choosing English or Spanish. Choosing
English is the most logical thing to do because more opportunities will open up to gain upward mobility.
Rodriguez’s cultural separation primarily stems from his linguistic change, but the rhetoric communicates the desire to reclaim a native language. As we see the separation of an “intimate” language allows us to view Rodriguez’s transcultural identity that compels him into a negotiation between two linguistic worlds while representing the “scorn value and necessity of assimilation” (Rodriguez 26). One can claim, that
Rodriguez’s linguistic predicament conceptualizes the tensions inherent within his family, framing a cultural crisis, and a visible discourse of assimilation that could be read as the struggle to maintain full membership and participation between two different linguistic worlds. Such claim can be view in chapter Six, when Richard’s assimilation transcends language and he is having dinner during a holiday with his mother and she is excluded from the conversation and distant from Richard.
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“When she is seated, she listens to the conversation. But she seems lonely.
(Does she think things would have been different if one her children had
brought home someone who could Spanish?) She does not know how or
where to join in with her children are talking about Woody Allen movies
or real estate tax laws or somebody’s yoga class... She responds in her
visitor’s voice. And soon the voices ride away. She is left with silence”
(Rodriguez 191).
This scene explicitly illustrates Richard’s estrangement with his native language (Spanish) but most importantly suggests the importance of assimilation as his mother is “left with silence” that constructs the essence of assimilation is to cease a native language. Also, the exclusion of his mother, alludes to the cultural dislocation is rendered by a linguistic change. Rodriguez is suggesting a negotiation between public and private language is inevitable but the “value” of the public language steers away from a negotiation. Instead,
Rodriguez centers a claim around the idea that one language will “suffer” that is the private language and by “becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality” (Rodriguez 28). Despite,
Rodriguez’s transcultural identity, as a Mexican American, he displays a tension regarding the equality of importance between Spanish and English, which does not grant full assimilation as he place significant value on the public language.
Rodriguez and Skyhorse’s narrative carries us through the jarring and often emotional journey of assimilation. Both authors give us their views regarding a hybrid identity in America. Within the subtext of Hunger of Memory and Madonnas of Echo
Park lies the view on bilingualism in the United States, and the phenomenon of
28
Spanglish. These texts show us the evolvement of hybrid identities and language that is primarily triggered by assimilation.
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CHAPTER II
NOT ENGLISH OR SPANISH: EXPLORING SPANGLISH
The term Spanglish has become popular among Latinos in the United States.
Spanglish is not an immigrant language because most immigrant languages are usually lost by the third generation of speakers. Although Spanglish has thrived in the United
States, it has gained negative views from scholars and it is often reviled by many people as “the jargon of poor, uneducated immigrants” that lack proficiency in their native language or their new country (Morales 56). Further, Spanglish is perceive as the
“bastard product of verbal promiscuity” because it is disowned by English language and orphaned by the Spanish language (Morales 34). Despite this negative outlook on
Spanglish, others viewed it as a language that champions globalization and multiculturalism. The complexities of the Spanglish language prompted the issue whether it is a formal language or slang and influence on the English language. Spanglish is
“solely concerned of the Spanish language” not with the English Language. We can say that Spanglish serves a two-way function that allows Mexican Americans to use the opportunity that the English language affords in America and the Spanish language to maintain a sense of their cultural values. It has become an important form of communication and identity in Latino communities over the last decade because of increased immigration of Latinos in the United States and higher numbers of US citizen who have a Latin heritage. The inclusiveness of this form of language should be accepted because “whether you know it or not, speak it or not, or like it or not, Spanglish is everywhere” (Arce 50). The reason we can easily find Spanglish anywhere is because it
30 allows Mexican Americans and people of Latin descent to accommodate their hybrid identities. Gloria Anzaldúa states, “I cannot accept the legitimacy of myself. Until I am free to write bilingually and to switch codes without having always to translate, while I still have to speak English or Spanish when I would rather speak Spanglish…” (Anzaldúa
59). Anzaldúa is suggesting that individuals with hybrid identities, specifically Mexican
American and Latinos, should be honored the language of Spanglish because it is a feature of authenticity to their identity.
This chapter will discuss the phenomenon of Spanglish as it relates to cultural hybridization in America among Mexican Americans. The usage of Spanglish can be viewed as an attempt to accommodate hybrid identities in America. In Skyhorse’s The
Madonnas of Echo Park and Rodriguez’s autobiographical novel Hunger of Memory:
The Education of Richard Rodriguez. Cultural hybridization is prevalent, which is mark by the usage of the Spanish and English in the texts. In The Madonnas of Echo Park,
Skyhorse dramatizes characters that struggle to accommodate their hybrid identity by speaking Spanglish. The usage of Spanglish in Skyhorse’s texts shows us the emerging of an authentic voice of individuals that identify as Mexican Americans. In Hunger of
Memory the glimpses of Spanish used in the text communicate the initial struggle of a hybrid identity seeking a language that will accommodate an American culture and
Mexican heritage without compromising the opportunities that English can offer.
Rodriguez and Skyhorse’s novels are crucial texts that communicate the painful process of assimilation, but at their core these text open the conversations to the current phenomenon of the Spanglish language in the United States that underscores the issues of claiming and reclaiming two cultures that are linguistically different.
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English or Spanish
Rodriguez’s Hunger of Memory represents a hybridization of language in
America. In the first chapter Aria, Rodriguez begins to recount his story about growing up in a world where the Spanish language and English language separated people, specifically himself from his family. For example, Rodriguez states in Hunger of Memory that “some American cities one can cast a ballot printed in several languages… implies that a person can exercise that most public of rights—the right to vote while still keeping apart, unassimilated from public life” (Rodriguez 35). Rodriguez is communicating that an individual can assimilate to the dominant culture in America and keep their native language. Indeed, it is possible, but the idea here is to keep two separate cultures and languages from coming together. The idea of preventing two languages from coming together would allow individuals to keep their culture and successfully function in
American society. It is important to note, during Rodriguez’s education, the movement of bilingualism became prevalent; however, Rodriguez did not hold any support for this cause and regarded bilingualism as obstruction to success in America.
Hunger of Memory is narrated from 1960’s to 1980 during a time when America was becoming aware of the “value of the ethnic diversity and a demand for meaningful access” to equal educational opportunities (Brown 9). Despite the fact that beneficial opportunities for immigrant children will gained from being educated in their native tongue Rodriguez underlines that bilingualism “scorn[s] the value and necessity of assimilation” because there is “two ways a person is individualized” (Rodriguez 26).
Rodriguez claims that using two languages an individual cannot be “assimilated into public society”, such assimilation grants success and the “achievement of public
32 individuality” (Rodriguez 26). Rodriguez believes that the usage of two languages simply denies the possibility of social success. In a sense, he is communicating that the hybridization of two languages strives to preserve an individual’s native culture and an intimate language, although he does not completely agree. He views bilingualism as a threat to gain upward mobility and become part of “crowd”. By opposing the idea of using two languages Rodriguez attempts to keep languages separated by social classes and most importantly to avoid the mixing of what he considers private and public language. He claims that bilingual education and usage of Spanish in public creates a more painful process of assimilation and one pinned between two cultures, which limits one’s assimilation. This becomes evident when Rodriguez recounts the encounter he had with his father regarding what “real work” is (Rodriguez 137). His father did not accept
Rodriguez’s idea of “real work” because his “hand were so soft” (Rodriguez 137).
Rodriguez speaks of a work that relates to his pride in his “academic success” that allowed him to explore the importance of language (Rodriguez 137). He considers hard work the choice of completely abandoning Spanish and he states: “a reminder of my separation from los bracero” (Rodriguez 137). We can argue that Rodriguez did not have access to Spanish in school but only at home and the idea of using Spanglish was not even an option. In a sense, we see Rodriguez’s only option was to work hard and acquire the dominant language of the American society. When he states that “language was crucial” towards his success, and being aware that he has “violated the ideal of the macho by becoming such a dedicated student of language and literature” is an indication that tells us Rodriguez only had to choose one language (English or Spanish) that will accommodate his identity (Rodriguez 137). We can viewed the violation of a “macho”
33 identity that made him “very different” but most importantly made him feel accepted and
American (Rodriguez 137).
We can say, that Rodriguez is not quite dismissing the idea of bilingualism during his time but rather attempting to find a language that will accommodate a hybrid identity.
If we closely examine Rodriguez’s plight in Hunger of Memory, we see that he is attempting to find a language that will accommodate his hybridization. Even tough
Rodriguez does not explicitly tell us that Spanglish is the language that can fulfill such identity nor does he embrace the idea of Spanglish. Despite his obvious need for
Spanglish, Rodriguez is under impression that English is the only language for success and upward mobility.
Skyhorse reflects Rodriguez’s claims regarding bilingualism in America in chapter, “The Hustler”, where we see Freddy’s character refusing to speak Spanish.
Freddy’ is under impression that the less Spanish an immigrant speaks the more he or she can gain more respect from Americans. Skyhorse presents us with Freddy’s character so we can understand the repercussions of individuals who were once obligated to discard their native language. This becomes evident when Freddy says:
“Before I go on, I want to it clear to you that I speak ingle. Entiendes,
mendes? This is America and I speak America’s language No translation
needed…. My old man told that, to make it in America, all you need to do
is keep talking. Hablar hasa que las palabras not tienen sentido. Don’t ever
shut up” (Skyhorse 106).
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Freddy’s character is a representation of generation that did not accept the idea of hybrid languages, such as Spanglish. Skyhorse is communicating that Spanish or English were complete strangers and immigrants were pressured to choose either one or the other. We can argue that Freddy’s character is a representation of individuals seeking a language that will validate their Mexican American identity. Also, Skyhorse tells us that the ability to speak English is a significant contribution to feeling American but knowing Spanish marks loyalty to a heritage. For instance when Freddy mentions he sees Mexican immigrants who: “Stay speaking Spanish and you inherit a fucking crimp in your neck from nodding “si, si” all day long. I could make a killing selling braces to Mexicans who nod their instead of opening their mouths…”(Skyhorse 107). Freddy’s perspective of
Mexicans who do not speak English is negative because he feels that by holding on to native language in America defeats the purpose of reaching a complete American identity. Freddy’s perspective overlooks the loyalty Mexican immigrants have for their native tongue and would rather “nod their heads”. Essentially, Skyhorse is underscoring the loyalty immigrants have for their culture and language; however this loyalty does not only apply to immigrants but as well with Americans from Latin descent don’t know how to embrace both cultures, rather use Spanglish. This is supported when Freddy begins to talk about how America one should not be “push around” and “you gotta be hard…
That’s what it means to be ciento por ciento Americano, tú sabes? ” (Skyhorse 107). It is interesting to note that the interjections of Spanish words show us that the usage of
Spanglish plays a role in Freddy’s character. This is an indication that Freddy is in between two languages that represent both his cultures that is Mexican and American.
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Clearly Skyhorse is illustrating how Spanglish unfolds within Mexican Americans and it is more prevalent among Spanish speakers.
Furthermore, as we get into The Madonnas of Echo Park we see Skyhorse unfolding the voice of Spanglish by illustrating Felicia’s character, a US citizen who has limited English but is able to successfully navigate herself in society. Skyhorse is pointing out within Felicia’s character that the usage of Spanish and English shows us how hybrid identities in America have issues communicating. This is illustrated when
Felicia says: I tried to going to the movies to learn English… Mexicans could only come on certain days were ‘restricted’ to the balcony… I wanted to be more
‘American’”(Skyhorse 290). Felicia’s attempt to learn English communicates the desire to assimilate to the dominant culture and keep her native culture. The only option
Felicia’s character is to mesh English and Spanish, allowing her to feel both American and Mexican. Although, she wants to feel American she still speaks Spanish despite her daughter talks to her in English. In the scene when Felicia and Aurora are about to take a group picture with their friends before they are caught in gang shooting crossfire. Aurora refuses to take orders from Felicia and we immediately see exchange of words of Spanish and English between them. Felicia says, “Sientante delante de tu madre, por favor”… and Aurora responds by saying “I don’t want to… I’m too old to kneel with the little kids.
I can with the women” and Felicia’ does not respond in English nor attempts to do so but only responds in Spanish: “No eres tan Viejo para ser una mujer” (Skyhorse 49). The exchange of Spanish and English words in this conversation between Aurora and Felicia marks the idea of Spanglish to an effect.
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The usage of Spanglish becomes more prevalent in Skyhorse’s text through
Duchess character that often interjects Spanish words in her sentences that illustrates her loyalty towards Mexican culture. Duchess is Aurora’s best friend until they start to grow up and realize they have nothing in common rather they have different desirable goals.
Skyhorse uses Aurora and Duchess’s friendship as a way to show us that language and often time assimilation separates people, similarly to Rodriguez’s experience being alienated from his family due to language and assimilation. Skyhorse uses the idea of
Spanglish that drifts these two girls apart from a friendship. When the girls go to mall in
Glendale, a predominantly a white neighborhood, and Aurora becomes so fascinated by the atmosphere that drives her to seek employment in the mall. What makes this scene a pivotal to the idea of Spanglish is when Duchess confronts Aurora from wanting to get a job at a mall that’s culturally different:
“What were you doing in there?”
“Filling out a job application” Aurora said.
“You going to work in the puta store…? That puta blanca following you around
the store like you were a landrona?” (Skyhorse 137).
It is evident that Duchess does not agree with Aurora’s idea of working at a mall that is predominantly white. In this exchange of words, Duchess interjects Spanish words that exhibit her Spanglish identity. The code switching can be viewed as way to express her desire to keep her Mexican culture and be American. What we are seeing here is a emerging voice that is created that represents Mexican Americans who identify with the effects of Spanglish. Often times the usage of Spanglish can be viewed as informal language from a lower socio-economical structure.
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Working Class Language
Rodriguez views the idea of Spanglish as a language that lacks the attributes to gain upward mobility. In Hunger of Memory Rodriguez states that his success was not gained by using two languages, but committing to the public language English instead:
“In public, by contrast, full individuality is achieved, paradoxically, by
those who are able to consider themselves members of the crowd. Thus, it
happened for me: Only when I was able to think of myself as an
American, no longer an alien in gringo society, could I seek the rights and
opportunities for full public individuality. The social and political
advantages I enjoy as a man result from the day that I came to believe that
my name, indeed, is Rich-heard, Road-ree-guess... Life after my
Americanization, it is finally to emphasize the public gain. The loss
implies the gain...” (Rodriguez 27).
If we closely analyze this statement, it seems that Rodriguez is suggesting that individuals who are willing to compromise a native language and be “considered” members of mainstream America achieve success through assimilation. It is interesting to note, that he considers himself a full “American” and no “longer an alien in a gringo society” once he became a confident speaker of English (Rodriguez 56). His assertion of feeling like an “alien” and lacking the “rights and opportunities for public individuality” is the cost for the absence of the public language, English. What we are seeing here is the portrayal of Rodriguez indoctrination rather his education because it illustrates a very heavy opposition to the Spanish language and views it with some sort of stigma. The
“loss” and the “gain” he speaks of refers to the loss of a cultural, native language, in
38 exchange for acceptance to middle class America (Rodriguez 54). Jeehyun Lim mentions that Rodriguez claims that “English requires a simultaneous… from the inclusion experienced in Spanish, to the point of feeling excluded from Spanish” as a way to gain a sense of “liberation” (Lim 527). By dismissing bilingualism Rodriguez’s expresses his experience of a dormant bilingualist and English language of success that renders his ambivalence towards Spanglish as well. It is plausible, to say that Rodriguez’s opposition to bilingualism is attempting to resolve issues of stepping into two cultural worlds without any identification
Cristina Rodriguez, a legal scholar, notes that “[w]hereas the classic three- generation trend toward English monolingualism describes most immigrant groups as whole, some theorists hypothesize that English-Spanish bilingualism may prove to this classic rule” (Lim 535). Only if the Spanish language can “ resist the hegemony of
English” we can see a fewer dormant bilingual goals such as Rodriguez himself.
However, Rodriguez’s insistence that “you cannot speak more than one language at time.
There’s no such thing”, clearly dismisses the idea of bilingualism, making him a dormant bilingual living his life two languages (Rodriguez 61). His challenge of bilingualism propels us to sheds light on an important question, is how new kinds of “linguistic mixing will bring to light to the exigencies of language and race in a multiracial, multilingual society” and linguistic performance of many immigrants (Lim 534). Rodriguez is offering his readers a critical criticism of bilingualism as attempts to question the validation and attempts to dismiss the trope of linguistic hybridization.
Although Rodriguez views the usage of Spanglish as obstacle towards assimilation and success, and other prominent writers such as Junot Diaz dispute his
39 views. Junot Diaz has gained tremendous success on his career and his narrative expresses his support for hybrid languages. This is presented most clearly in his novel
Drown (1996) where he uses both Spanish and English: “take it easy, nena.. Cono, muchacho, why did you eat? Working at a fabrica will kill you before any trige will”
(Diaz 135). Diaz interjects the words of Spanish and English in his narrative and shows us the function and power of Spanglish and bilingualism. Also, this type of narrative indicates the resisted assimilation that creates a voice for two languages from complete different cultures. Furthermore, Diaz relates the usage of English and Spanish in his narratives as way to be connected with his culture as he experienced the typical culture shock of an immigrant in acquiring a new language. Diaz lived a low-income neighborhood in New Jersey and he was bused to elite school and underwent a similar experience to Rodriguez’s; however, unlike Rodriguez he did not dismiss his native language rather he attempted to preserve it (Morales 290).
The idea that the Spanglish language is informal and that it is a part of the lower class is reinforced in Hunger in Memory. For instance, when Rodriguez mentions that he is not one of the “los pobres” because he is different from “attitude of mind and…” and
“imagination” of himself” because he has mastered English, this draws the conclusion that Rodriguez has been prepared to gain social mobility (Rodriguez 138). This preparedness related to the mastering of English language comes at a cost. His linguistic success progressively estranges him from social class, cultural identity and most importantly his native language. Interestingly, this shifts him away from the possibility of maintaining a cultural connection through the use of Spanglish because it is often used within the working class communities he is increasingly apt to avoid. Critic Gerbert
40 states, that Rodriguez’s narrative presents “ great anxiety and precious sadness
Rodriguez’s rejection of the ‘duality of his working class origins’…” and “he emerges from the text as an individual whose essential goal are privacy and isolation… deprived him of any organic connection with his ethnic group, social class, and finally his own family” (Gerbert 87). The disconnection from his roots and class leaves him with a sense of guilt. The guilt for cultural detachment, serves as platform to explore the exterior of linguistic struggle to shift social classes. This is presented when Rodriguez says that he will “ never know what real work” his father does in a factory (Rodriguez 138). A sense of guilt becomes apparent within the subtext, but again his academic achievement sets him apart from that sort of work, which is essentially due to his complete linguistic transformation: “My long education would favor me. I could act as a public person-able to defend my interest, to unionize, to petition, to speak up-to challenge and demand (I will never know what real work is.) I will never know what the Mexicans knew, gathering their shovels and ladders and saws” (Rodriguez 138).
Language of Identity and Cultural Loyalty
Often, Spanglish is categorized as working class or informal language because of its code switching from English to Spanish. The essence of the Spanglish language is an attempt to find a “free space outside the North American black and white racial dichotomy” in the U.S. (Morales 49). Today Spanglish is viewed as the language of
Spanish that absorbs English words, giving both languages some sort of flexibility. This phenomenon helps people to culturally identify themselves. Scholars suggest that the usage of “Spanglish” contributes to an individual’s social identity because it encodes two different languages (Morales 49).
41
Spanglish has become a language that reflects Mexican American’s heritage and since birth Spanglish has established itself as a third language for the whole Latino community. Miriam Jacqueline Gallegos asserts that the phenomenon of Spanglish is considered the apogee of the last decade” due to the increase of immigrant Latinos in the
U.S and there is significant amount of U.S. citizens with Latin heritage (Gallegos 4).
Latinos have been using Spanglish often in their daily communication and, that the media has become of aware of this linguistic phenomenon and is already been included in some literacy materials for children. Spanglish is not only a form of communication but also as an identity among the Latino community. Although, Spanglish is widely use in America, some scholars have contested the term and is use Spanglish because it is “a misleading term that sow confusion about the Spanish language and its speakers (Gallegos 85).” That being said, Spanglish is viewed as an abnormal hybrid language and often perceive as a
“macaroni form of Spanish, invaded with English and lleno de barbarismos (full of barbarism) as belonging to the uneducated and lower classes” (Chappell and Faltis 256).
Linguistically speaking, critics view Spanglish not only as an uneducated language as well as a threat to the purity of the Spanish language. Even though Spanglish has been developing prior to the publications of Hunger of Memory and Madonnas of Echo Park, shows us the effects of Spanglish has at the cultural level.
Through a close reading of Rodriguez’s Hunger of Memory and Brando
Skyhorse’s Madonnas of Echo Park draw to the development of hybrid languages in
America, specifically Spanglish. Both novels serve as a platform to open the discussion of Spanglish and how this language preserves a sense of cultural values. Most importantly Rodriguez and Skyhorse, scope the social advantages and disadvantages
42 belonging to two culturally different languages. While these novels shed light on the exploration of language and the process of assimilation in America it is important to not overlook the struggles and social alienation that immigrants encountered during this transitional period.
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CHAPTER III
ASSIMILIATION AND SILENCE:
DRIFTING APART AND STRUGGLING TOGETHER IN
SPANGLISH AND A BETTER LIFE
In this this chapter I will examine the protagonist’s social disadvantages in
Spanglish (2004) and A Better Life (2011) that is primarily fostered by the struggle to assimilate to an American culture. James L Brook’s Spanglish (2004) and Chris Weit’z A
Better Life (2011) dramatize the journey of the immigrant experience in America, while underlining the themes of social alienation, and cultural dislocation. Brook’s and Weitz’s films provide us with the intricacies of the assimilation process and illustrate the struggles of immigrants’ attempt to preserve their cultural identity, native language and traditions.
Brook’s film Spanglish is a romantic comedy-drama starring Adam Sandler, Paz
Vega, and her daughter Cristina (Aimee Garcia) who emigrated from Mexico to Los
Angeles in search of a better life. Adam Sandler plays John Clasky who is a successful chef in Los Angeles, which grants him the privilege to provide an upper scale life for his wife Deborah Clasky and two kids, Bernie Clasky (Sarah Steele) and Georgie (Ian
Hyland). Even though Adam Sandler is the main character, because of his prominence but for the sake of this examination we will focus on Flor’s (Paz Vega) character. Paz
Vega a Mexican actress plays Flor, a single mother who struggling financially and adjusting to the American culture. Flor finds work as a housekeeper at the Clasky’s
44 residence. Despite Flor’s lack of English she is able to work for them and slowly learns
English with the assistance of her daughter. Further into the film, Deborah decides that
Flor should move into the Clasky residence. Flor’s movement to the Clasky residence causes cultures to clash and tension began to develop. Then, a romantic connection is developed between John and Flor who acts as a catalyst for both of them to reevaluate their lives. This leads but most importantly shows the struggle to find common ground between two different cultures in a household. Unlike other films, Spanglish not only orients the audience into a romantic drama, but also creates cultural clashes but as well transpires the issue of immigrants attempting to find a common ground between an
American identity and immigrant identity. This film not only personifies the struggles of immigrants upon their arrival in America but also shows the separation of relationships, that is primarily due to language barrier and cultural ideologies.
Weitz’s film A Better Life, starring Demian Bichir who plays Carlos Galindo, a
Mexican immigrant who takes us on a journey of a gardener laboring in Los Angeles and struggles to connect with his son Luis (Jose Julian). Carlo’s life changes when he purchases a truck from his boss and becomes a self-employed man and feels like he has reached the American dream. Despite his father’s efforts to better their economic situation, Luis is reluctant to embrace his dad’s values and Mexican culture. Luis’s gang- affiliated girlfriend persuades him to ignore his father’s lifestyle and non-gang life. For
Luis, an American born citizen, his father Carlos is not only his father; he is also the periodically embarrassing ambassador from a foreign land, and unassimilated Mexican immigrant. Carlos, attempt to connect with his son becomes more complicated when
Carlos’s truck is stolen, and unable to turn to the authorities because of his immigration
45 status. As the hope of reaching the American dream becomes impossible, Carlos and Luis embark on a quest to find the truck, which helps them rekindle their father and son relationship. Carlos’s character as an immigrant reveals the social constraints immigrants encounter and the struggle to find a sense of belonging in the United States. Although
Carlos does speak English, this allows the audience to see the predominant issue immigrants face; language barrier. Weitz’s art unravels many attributes that affect immigrants’ identity as they attempt to assimilate, such as duality of language and cultural origins, and often this is overlooked and not illustrated in most of cinematic productions.
Brook’s and Weitz’s films present us with protagonists who are attempting to assimilate but their cultural identity and native languages naturally makes them resist, or rather reject the idea of assimilation. Flor’s reluctance to assimilate in Spanglish underscores the sentiments of allegiance to her Mexican culture. However, Flor’s economic plight and lack of English put her in a cultural dilemma that we see throughout the film. Similarly, in A Better Life, the struggle of maintaining cultural identity living in
America becomes apparent, albeit, to a different effect. Carlos’ difficult relationship with his assimilated son suggests the cultural distance between the assimilated and unassimilated. The films accentuate issues of language, alienation and cultural clash that operate as a platform not only to retell the struggle of immigrants in the United States, but also to provide a different perspective of social and cultural alienation.
Between 2001- 2015, many films addressed the immigrant experience and the issue of Mexican immigrants in the United States. Spanglish by James L Brooks and A
Better Life by Chris Weitz provide a discourse of the contemporary immigrant
46 experience. Brook’s and Weitz’s films are considered to be the only feature films about
Mexican immigrants struggling to assimilate into the United States. The production of these films is significant because it moves away from Hollywood’s traditional cinematic practices where the existence of Mexican immigrants is ignored, or misrepresented, usually by given roles that cast them in an unfavorable light. Within the context of immigrants, specifically Mexican immigrants, Hollywood not only has ignored this sub- group but also misrepresent them by stereotyping through humor. Many ways the film industry approaches the representation of this subgroup is often negative as they are portrayed as ignorant, and unimportant characters. Thereby, initiating a process of diffusing the significance of this subgroup and struggles of assimilations as it relates to holding a heritage and cultural identity. This is illustrated in James L Brook’s Spanglish as the main protagonist struggles to assimilate to the American culture.
Spanglish and A Better Life unveiled a new spectrum on the film arena regarding the portrayal of the immigrant experience on the big silver screen. Brook’s and Weitz’s films step away from the conventional cinematic portrayal of Mexican immigrants by providing a detailed exploration of socio-economic, political, and language barriers that operate at the manifestation level of the narrative than politically rather at a cultural level.
Both films revolve around the struggle of assimilation while underscoring the social alienation the characters in the film communicate and construction of a cultural crisis as they seek to find a sense of “belonging”. We can examine these ideas in these two films because we are able to completely explore the characters as they played major roles.
Unlike other films where immigrants only appeared in brief scenes and leave no room examination of their character and the issues they facing. Thus, Brooks and Weitz’s
47 cinematic art allows us to viewed how these characters must resolve cultural and language barriers, while finding a common ground between a Mexican immigrant identity and Mexican identity living in America within normative social spheres and regional parameters. Brook’s Spanglish and Weitz’s A Better Life differ from most immigrant films because the immigrant characters portrayed (Carlos and Flor) are not marginalized but transcend the traditional roles of immigrants on the media by dramatizing the social and linguistic struggles of immigrants while trying to hold cultural ties as they step into a cultural division in the United States..
Dual Language: Private and Public Identities Resisting colonization
Spanglish is consistently feature in film depicting the struggle of assimilation in
America, and the apparent theme of ‘language barrier’ demonstrates distinctive perceptions of the Spanish language bind Flor’s cultural identity. The film accentuates
Flor’s struggle to protect her cultural identity, with images of Flor using her gestures and broken English to communicate with her employers. However, Flor’s English improves as the Claskys demand more work and some points we see her speaking both English and
Spanish and she begins to feel as she was losing her battle with Clasky’s (Brooks). Flor’s battle to remain uninvolved Claskys indicates her reluctance to assimilate to her boss's cultural standards and most importantly learn their language.
We can say Flor’s compensation turns into a cultural battle of resisting the
Clasky’s from colonizing her identity and language. Flor’s resistance is illustrated in the scene when John decides to drive her to the bus stop down to the canyon. As they drive down John is wildly frustrated and talking by himself and when they stopped for traffic near the end of the canyon, Flor finds the opportunity to bolt. Flor tries to get out of the
48 car and says “Gracias” but she is unsuccessful as John insists on taking her all the way to the bus stop. John says, “how weird was this ride? Sorry, and Flor replies by saying “no es nada (it’s nothing). John doesn’t know what that means, as he indicates a helpless gesture, same as Flor. This scene is important because it shows Flor’s persistence to keep her distance from the Clasky’s world. However, the fatigueness on Flor’s face at the end of this scene shows that her “job was taxing her. She had no template for confusion let alone frustration” (Brooks). Flor’s frustration stems from the idea that she must constantly struggle to keep her distance rather be silent as a form to protect her language which binds her together. We can speculate that Brook’s is attempting to argue that immigrants have no choice, whether or not to embrace an “American identity” as a step that necessitates the relinquishing of a cultural identity. This assertion does not hold any truth because as the movie the approaches the complexities and entangled relationships between Flor and the Claskys, we she attempts find balance between her new emerging self reflecting an immigrant’s dual identity that is constantly re-forming. Similar issues of assimilation are apparent in A Better Life to a different effect that underscores issues between the assimilated and unassimilated identity.
While Brooks depicts the struggle of Flor’s character a recently arrived immigrant, Weitz’s A Better Life exposes the struggle of an established immigrant Carlos battling to keep his cultural identity by choosing this sort of invisibility between his son and community. We also see this cultural fight in Spanglish that is pronounced through the language barrier theme of the film. Weitz approaches this battle of culture by dramatizing invisibility within Carlo’s character. The invisibility is dramatized by the dusk to dawn labors that is drifting Carlos from knowing his son, Luis. The drift between
49
Luis and Carlos allows us to visually see the effects of an unassimilated identity, and profound struggle to emerge into a new identity without losing a heritage. In the opening of the film, we see Carlos waking up at the crack of dawn and carpools with his boss
Blanco. While on the other hand, Luis lounges on run down couch in his living room watching TV and we see glimpses on TV of MTV cribs, which documents the luxurious lives of the rich in Los Angeles. We can say the fact that Luis desires the luxurious
American life style, indicates his full assimilation to an American culture. Weitz’ is immediately, is showing us distance between and difference between a native Mexican father and a Mexican son. Perhaps the most central of these dichotomies is the one between the assimilated and unassimilated identity struggling to conserve part of their culture.
Carlos seems to be invisible to Luis and the people around him because there is inner struggle of becoming too American, rather be assimilated. Yet, Carlos attempt to be invisible is distancing him from his son, which brings to the crossroads to choose between his son and his heritage. When the opportunity appears of purchasing the
Blanco’s gardening truck (his boss), Carlos is ambivalent about this idea, although money is a major issue, but the conversation between Blanco and Carlos transcends this matter. Blanco is a Mexican immigrant who's already established and has been assimilated to the American culture. He is the owner of the truck and a gardening business, but he is selling his capital as he hopes to return to his native land.
Metaphorically, the truck and business represent the American dream, which comes at a cost and to be anchored to a foreign soil. Carlos reflects on his son’s future and the reason he came to the U.S but the distance between his son reads that his identity emerging from
50 a Mexican to an American. The purchase of the truck underscores Carlos attempt to assimilate to an American society, and connect with his son Luis. What gives this dramatization a punch isn’t that Mr. Weitz is not taking away the humanity from an immigrant, rather gives Carlos a role that allows the character opens up the discourse between the reaching an American dream and losing a cultural identity as the cost assimilate. Unlike, Spanglish the language barrier is not obstacle for Carlos to assimilate because he speaks fluent English. However, the swapping of Spanish sentences here and there with Luis, indicates Carlo’s effort to keep his native language.
Carlos’ ability to speak both English and Spanish shows us the effects of living within two cultural spheres. We only see Carlos speak Spanish to his co-workers and his boss. In public, he does not engaged in any English conversations, despite knowing how to speak it. For example, in the first part of the film we see Carlos and Blanco working on a yard and the owner of the yard approaches them looking concerned regarding Carlos, dangerous task of climbing a palm tree. Blanco responds to the owner in English and assures her that Carlos is safe and he is insured if anything does go wrong. Carlos looks at the owner and does not mention a word in English but responds to Blanco’s statement in Spanish. It is interesting to see this behavior because Carlos knows English but he is very adamant about not speaking it. We can say that Carlos in a way is trying to resist assimilation. Also, it is interesting to note that Carlos never speaks English in public. The times he does Speak English there are usually couple of Spanish words in his sentences.
We can view Carlos’ linguistic dilemma that represents the fight to assimilate to a dominant culture while actively keeping a native language.
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The Space Between Us and Them: Emerging Identities
Unlike Weitz’s A Better Life where the protagonist is given the ability to speak
English to show us the inner struggle of assimilation, Brook’s Spanglish exhibits how language affects an identity as we see this through Flor’s character. Flor’s dual identity begins to emerge as she begins to learn English to communicate with the Claskys; however, she desperately displays a desire to at least retain part of her heritage, which makes her feel more attached to her identity and nation of origin than leaving it. In the case of Flor, a first generation immigrant and a recent arrival, she wants to assimilate but does not completely accept the idea of being between two cultures and languages. This is illustrated when Deborah offers to enroll Cristina into an exclusive school in Los
Angeles, which will clearly give Cristina opportunities to help her assimilate to the upper-class world, rather become one of “them” American. If we examine the conversation between Deborah and Flor about enrolling Cristina in a private school and the many opportunities she will have Flor can’t conceptualize this idea because she will become just like Deborah, let alone enter a culture she doesn’t belong to. Flor is reluctant to accept it, and she comes to the realization that education was the primary motif for their moved to the U.S. Again, she can’t she let her daughter enter the social sphere that cast off her culture. Flor’s resilience to avoid a complete assimilation is tested as Deborah insists how valuable this school can be for Cristina. Deborah says to “they want diversity… the scholarship is worth twenty thousand dollars” and Flor responds, “ It is too far from our home. Deborah replies, “You could move in with us in town” Flor hastily replies, “Never, thank you…” (Brooks). Immediately, after this conversation, the camera cuts to Flor’s room where she has her earphones on listening to her English tapes.
52
She is upset as she watches Cristina pray in English. Hearing Cristina pray in English in hopes to attend the exclusive school, not only makes Flor upset, but makes her realize she is ‘never’ going to be able to choose one culture as she is now divided between two. The opportunity of allowing Cristina to attend a private school puts Flor in a difficult situation whether to decide if her culture is more important than an education. She views the public school “not as crowded and worn but as vibrant with community” with a cultural ties to her roots and most important Spanish (Brooks) in contrast to the exclusive school where
Flor “ sees the upper-scale students… five percent Latino. No brochure can do it justice.
Overwhelmed by the implications, Flor’s eyes tear” (Brooks). Flor’s perspective is showing us the pain of assimilation and that there is not going back to her native country and cultural habitat. The pain Flor is experiencing communicates is inevitable because every immigrant undergoes this experience of leaving their cultural ties and language, which leads to the transformation of a new identity in foreign country.
From Spanish to English: Spanglish Identity
Flor’s reluctance to allow Cristina to attend an exclusive school constructs the representation of two cultures, traditionally viewed as separate--Mexican and American, conceptualizing the identity of ‘Spanglish’. By Cristina enrolling in an exclusive school where only English is spoken, she will have to step out of the linguistic sphere everyday and enter Flor’s sphere (Spanish). Both Flor and Cristina will be living in two cultural and linguistic spheres everyday. When Cristina begins to attend the school we see that she is progressively spending less time with Flor. The progressive separation between
Flor and Cristina metaphorically represents the separation from Spanish to English, as results a Spanglish identity emerges. It is safe, to say Flor’s initial rejection to accept the
53 offer, indicate Flor’s attempt to protect Cristina from being divided between two cultures and language. Subsequently, we can say Brook’s utilizes the opportunity of a valuable education for Cristina, which sways Flor’s acceptance, as a form to indicate living between two cultures and languages is rather inevitable for immigrants.
“A Linguistic Analysis of Spanglish: Relating Language to Identity” by Jason
Rothman and Amy Beth Rell weighs in the idea of a “Spanglish” identity. Rothman and
Rell define Spanglish that represents an amalgamation of two languages that are both culturally different, resulting in the separation of Spanish. Essentially, Spanglish is viewed as the “‘dynamic fusion of crashing cultures noticeable merging at the interface of language and subsequently validating the existence of many immigrants and the nether world of language [they grow up] in” (Rothman & Rell 516). This presents that
“language” of Spanglish reaches farther beyond communication, rather correlates with identity. Rothman and Rell support this claim by citing Richard Rodriguez’s 1982 autobiography, Hunger of Memory, in which he cites his own struggle learning English as child second language learner. Rodriguez states:
“For my part, I felt had somehow committed a sin of betrayal by learning
English. But betrayal against whom? I felt that I had betrayed my
immediate family... I came to feel guilty (this guilt defied logic). I felt that
I shattered the intimate bond that had once held the family close”
(Rodriguez 30).
Here, Rodriguez comments that he had lived between two cultures and two languages,
“where Spanish was his private language and English his public language”
(Rodriguez 22). Rothman and Bell sample Rodriguez’s narrative as an indication of the
54
“influx of Mexican immigrants… within the United States has created an unparalleled situation of language contact”. Consequently, the effort to preserve Mexican traditions, identity, and adopt American ones, has resulted in a “Spanglish” identity. As in the case in the film Spanglish, Flor is struggling to conserve her heritage as she tries to resist assimilation and protect Cristina from undergoing her transformation from a Mexican identity to a Spanglish identity. As we see Flor’s struggle to prevent this transformation, it’s merely inevitable because both social and psychoanalytic theories, indicate “ one’s- self identity is its own non-unitary object whereby communication is directed not only to others but also to the individual himself” (Rothman and Rell 527). Brook’s Spanglish sends the message a linguistic assimilation is inevitable for immigrants, as in the case of
Flor she will encounter cultural division, but Cristina’ is predispose to even more division as she will search for an identity that represents her “bicultural existence” as she will seek a linguistic model to express her validation of Mexican identity and Spanish.
Brooks’ explicitly illustrates the development of a Spanglish identity but does not gives us a complete effects it has at cultural level; while Weitz’s film A Better Life does provide a more profound examination of a “Spanglish” identity. The portrayal of a
Spanglish identity becomes apparent within Luis’s character. Luis is embarrassed by his father’s cultural values, despite the fact there is some sort connection between them. The connection that binds them together is the economical struggle they both experienced.
However, both of their cultural identities drifts them apart Luis is fully assimilated to the
American culture and does speak Spanish and often interjects Spanish words in his dialogue when he speaks to his Dad. Carlos usually responds to Luis in Spanish. In the beginning of the film, this is illustrated when Luis and Carlos are eating breakfast and
55 words of Spanish and English are exchange. Luis says, “Hey, so can I have the money or what?” Carlos: “You want money? Come to work?... If you need money in this world,
Luis necesitas trabajar” (Weitz) During this conversation, we see the effects of living in
Spanglish. Weitz is attempting to explain the effects and challenges that carried on beyond assimilation.
Language: Cultural Values
One can say tat Brook’s film constructs a claim regarding that language is the primarily obstacle for Flor to gain complete assimilation. The main factor that is complicating her assimilation is the thought of her losing her Mexican culture. This idea becomes explicit throughout Deborah’s attempt to teach Flor the American customs.
Deborah’s influence on Flor can be treated as a form of peer pressure to adapt new cultural values. Flor’s lack of ability to effectively articulate with Deborah in English indicates Flor’s vulnerability--the English language. As the film continues Flor’s vulnerability allows Deborah maneuvering Flor into moving rented beach house with her family, the Claskys. We can say Debora’s takes advantage of Flor’s economic plight, most importantly her vulnerability. The lack of the English language Flor is not able to challenge her employers’ demands, rather leaving her without any alternative but to be submissive. The submissive behavior Flor exhibits is the progressive deconstruction of her cultural connection. Essentially, Flor’s realizes, that by omitting the English might aid her to preserve her cultural ties and keep space between the American culture and
Mexican culture.
The complex relationship between Flor and Deborah personifies the pressures immigrants encounter beyond language, and societal standards in the U.S. Flor’s
56 vulnerability should not be treated as a negative feature rather as a positive one. She is only vulnerable in the Clasky world, which suggests that she has strong ties with her own culture. In the beginning of the film, we get a glimpse of Flor’s braveness as she boldly crosses the border from Mexico to the U.S with Cristina. Undoubtedly, Flor can be a strong woman, but the cultural dislocation and the language barrier has made her vulnerable, yet silent in a new a world. Spanglish essentially scopes the “mindset” of an immigrant persona through Flor’s character. Flor’s mindset to avoid assimilation reads to the potential cost of detachment from a native language, as it is metaphorically represented between the brief rocky relationship between Flor and Cristina in the latter of the film.
Spanish: Language of Life and Devotion
Throughout Spanglish, Flor is someone who worries about what really matters and what’s important to her in life: Spanish, Cristina and her Mexican culture, such combinations imbed the difficulties on becoming an American, as she attempts to protect
Cristina from becoming too “different” from her both linguistically and culturally.
Evidently, Flor’s resilience to assimilate is certainly allowing her to keep a distance from the Clasky world; however, such exclusion sets her native language and culture at stake, which binds her and Cristina’s devoted relationship. By excluding herself from the
Clasky world propels her to ignore the value of linguistic assimilation, not only it will grant social advantages but most importantly keep her daughter her Cristina. This is visualized in the scene when Deborah and Flor start to form a relationship. The scene, on early morning when Deborah persuades Cristina to go to the flea market but she is adamant to go and is finally convinced as Deborah says, “ It’s the Rose Bowl… miles,
57 actual miles, of great things for sale Gods’ sake… we can have a brunch in Pasadena”
(Brooks). The images of seeing great things fill Cristina’s mind and the Deborah’s idea of leaving a note for Flor--gives a her sense of comfort to accompanied Deborah without her mother’s permission. Cristina’s ability to be articulate in English allows to build this relationship with Deborah and her Kids, essentially the whole Clasky family. However,
Flor’s resilience to assimilate limit her English skills, which immobilized her as Cristina begins to drift away in pursue of “great things” for her future (Brook). This is supported when Flor wakes up and realizes Cristina is not on her bed but a note that reads: “Dear
Flor, I decided to steal your daughter for a bit. Love Deborah” (Brooks). Flor cannot read in English and she immediately begins to go through Cristina’s things with her great energy and anxiety. She finds a Spanish/English dictionary and opens it up and as her finger points to “ Steal.. Robar” and she frantically flips another and reads “daughter….
Hija (Brooks).” Flor’s agitation and anxiety shows the difficulties of language barriers, often miscommunicate such as Deborah’s action. This scene is crucial because we see
Flor alienated, most importantly comes to the realization that the language barrier will strip the relationship between Cristina. Essentially, this shows us out the Flor’s resilience to linguistically assimilate might backfire, which is creating a gap between Cristina and herself. Brooks is illustrates Flor’s linguistic predicament that represents the inner mode struggle of immigrants attempting conserve their cultural identity often views as their private life.
Similarly in Weitz’s film, A Better Life, is a representation of the immigrant struggle in the United States. The main struggle immigrants encounter is language barrier, and often times this struggles can be overcome as they assimilate. A Better Life,
58 give us exposure to a struggle that is often overlooked, that is the struggle of cultural separation between a native culture and new culture (American). Weitz’ is able to show us this side of the immigrant struggle by positioning two main characters who are in a sense completely culturally different, rather embrace two different cultures. Carlos the father is a Mexican immigrant and the son Luis a fully Americanized son whom is reluctant to accept his heritage.
Avoiding assimilation to a dominant culture is inevitable because financial pressures often required it as we see Carlos’ economic plight throughout the film. Weitz film revolves around Carlos’ goal to become a financially stable but beneath this theme we see how language affects an immigrant’s identity. Although, Carlos does speak
English, he remains silent in the public and only speaks English when necessary.
Similarly, to Flor’s character has been silent due to her lack of English. Both characters, attempt to be vocal only to escape their economic plight. Flor realizes that seeking a scope for upward mobility, she must acquire the English language. In Weitz’s film Carlos is desperately seeking assimilation by aggressively pursuing the American dream. We can assert that Carlo’s motivation to assimilate is to rekindle his relationship with his son, while on the other hand, Flor rejects assimilation, which she views as the only form to keep the bond she has with her daughter. Weitz and Brooks dramatize two different perspectives on how immigrants deal with assimilation. What the films are showing us is whether what is more important embracing assimilation or avoiding it at the cultural level.
Now that we have two perspectives of immigrants assimilating the question looms: Can one assimilate without abandoning a culture? Brook’s Spanglish asserts that
59 it is possible to gain assimilation without abandoning a culture. When the film ends we realize that this story is Cristina’s essay to get into Princeton University. Although the film does not explicitly tell us whether Cristina got accepted, we can argue that she did not step out of her culture and managed to assimilate to an American culture. Weitz’s film A Better Life illustrates the life of a assimilated immigrant living Los Angeles and struggling to find sense of belonging. The portrayal of Carlo’s timid character show us the effects of his assimilation has stripped from an his own cultural identity. Brooks and
Weitz’s film carries the audience through journey of cultural dislocation and assimilation that subsequently leads to a hybrid identity in the United States.
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