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THE IDENTITY FORMATION OF CHICANOS IN RUDOLFO
ANAYA’S NOVEL BLESS ME ULTIMA
THESIS
Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Sarjana Sastra Degree from English Department Faculty of
Letters and Fine Arts Sebelas Maret University
By:
SHOFI MAHMUDAH BUDI UTAMI
C0307006
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF LETTERS AND FINE ARTS
SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY
2012
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PRONOUNCEMENT
Name : Shofi Mahmudah Budi Utami
Student Number : C 0307006
I declare that this thesis entitled “THE IDENTITY FORMATION OF CHICANOS
IN RUDOLFO ANAYA’S NOVEL BLESS ME, ULTIMA” is truly my own work
using primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. Nevertheless, if it is
proven erroneous, I would take any consequences given from the Faculty of Letters
and Fine Arts, Sebelas Maret University.
Surakarta, July 25, 2012
The researcher,
Shofi Mahmudah Budi Utami
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MOTTO
“Life is never beyond hope”
(Bless Me, Ultima)
“The smallest bit of good can stand against all the powers of evil in the world and it will emerge the triumphant”
(Ultima in Bless Me, Ultima)
“Life is a rebirth in one form or another. Just remember that people in life, locally, come from land. Everything goes back to land”
(Chief of Native American in the book A Tortilla is like Food and Culture in San Antonito by Carole Counihan)
“If you’re not changing, you’re not growing”
(Prof. Miguel Gutierrez, CSUDH)
“Growing up makes people lose the beauty of simplicity”
(me)
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DEDICATION
I dedicate this thesis to:
My beloved mother and father
My sisters (Fitri, Inu, Yusi)
My only brother Mufid
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First thing first, I am thankful to Allah S.W.T for giving me chances to finish up this
thesis. Surely I am nothing without Allah S.W.T.
In the completion of my thesis, some individuals have played an amazing role.
I thank the Dean of Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts, Dr.Riyadi Santosa, M.Ed, Ph.D
and all the lecturers in English Department (UNS) for the knowledge and chances to
complete this thesis.
I also thank the Head of English Department, Drs. Agus Hari Wibowo, M.A, Ph.D.,
for approving this thesis.
I would like to wholeheartedly thank my thesis advisor, Dra.Susilorini, M.A, for
assisting and teaching me to pursue the methods in conducting this research by
sharing knowledge and skills until the completion of this research.
I am so grateful to the board of examiners Dra. Endang Sri Astuti, M.S., Karunia
Purna K, S.S., M.Si., Dra. Susilorini, M.A., and Fitria Akhmerti P, S.S., M.A. for
giving time and contribution to my thesis.
I would like to send my endless gratitude for my family (father, mother, sisters, and
brother) for always having led me to a better life, having always supported my
academic endeavors, and having always been there in times in needs.
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Many special thanks for my special professor in CSU Dominguez Hills, Miguel
Guttierez as Chicano lecturer, who has taught me about Hispanic Culture and made
me interested in it, inspired me to take Chicano issues as my topic for my thesis and
also other CSUDH professors (Dr.Z, Dr.Wenzell, Dr.Hauss, Dr.Burckhard Mohr, and
Prof. Michael Desroschiers) I was taking classes with. I am grateful for having met,
worked and been friends with my program officers in World Learning (Jessica Mead
and Lynne Nolte), AMINEF which gave chance to learning experience, all ALCP
teachers, dorm mates, and friends in CSU Dominguez Hills, UGRADers 2009-2010
from Indonesia, South Asia, Central and South America, and from Eastern Europe for
sharing times together and learning experience during my stay in the States. I also
want to send my gratitude for Syntia Hadingtyas, my Indonesian friend in CSUDH,
for having been good friend during my stay in the States.
My thanks then go to all of my friends for being good companies, giving me
supports, and for sharing great times together. For all ED friends especially Candra,
Canti, Irma, July, Mimi, Mita “gondrong”, Pandu, Pondrafi, Puput, Rara, Rifka, Seto,
Sinta, Stevie, and Tyas. I thank you all so much American Studies students 07 and
08, all ED’07 and ED’08 for having been friends with me.
I also thank my dorm mates Hana, Ike, Rara, Retna, Wulan, and also mba Septi
Pandan Sari for having been friends with me.
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Many thanks to all individuals who have helped me immensely in preparing,
conducting, and completing this thesis, I am so grateful for all assistances you all
gave me.
Last but not least, I also want to dedicate my big thanks to all my favorite singers,
bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Foster The People, The Kooks, The Strokes, John
Mayer, Ingrid Michaelson, Sum 41, Simple Plan, Limpbizkit, ADTR, Sky Sailing,
Parachute, Yellowcard, and many more for all of their awesome songs, great words
that have accompanied and supported me especially during my time in conducting
this research, I really mean it.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE………………………………………………………………………...... i
APPROVAL OF THE ADVISOR……………………………………………….. ii
APPROVAL OF THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS…………………………….. iii
PRONOUNCEMENT…………………………………………………………….. iv
MOTTO…………………………………………………………………………… v
DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………. vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………………………………………………….. vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………… x
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………….. xii
CHAPTER I ...... ……. 1
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………... 1
A. RESEARCH BACKGROUND……………………………………………….. 1
B. SCOPE OF STUDY…………………………………………………………… 5
C. RESEARCH QUESTION…………………………………………………….. 6
D. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY………………………………………………. 6
E. BENEFITS OF THE STUDY………………………………………………… 6
F. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY…………………………………………….. 7
1. Type of Research………………………………………………………. 7
2. Data and Source of Data………………………………………………. 7
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G. THEORETICAL APPROACH………………………………………………. 8
H. THESIS ORGANIZATION………………………………………………….. 12
CHAPTER II……………………………………………………………………… 14
LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………….. 14
A. The Life Background of Rudolfo Anaya and Bless Me, Ultima…………… 14 B. Chicano in the United States…………………………………………………. 20 1. Chicano Political Movement……………………………….………….. 20 2. Chicano Literature in the Period of Chicano Movement……………… 24 C. Semiotics of The Literary Text……………………………………………… 27 D. The Identity Politics………………………………………………………….. 29
CHAPTER III…………………………………………………………………….. 34
ANALYSIS………………………………………………………………………... 34
A. Antonio and His Surrounding Conflicting Cultures…………………. 34 1. Vaquero vs Llano culture…………………………………………….. 37 2. Catholicism vs Indigenous myth……………………………………. 47 3. Chicano Culture vs Anglo culture…………………………………… 56 B. Ultima and Antonio’s Affirmation of Chicano Identities…………….. 63 1. The Significance of Land……………………………………………… 64
2. Ultima and The Healing Power……………………………………….. 70 3. Ultima and The Maturation of Antonio’s Spirituality………………. 77
CHAPTER IV…………………………………………………………………….. 86
A. CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………….. 86 B. RECOMMENDATION………………………………………………………. 89
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………… 90
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ABSTRACT
Shofi Mahmudah Budi Utami. C0307006. The Identity Formation of Chicanos in Rudolfo Anya’s Novel Bless Me Ultima. Thesis. English Department of Faculty of
Letters and Fine Arts Sebelas Maret University.
This thesis is about the identities formation of Chicanos which are seen through the novel entitled Bless Me Ultima written by Rudolfo Anaya in the 1960’s. It is explained in the thesis how Anaya constructed the Chicano Identities in the 1960’s through the main data which were taken from the novel mainly the characters, characterization, plot, point of view, setting, theme, and dialogues with the supporting data taken from various sources such as books, journals, articles, on line sources which were all significantly related to the issue and useful to answer the research question. Since this research was interdisciplinary study, it employed some approaches and theory which were aimed to answer the research question. Some approach and theories were socio-cultural, semiotics, and identity politics. The biography of Rudolfo Anaya was also included because it was significant to the answering research question as the novel, Bless Me Ultima, is a semi-autobiographical work. Through the analysis, it is found that Anaya formed the Chicano identities through the novel Bless Me Ultima. The concept of Chicano identities in the 1960’s constructed in the novel is by tracing back the traditional values of Chicanos and affirming that these traditional values as the ideal characteristic of Chicanos. In order
to identify the Chicano identities, Anaya presented cultural conflicts faced by the
main character such as Vaquero vs. Llano culture, Catholicism vs. Indigenous myth, and the Chicano culture vs. Anglo culture. In the way to affirm the ideal characteristic
of Chicanos, Anaya then traced back the traditional values through the meaning
marking of “the land”, the performance of Ultima as curandera and her healing power, and also the maturation of Antonio’s spirituality which represents the Chicano
spirituality. The 1960’s, when Anaya wrote and finished this novel, was the time of the rise of Chicano community to be recognized in the American society. Anaya
researched the Chicano identities and used these constructed identities through the literary works to awaken the Chicanos that they have identities, they need to be
recognized, to be acknowledged, to have the same rights in the American society.
Keywords: Chicano, curandera, Rudolfo Anaya, 1960’s Chicano literature
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Research Background
Chicanos have been the major minority group in the United States for years. It
is shown from the result of 2010 census that Mexican Americans are still the largest
number minority population living in 40 states (U.S Census Bureau 2010). Some
states associated with Mexican American population are those bordering with Mexico
like Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. Until the mid of nineteenth
century, those southwest states were shaped historically by Spanish and subsequently
Mexican control. One of the instances was migration from Mexico that continued to
affect the contours of social, economic, and political life in the region (Keefe and
Padilla, 1987).
All of those transformations in the states reveal the awareness of the existence
of Chicanos in the states, especially after the Mexican American War marked with
the approval of Treaty Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). Since this time, a big number of
Mexicans became American citizens during the conquest of their homelands (present
day Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and California); and then the term
“Chicano” began to emerge. The term Chicano was derived from the sixteenth-
century pronunciation of Mexicano (“Mechicano”) which then became “Chicano”.
Initially, some researchers made a slight distinction between Mexicano and Chicano.
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The term “Mexicanos” traditionally defines those who were foreign born and
“Chicanos” only for those who were born in the U.S (Pizzaro, 2005). Technically,
Chicanos refer to people of Mexican descent living and socialized in the United
States. According to Pizzaro (2005) the term Chicano includes this group of people as
“Mexican”, “American”, “Hispanic”, and “Latin” which became their part of Chicano
experience (p. 3).
Chicano groups in the U.S have been through lengthy historical and political
experiences of which accounts to construct the making of their identities. However,
Chicano identity is almost always associated with stark reality that comes to them.
For examples, earning low educational and life outcomes (Pizzaro, 2005); being
illegal immigrants or criminals (Anzaldua, 1987); or having been deported to Mexico
as the National Origin Act of 1924 was passed (Lopez, 2006). Then, it has become a
popular understanding and stereotype that the identity of Chicano is defined with low
life expectations. As a matter of fact, Chicano identity is far more complex than this.
It can be observed through so many different aspects in their lives. For example, the
aspects of acculturation, assimilation, and cultural bond with their roots which
describe that identity is multifaceted matter; that is why Chicano identity should be
seen from various view points.
Over time, the importance of identity in Chicano experience was increasing
especially during the rise of Chicano movement (el movimiento) in around the
1960’s. As it was part of the climate of national political protests in the U.S, the
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occurred at that time. “Chicanos attempted to forge a unique collective identity and a
socio-political programme based around that identity” (Jacobs, 2006, p.1). In the
1960’s, the term “Chicano” became more popular, defined as the social-political
group or a member of this social-political group.
Up to the 1960s, identities were, in a sense, clearly defined and unproblematic. One knew who was who, so to speak, and how he or she was defined as a member of a group. One also knew what to do and how to do it (Development or Revolution, depending on one's perspective). But this is no longer true. (Escobar cited in Hale, 1995, p.569)
The term Chicano was then widely used during the movements in order to unite the
U.S born of Mexican descendant in the era. A certain tendency within the movement
was to seek a construction of identity.
The movement was initially raised through Chicano groups who protested to
get fair treatment in the 2nd World War era. Consequently, the first generation of
working class Chicanos were finally able to enter a higher education in 1947
(Montejano cited in Jacobs, 2006). Then in 1950’s and 1960’s, they formed new
political activities such as Mexican American Political Association (MAPA), United
Farm Workers (UFW) in California, Mexican-American Youth Organization
(MAYO) in Arizona, the Alianza Federal de Mercedes (Alliance of Free City States)
in New Mexico, etc. Later on, the political issues began to be more specific related
with sense of self and identity of which issue was raised in the late 1960’s and early
1970’s. By the late 1970’s, the importance of self identity to the Chicano community
had been researched and became focal point to study (Pizzaro, 2005). For instance,
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The National Chicano Survey which concerned with the issue of Chicano ethnic
identity although in earlier research more concerned with issues of assimilation and
acculturation.
Moreover, 1960’s and early 1970’s were not only the decades of Mexican
American civil-rights protests and a period in Mexican American history that saw a
resurgence in cultural and political activity (Jacobs, 2006) but also the rise of Chicano
writings and literary texts with “identities” as the central focus of the writings.
Particularly, it is an attempt to celebrate indigenous roots and ethnic nationalism.
Like what Anderson suggests that nationalism is not the awakening of nations to self-
consciousness but instead it invents nations where they do not exist. Therefore,
Chicano identity seemed to have existed long time ago, but in fact it was still in
search through the literary production in this era.
As one of the pioneers of Chicano writers, Rudolfo Anaya was also in a
search for self identity. He used literature as the vehicle to express his own ethnic
nationalism and cultural pride. Bless Me, Ultima, his first published novel had been
awarded the 1971 Premio Quinto Sol Literary Prize for the best Chicano novel of the
year (Anaya, 1999). It is a novel telling about a Chicano boy who was raised in New
Mexico in a search for his personal identity which is based on the context of social
change experienced by many Chicanos during the post war era. The central figure,
Antonio, gets through his early life with the help of Ultima (as a curandera or folk
healer). The coming of Ultima into Antonio’s life helps him to understand himself,
his heritage, conflicts, contradictions, expectations, and his surroundings. Ultima commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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seems to be Antonio’s teacher (mental and spiritual guide) before he attends school.
However, those series of life experiences and the teaching from Ultima contribute to
Antonio’s identity formation; he subsequently tries to figure out what it means being
a Chicano.
Bless Me, Ultima was published in 1960’s even though it was set in 1940’s,
because the issue about identity construction among the Chicanos in 1960’s was
significant. Furthermore, the 1960’s was the time of the outbreak of Chicano
Movement. It was through this identity politics that they finally gained political
power advancement of their community. This can be seen in the improving condition
of the Chicanos in the 1980’s and 1990’s. In recent years, Chicano identity seems to
only have symbolic meaning; but the historical accounts and experiences of Chicano
community have verified that Chicano identities have been important issue to be
negotiated. Thus, it is interesting to analyze Bless Me, Ultima because it reflects the
complexity of Chicano identities formation which could be formed and planted since
adolescence. Furthermore, the identity formation of Chicano is challenging to be
studied since it is closely related with border study and there are still a few study
about Chicano, Chicano literature, and the border.
B. SCOPE OF STUDY
Ethnic identity has become critical filter through which Chicanos are defined
distinctive from other ethnic groups. This research is aimed to examine identities
formation and the focal point of this research is analyzing some phenomena in the commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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American society specifically about the identities formation of Chicanos as seen in
Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me, Ultima. In order to get a deeper understanding about
identities formation, the analysis is focused on several aspects such as the identities of
Chicanos in the 1960’s, identities seen from Chicano’s point of view since the novel
written by male author, and many-sided aspects of Chicanos’ lives to which Chicano
identities might be related.
C. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This research is aimed to answer question:
How is the construction of Chicano identity in 1960’s reflected in Rudolfo
Anaya’s novel, Bless Me Ultima?
D. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
This research is aimed to describe the construction of Chicano identity in
1960’s in Rudolfo Anaya’s novel, Bless Me, Ultima.
E. BENEFITS OF THE STUDY
The significance of this research is to help us understand the current
happening dealing with American Ethnic especially related with ethnic identities. By
understanding ethnic identities, it may help us to understand how it is formed upon
generations. It is also meant to contribute in broadening the knowledge and topic of
American Ethnic class in English Department. This research is also intended to give
additional information to the other researchers especially for American Studies commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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Program in Sebelas Maret University and also for those who are interested in issues
about Hispanic especially Chicano.
F. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
1. Type of Research
This research is a descriptive qualitative research since it is conducted in
order to collect and describe information especially about identities formation of
Chicanos. That is why understanding and exploring what is within the data will help
to find the answers for the problem. “Qualitative research is all about exploring
issues, understanding phenomena, and answering question.”
(www.qsinternational.com/what-is-qualitative-research.aspx).
Additionally, qualitative research is defined as a form of systematic inquiry
into meaning which involves interpretive approach. In other words, it does not focus
on the quantity of the data but on how to answer research question by providing
interpretation through formal and argumentative thinking towards the findings in the
literary phenomenon. In relation to that, the researcher needs to collect data which are
analyzed with the appropriate approach and theory related to the object study about
Chicano identities.
2. Data and Source of Data
The source of data in this research is the novel titled Bless Me, Ultima by
Rudolfo Anaya written in 1960’s. The data are devided into two:
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a. Primary data: the main data are gathered from the novel Bless Me
Ultima including characters, characterization, plot, point of view,
setting, , theme, and dialogues.
b. Secondary data: the supporting data are collected from other sources
like books, internet articles, journals which are related to the study of
Chicano identities, and the novel Bless Me, Ultima.
3. Technique of Collecting and Analyzing The Data
First, the data are collected by reading the novel as the source of data. The
main data are then collected and selected based on the problem statements of the
research. Next, the selected data are analyzed and discussed by applying correlated
approaches and theories to build the idea to answer the research questions. The
supporting data are used when it is needed to have a deeper understanding and to
interpret the main data before stepping on the further analysis. Afterwards, conclusion
is drawn based on the anwers of the research question.
G. THEORETICAL APPROACH
The heterogeneity of ethnic groups existing in United States is undeniable.
Besides, the cultures existing in America remain because of the complexity in the
society. America as a great nation consists of people coming from various and
different background of ethnicities, religions, social life, etc. (Spiller, 1973). Due to
all of those complexities, American studies involves several branches of study, for
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studies, and so on. It, at the same time, combines various approaches and other
academic disciplines (such as humanities, literature, anthropology, sociology, etc.) to
analyze the problem. Therefore, American Studies is also called as
“interdisciplinary”. This concept of “interdisciplinary” is used to view the problem
more properly by understanding the phenomenon in American experience.
More specifically, this research is about American ethnics which is centered
in observing the Chicanos through the novel entitled Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo
Anaya. Therefore, this research is conducted under American studies as the umbrella
and center of the study. As an interdisciplinary, it uses some approaches and theories
to view and analyze the problem. The problem is found in the novel; and novel as the
text is seen as cultural product which responds to what is happening in the society.
Therefore, literature is seen as the society reflection and representation; and novel can
be the sample of how the literature is produced in order to respond some phenomena
in the society. It might be also as the reflection of what is experienced by the author.
Moreover, this novel is semi-autobiographical novel of which author’s
experience contributes to the storyline. For Anaya, writing is the expression of
freedom that gives him space to reveal his experiences combined with his ideas and
activity which become the subject matter for his novel (Martinez, 1995). Rudolfo
Anaya in his writings is adhered with the notion of cultural values of his community
as well. Besides, he was also trying to make sense of “the self” within his search of
identity; and all of his writing process is a process of documenting his personal
experience and traditional values with “self-identity” as the theme. Since his writings commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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are semi-autobiographical, it is necessary to observe this novel from his life
background. Therefore, in order to understand the work of Rudolfo Anaya, it is also
important to look at the biography of Rudolfo Anaya which is included in the
Literature Review.
As the product of culture, literature has strong relationship with society and it
always concerns with the society. It means that the novel concerns with issues about
Chicanos as it shows the social and cultural condition of Chicanos. For instance the
development within Chicano literary production was set to create a community
having non-assimilation tendency. From this, it has been also believed that Chicano
groups lack of capability to assimilate with Anglo society. Because the problem is
about Chicano group whose image is constructed by the myth as well, signs and myth
are both important to analyze in this research; the cultural and social contexts in
American society are inseparable with myth. In the article of Introduction: The New
American Studies From Myth to Rhetoric, it is stated that America was built by myth
(Moulton, 1994). Within the American myth, Chicano community has its own myth
as well; and it challenges the American ideology. Literary works are accounts which
contain myth as well. That is why it is important to observe the myth about Chicano
within American society reflected through literature. Therefore, to thoroughly
observe the formation of Chicano identities, socio-cultural approach is then employed
in this research in order to understand the society and the culture within the American
society. By understanding the social and cultural background of the society, it can
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Besides socio-cultural approach which gives helpful information about the
connection between the text and the events in the real life, semiotics is also beneficial
to give an understanding about the meaning relation within the elements of literary
text. In accordance to that, literature as a cultural product presents cultural and social
phenomena which are rich with signs and meanings. Saussure explained that signs
have denotative meanings (real meaning) but then Barthes found out that signs have
connotative meaning. Signs here could be either defined as its real meaning
(denotatively) or defined as its correlations with the other aspects, such as cultural
and social aspects (connotatively). Those concepts help the researcher to analyze the
meanings within the text. The meanings are obtained from both signs and myth which
are in the novel. Because of the problem is related to the Chicanos whose image is
constructed by the myth as well, signs and myth are both important to analyze in this
research.
To make a deep analysis about identities, the identity politics theory is
valuable to help the researcher make sense of the identities. It is needed to apply this
theory since identities carry deep meanings which are defined and constructed
politically, especially identities negotiated in the 1960’s when the explosion of social
movements was impossible to miss. Charles Hale (1995) quoted from Campa about
the significance of applying identity politics theory:
Even more to the point are efforts to read complex social and political processes through a few purportedly emblematic literary texts, which yield
predictable portrayals of Latin American societies saturated with hybridity, multiplicity, and other so-called keywords of the shift to identity politics (p.569) commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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More specifically, the identities discussed in here are that of Chicano which are,
politically, problematical in the United States for years. That is why identity politics
theory digs up the other side of the unfinished problem in the claim and construction
of Chicano identities in relation between Chicano and United States.
H. THESIS ORGANIZATION
The thesis consists of four chapters and each chapter is divided into several
subchapters. There are Chapter I Introduction, Chapter II Literature Review, Chapter
III Analysis, and Chapter IV Conclusion and Recommendation.
The first chapter, Introduction, consists of eight subchapters. There are
Research Background, Scope of the Study, Research Question, Objective of the
Study, Benefits of the Study, Research Methodology, Theoretical Approach, and
Thesis Organization.
The second chapter, Literature Review, discusses about The Life Background
of Rudolfo Anaya and Bless, Me Ultima, Chicano in the United States, Semiotics of
the Literature Text, and The Politics of Identity.
The third chapter, Analysis, consists of two main subchapters. The first
subchapter is Antonio and his surrounding conflicting cultures. The second
subchapter is Ultima and Antonio’s affirmation of Chicano identities. This chapter
provides the answers for the research question.
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The last chapter, Conclusion and Recommendation, presents a brief
explanation of the research and its conclusion and the recommendation for the next
research.
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CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
A. The Life Background of Rudolfo Anaya and Bless Me, Ultima
Rudolfo Anaya was born in 30 October, 1937 in a small village called
Pastura, New Mexico. In his early years, he and his family moved to Santa Rosa
where the simplicity of life existed. Santa Rosa is where his mother from; and the
people living there were typically poor, hard working, devout Catholics, living
with tradition, and having lives tied with the land so much (Olmos, 1999). He
grew up there in a rural place which was surrounded by mostly Hispanic
community. He felt his strong connection with the land since the land was the
important element within the lives of the people in there. Almost all people were
farmers who were always attached with the greatest of nature. Therefore, he grew
up with having strong bond with the land and nature; with the thought that there
was a spiritual relationship between human and the nature.
In contrast to his mother, his father was a vaquero, or a cowboy whose
family were ranchers. The family of his father lived in the area of cattle grazing in
the east part of Santa Rosa, Albuquerque. When he was in the 8th grade, he finally
moved to Albuquerque where he reminisced about the historical point about
worldview toward Americas: the land, the people, and the indigenism. That he
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was surrounded by the original settlers of land grants made him have a closer
attachment with his roots.
Anaya‟s character grows a combination between his mother‟s attitude that
held tight onto spirituality and his father‟s skepticism about everything especially
religion. This even made him in between his mother and his father; his mom
wanted him to become a priest while his father hoped him to be a rancher. Either
way, he would never know what he really wanted in life; and he did not know
whether he would fulfill one of those dreams or none of them. Otherwise, it had
shaped his strong mental character to become an individual having inquisitive
mind. It was proved by having curiosity about spiritual connection between men
and the nature, the mythological life of the indigenous, and also the link with
cultural heritage from his roots which later influenced all of his writings.
His writings typically have the same theme and are semi-autobiographical;
that is about his life experience and strong bond with the roots. His experience,
such as childhood recollection, is reflected throughout the fictional characters in
the novel. Then, the coming of strong character led him to grasp something he
would not understand before. The other recollections of his childhood which
influence the story in the novel are the warmth of home and his mom‟s tales. All
of these memories leave him with power to be able to write. This tradition in
telling tales was passed down for generations and it became the characteristic of
Chicanos‟ oral tradition which was believed as the ancestral voice. This strong
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connection to the ancestors and the oral tradition are the examples of cultural
legacy that cannot be left behind by the Chicanos.
The cultural legacy became the symbol of Chicano society which
differentiates it from that of the Anglo society. Rudolfo Anaya saw this symbol
style of his own culture and took this as his pattern in his writings. He tried to
voice his worldview as a Chicano within Chicano literature and to purposely
differentiate Chicano literary works from those of the Anglos. Besides, he also
intended to construct the identity of being Latin, Hispanic, and specifically
Chicano. As he experienced to live in the 1960‟s when the Chicano movement
emerged, he had contributed himself in creating a space especially in literature, to
have a respect for cultural recognition from other minority group and from the
majority as well. Through literature and all that he did in literature, Rudolfo
Anaya had become the pioneer of the founders of Contemporary Chicano literary
movement (Olmos, 1999).
His career in writing began in the early 1960‟s when he was still in
college. He attended New Mexico University majoring in English after he was
dropped out of business school. He realized that most of his pals barely went into
University and only limited number of Chicanos became author; but this had
inspired him to become a writer. During his schooling time, he also felt a great
competition within Anglo society when he attended University which was the
same experience with his high school time. He soon understood that the school
system neglected his cultural reality as Mexican Americans. They rather tolerated commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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than respected that their cultural heritage did exist. All of these realities made him
write stories emphasizing on cultural realities and truth; and these significant
cultural matters made him survive as Chicano writer.
Bless Me, Ultima (BMU) was his first novel that was finished in seven
years to complete. It was the first book of trilogy (2nd book The Heart of Aztlan;
3rd book Tortuga) stories which gained literary appreciation from several Chicano
organizations that bloomed in the Chicano movement era. Anaya had such
underlying pattern in writing; exposing the symbolism of his own culture tied
with the ancestral tradition and the experience he got through his childhood life.
Like what is inserted in BMU, Anaya took Antonio Marez as the central figure
reflected his childhood life, and La Grande, Ultima, as a part of reflection of his
roots and culture. Antonio Marez as the last child of rancher and farmer family
was expected to fulfill his parents‟ dreams. However, the coming of Ultima led
him to become a more inquisitive boy to seek whether the nature and human had
spiritual connection.
Briefly, Anaya had established the themes and genre of his novels through
these first trilogy novels. It was obviously seen that the themes were harmony
with natural world and the significance of mythical tradition, spirituality, a means
of healing, and also growth for individual and the community. The genres were
like the maturation and development of young male protagonists as main
characters, with the focus on mythological subjects. In BMU, as in other works of
this genre, the reader observed the process of maturation of the main character commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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with the help of Ultima to guide his growing awareness; Ultima‟s teaching was
crucial in bringing him into contact with mystical world and cultural world__his
__ own Hispanic/Indian culture that he must learn to appreciate if he ever truly
understood himself and his place within the society. Through the story, Antonio,
as the coming-of-age boy, was told as experience learner within two years (from
age six to eight). Cultural values on moral maturation expressed the search of
identity and adjustment problems to the dominant cultural society.
Through BMU, Anaya explored and expressed cultural values within the
myths and symbolisms combined with cultural conflicts happened in the
southwest society in 1940‟s. The cultural conflicts and contradictions reflected in
the novel include the core problems faced by Antonio. For example, the cultural
life and experience of Antonio in between farmers and ranchers, Spanish and
English speaking worlds, Spanish and Indigenous roots, Catholicism and mythical
realm, curandera and bruja, devoutness and skepticism in religion etc. All of
these cultural realities were brought up to respond the society‟s contemporary
needs in its time, 1960‟s - 1970‟s. Besides, these cultural conflicts faced by
Antonio referred to his experience which helped him indentify closely about
Chicano (with that part of himself).
Myths, legends, symbolisms that included in Anaya‟s novel were all
important elements not only for his novel but also Chicano movement in the era.
Many of the activists, with this contemporary ways, modified those elements to
construct and unite their communities‟ political needs in the movements. Along commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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with this movement era, when Chicano identity issue was raised in almost
anything including the literature, writing became more and more important.
Therefore, after completing BMU and got master degree, Anaya resumed
teaching creative writing class in University of New Mexico. He was previously
teaching at public school in Albuquerque (1963-1970). Since the Chicano
movement gave great influence in the social-political condition as well as in the
life aspects among Chicanos, he then taught Chicano literature. The significance
of Chicano literature developed gradually through this time and kept growing
rapidly. Throughout his teaching experience, he had given lectures at many
colleges and won several literary awards for his works. Over the years, he has
demonstrated a strong commitment to helping new Chicano writers through the
difficult process of getting their voices heard. He also promoted other Chicano
writers through his anthology collections in order to have them recognized into
larger society. Besides becoming a writer and a lecturer, he was also editor of
literary journal in The Blue Mesa Review.
After the success of his trilogy novels, Anaya continued to produce other
novels in 90‟s era which had a dramatic change in his genre, style, and subject
matter. The novels such as Albuquerque (1992), Zia Summer (1995), Rio Grande
Fall (1996), Jalamanta: A Message from the Desert (1996), Shaman Winter
(1999). His writing in 1990‟s do not really represent his former literary or
philosophical concerns but instead they are less mystical, focus more on urban
society life, with the genre of detective fiction. Even so, throughout his career of commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
20
writing, he has been consistent in some ways such as in the setting of his novels
continued to be his beloved New Mexico, and also the mysteries that the fictional
characters have to solve by the truths that are mystical although the problems are
somehow modern and real. “We can still use the old myths of this hemisphere to
shed light on our contemporary problems” (Mythical Dimension cited in Olmos,
1999, p.11). Rudolfo Anaya as one of the prominent Chicano writers in the
1960‟s, in short, was still in search of illumination for himself and others, and still
in search of clarifying his identity as Chicano.
B. Chicano in the United States
1. Chicano Political Movement
The emergence of Chicano Political Movement could be viewed alongside
the political activities of other ethnic groups occurred in the USA during 1960‟s
such as Native American Movements, Black Civil Rights Movements, and Black
Power Movements. Similarly, Chicano groups also attempted to organize political
protests in order to counter discrimination and to balance the support to their
democratic process through political actions. During this political protest decades,
Chicano movements have been through several phases that can be categorized
into specifically four phases. According Jacobs (2006), the four phases are (1)
Reclamation of the Chicano lands in New Mexico, (2) The activism of Cesar
Chavez and United Farm Workers in California, (3) Organizations of Crusade for
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justice by the students and political programme in Denver (1969), (4) final phase
was marked by the decline of Chicano movement activism (p. 6).
The Chicano Movements grew out primarily in several major states in the
southwest. The groups formed were alliance of some diverse groups such as land
grant owners, farm workers, students, and also the urban working class. Initially,
the political issues had long been raised after the Mexican revolution in 1920‟s-
1920‟s. The Mexican Revolution with its three principal philosophies were
Zapatista-Indianist philosophy, historical confrontation, and land-rights claims.
This concept of organizational structure and strong leader like Emiliano Zapata
established political consciousness towards the poltical issues in the U.S faced by
Chicanos. Political activism during the movement era was seen as the continuity
of revolutionary process of getting the basic rights and justice in the U.S. For
instance, to get justice in the courts, fair treatment from the police and military,
decent living standard, and also bilingual and bicultural system in education.
Historically, the political issues raised in the movement were already
shaped before the WW II, but it could be finally organized and recognized after
the WW II era. The issues began to be more specific related with the issues of self
and identity among the 2nd generation of Mexican Americans especially in the
neighborhoods of Los Angles. At this time, the first Chicano organization was
formed, namely Mexican American Movement (MAM) which was promoted
through education. Later, the protests demanded on the changes of segregation of
schools, housing, public facilities, and also the working condition during the post commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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war era. The concerns became more political in the 1950‟s-60‟s which brought up
a lot of new political activisms, such as the most significant and historical root of
the movement was The Alianza Federal de Mercedes (AFM) with the leader
named Reies Lopez Tijerina.
This organization firstly concerned with the issue of reinstating Spanish
and Mexican land grants and properties in New Mexico. Many New Mexicans
residents, by this time, legitimatized the claim of their lands from the Spanish
after the annexation of Mexican land. In 1966, along with AFM, Tijerina led to
reclaim part of the Kit Carson National Forest in New Mexico with the political
legacy stated in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). The property rights
stated in the treaty was used to bring this issue into the national attention. He was
successful to eventually mobilize thousands of Chicanos in the names of AFM. It
was proved by having been able to bring the leader of Black civil rights proponent
into AFM in order to strengthen the protests.
As the protests went on and the issues brought up more varied, AFM was
seen more as the separatist group. However, he and his followers did not claim
themselves as Chicanos but instead as Indo-Hispanos. He seemed to never
support Chicano nationalism or Chicano identity like other movements did. After
all, his success in awakening the Chicano‟s consciousness about their political
position in the U.S and mobilizing many Chicanos in the movement became the
pioneer acts of the further movement emergence. It was marked with the massive
followers from 6,000 members up to 20,000 in all (Jacobs, 2006). commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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Another significant organization was United Farm Workers (UFW) led by
Cesar Chavez in California. This organization was initially intended to help
solving the problems of farm workers‟ condition. It responded to the abolition of
Bracero programme in the U.S. This agreement between America and Mexico for
temporary migration of Mexican workers did not work out well. It ended up on
exploiting Mexican labors economically and at the same time discriminating them
through racist practices and citizenship block. Starting from this time, UFW‟s
campaign brought about issue of the Bracero programme to end. Then the
National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) was formed in 1965 in order to
strike to have higher pay and guaranteed rights. This had attracted so many
followers and soon the numbers grew greater.
Chaves was known as the leader of the campaign and he had other groups‟
attention to join. As the issues brought up in UFW became broader (i.e about
minority, oppressed groups, and discrimination), some other groups like religious,
civil, and student groups also finally joined the strike. They participated in the
demonstration, hunger strike, march to get others‟ attention and support. It was
known as civil disobedience which then caught attention from the media; and it
gave them power to get their rights. UFW finally achieved several significant
reforms in medical, pension, and unemployment benefits. Because of this success
in leading the strike, Cesar Chavez was acknowledged as the Chicano Movement
leader. “It was „Cesar Chavez [who] gave the Chicano Movement a national
leader” (Jacobs, 2006, p.14). However, like Tijerina did, Chavez never claimed commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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that what he did (UFW) was a part of support for Chicano nationalism or
separatism, otherwise he made it clear that he considered himself as the organizer
of a union of rank-and-file-farm workers (Munoz cited in Jacobs, 2006).
From these two earlier and significant organizations (AFM and UFW), it
then appealed the parallels of many issues associated with AFM or UFW‟s cause.
Therefore, by then a lot more widespread organizations were formed which
concerned with the same matter. The movement continued to emerge and became
vastly happening with more specific issues to bring up. This had awakened the
consciousness to what Chicano had experienced in the states such as racial
discrimination through which they begun to understand how important their
identities were. In the following years, the student protests scattered and became
the assertion of their pride of their culture, race, and ethnicity. Some students
grouped taking part in political activities and formed organizations namely
UMAS (United Mexican American Student), MAYO (Mexican American Youth
Organization), MASC (Mexican American Student Confederation). The
movement was the show for the assertion of Chicano identity; and it was a
massive success.
2. Chicano Literature in the Period of Chicano Movement
As the 1960‟s was the decades of resurgence of cultural and political
activities, the literary works produced were reciprocal to the Chicano Political
activities (Neate cited in Jacobs, 1998). Accordingly, in this era, Chicano commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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literature had such underlying patterns which gave significant contribution to the
development of Chicano literature movement. With the ethnic awareness raised
during the movement, Chicano literature tried to take their position among
American society to express their sense of self of what often appeared to be “the
others” or “alienated” society in the U.S. The movement had also been the
expansion of democratic process through several political activities emerged; and
this had also been reflected in the literary works of Chicano. Besides, Chicano
literature was also the vehicle to express cultural and ethnic pride. That is why,
Chicano literature has its own characteristics such as contains mythic tradition
(oral tradition), autobiographical memoirs (personal experiences), cultural origins
and self determination, and usually uses bilingual (even just a little part of the
writing such as spoken idioms of million Chicanos). One of the examples is the
writing of Rudolfo Anaya which contains all of those mentioned patterns.
However, the themes of literary writings during the movement were more
political than cultural. It could be noted from the literature production in 1960‟s.
For instance, Rudolfo “Corky” Gonzalez who wrote “Yo soy Joaquin” (1967)
telling about banditry that, in short, they were as Chicanos deserved fairness in
the U.S. It is clearly seen that Chicano literature was a tool to oppose the different
treatment in the society. Soon after that, in 1970‟s was the moment of cultural
roots resurgence in literary works. Chicanos began to celebrate their indigenism
through literature. It was marked by the birth of “the concept of Aztlan”,
reclaiming their home that was lost. The Chicano writers were writing poetry, commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
26
narratives/novels, historiographic accounts such as Rudolfo Anaya and Alurista
who wrote about Aztlan.
In 1976, Rudolfo Anya published his second novel telling about Aztlan,
the home of Chicanos; it could be the home meaning land and the origins of
culture. Besides, Alurista was writing a poem titled Floricanto en Aztlan
published in 1971. The organization which concerned with “Aztlan” was also
found in 1969 named El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan. This also reaffirmed
ownership of Chicano identity based on the land (Jacobs, 2006):
In the spirit of a new people that is conscious not only of its proud historical heritage but also of the brutal „gringo‟ invasion of our territories, we, the Chicano inhabitants and civilizers of the northern land of Aztlan from whence came our forefathers [are] reclaiming the land of their birth. (Anaya and Lomelf cited in Jacobs, 2006, p.70)
During this period, a large part of Chicano literature production was so
much into male writers, and the role of female writers seemed to be unrecognized.
Simultaneously, the issue brought in late 1970‟s and the beginning of 1980‟s was
gender issue to counter the machismo in Chicano literary history. One of the
female writers who were significant in the Chicana literature was Gloria
Anzaldua. Writings by women mostly raised the combined issues of feminist
consciousness and cultural conflicts, oppression, alienation and also search of
identity. Not so different with the male writers, females tried to express their pride
of indigenism as well. Yet this was more critical as the issues within the writings
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were doubled (to oppose the oppression from large society/Anglos and
specifically to get the same position like males did as well).
C. Semiotics of The Literary Text
Literature is not only understood as a nice piece of art but also it is
understood that it carries and attached with sign systems. Semiotics is a theory to
see the sign system namely within the cultural product such as literature. Semiotic
study attempts to observe that there is a relation between sign and meanings.
Semiotics is profoundly known to study the sign and meaning linguistically but
the concept of taking meaning from what is signified can be applied in different
framework more than just linguistic expression. However, understanding literary
text is not only enough by giving meaning to each sentences, the narration, or
retelling its plot but there is something to be deeply understood about its esthetic
relevance and its relation between the literary elements. Nazarova (1996) asserted
that “when we speak of understanding fiction we mean much more than the
retelling of the plot, the rendering of the story or the enumeration of facts given in
a work of verbal art,” (p.26).
One of the founders of signs is Charles Peirce who emphasized that
understanding the signs is based on the logical structure and its relation to carry
more comprehensive meaning (Cobley, 2009). Peirce‟s theory of sign illustrates
the model of structural semiotic analysis which is focused on its logical structure
and its relation in providing the meanings. Therefore, Peirce‟s theory of sign is commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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sometimes regarded similar with structural analysis. It is tricky to differentiate
between semiotic and structural analysis because the object analyzed is usually
the same.
First, that social and cultural phenomena are...objects or events with meaning, and hence signs; and second, that they...are defined by a network of relations, both internal and external. Stress may fall on one or the other of these propositions but in fact the two are inseparable. (Surdulescu, 2002, para. 2)
The phenomenology method is used by Peirce in analyzing, that is by separating
elements or feature what is present in the experience (Cobley, 2009). It is a
technique observing social or cultural phenomena which can give meanings
through the signs within the text. Through those objects observed, they are then
defined from the relations from other element that makes coherence in meaning.
A semiotic analysis of a literary text deals, instead of themes and general meaning, with the way in which meaning is produced by the structures of interdependent signs, by codes and conventions. (Surdulescu, 2002, para. 4)
To some extent, semiotic analysis indicates an abstraction to make a
connection between interdependent elements that they are actually can be
analyzed separately; for instance “different texts from the same author”, that they
are somehow related with same theme that the author always uses (Nazarova,
1996, p.26). Like what Anaya presents in his novels are mostly about traditional
values, sacredness of the nature, and identities. Most importantly, semiotic in
literature is not only taking meaning based on its linguistic expressions but also
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signifying the signs within the literary text by making connections of its elements
and esthetic relevance to quest the meanings.
D. The Identity Politics
The term identity politics has always been related to widespread
movements. Although identity politics has loose collection of political projects,
identity politics fits into political landscape which is usually signified by the
existence of mobilization or movements (www.plato.stanford.edu/entries/identity-
politics/). At general understanding, identity politics is described as identity
claims which have empowering purposes by political activists. Theoretically, the
identity politics is mapping the condition of American society especially the
Chicanos within socio-cultural context such as in the process of identity
formation.
Charles Hale (1997) defined separately between identity and politics to
ground the basic understanding of identity politics, “identities as performative
acts, politics as purely discursive battles versus hard-bitten calls for a return to the
fundamental role of class struggle” (p.570). In other words, identities are seen as
expression of the self by observing or seeing the differences among others.
Politics indicate power relation which includes struggle as the fundamental focus
in it. Therefore, politics is seen more as practice. Bernstein (2005) stated that the
term identity politics is not always related to the 1960‟s movements since it is
already widely used in social science and humanities in order to describe commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
30
phenomena like multiculturalism, women‟s movement, civil rights, lesbian/gay
movements, ethnic nationalist conflicts, and separatist movements (p.47).
However, the emergence of movements in the 1960‟s could be the starting point
which set a basic concept of identity politics. That is the relation with social
movements during the 1960‟s which was continued to happen in the following
years after the 1960‟s.
According to Bernstein theory, identity politics is a distinct political
practice which differs from class politics (Bernstein, 2005). What it is meant by
class politics here is the mobilization used to achieve economical
change/economic status in societies; that is why class politics conceptualizes
struggle for the economic benefits and related with economic institution. In
contrast to that, identities concept in identity politics are viewed based on social
rather than economic status; in this sense, identities do not have any economic
institution or goals on economic aspects. The identity claims are all associated
with social identities and perceived as “cultural politics” which is equated with
identity politics. Identity politics also describes any mobilization related to
politics, culture, and identities; and there is a relationship between identities and
politics which is basically related with culture (Bernstein, 2005).
In greater emphasis, identity politics is the theoretical way to view how
political activisms including the members identify differences and “traditional
values” in order to promote and explore their cultural identity. Rather than
accepting the identities created by the Anglos, ones rebel and transform sense of commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
31
self and community. The members of the social group assert and reclaim ways of
understanding their distinctiveness as their cultural identity.
The crucial point in the identity politics is that the members of social
group recognize and share the commonality of same experiences which grow their
consciousness that they are „different‟ from other groups. The shared experiences
may include oppression, injustice, same (cultural) background, etc. “They
acknowledge that cultural differences among groups are socially constructed,
resulting from shared histories of oppression” (Bernstein, 2005, p.50). Because of
this shared histories as their group identities, they support for recognition and
respect for their cultural differences.
This cultural recognition will validate their identities; and marginalized
culture forms the basis for their identity groups. However, this cultural
recognition is then often assumed mistakenly as “culture for politics” which
means they use culture as power to get their basic rights. Therefore, some scholars
also equate identity politics with cultural politics. Bernstein makes clear about
cultural politics: “The belief that identity itself-its elaboration, expression, or
affirmation-is and should be fundamental focus of political work” (Bernstein,
2005, p.54).
From this point, it can be understood that identity politics has cultural
dimension and meanings which conceptualize power to achieve traditional
political goals such as “nation building” or “taking power” (Hale, 1997). In this
sense, identity politics views the mobilization as a process in creating identities. commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
32
Thus, identities which seemed to be already formed are actually still in search and
still in a process of construct. Identities, as stated by Hale (1997), are bound with
nationality, race, and ethnicity (p.574). Therefore, identities promoted in the
movement explore cultural aspects and traditional values.
Through the movements, it grew the consciousness of the significance of
identities and empowered others who did not join the movement. The members of
social group began to trace back what elements that define their identities. Thus,
the movements construct and promote identities even though the goals may not
always be supporting identities but it is the identity that makes them gain
recognition; that is the identity which defines their movements. Like what
happened in the 1960‟s towards Chicanos, Political Movements by Chicanos was
erupted by the leading action of Cesar Chaves, the representation from working
class Chicanos. They initially rebelled for being exploited by U.S government;
they struggled for same treatment without any discrimination. At the beginning,
this mobilization was like representation of working class people, but finally it
gathered people from the same cultural background, namely Chicanos. It was not
promoting and bringing up Chicano identities in the movements, but at the end
this movements implied the emphasis on Chicano identities to be recognized.
To the extent that the movements made obvious about identity politics, at
the same time writers of the era made identity politics seemed contemporary. For
instance, Rudolfo Anaya whose narration presented cultural realities and truth
based of traditional point of view in order to assert Chicano identities and their commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
33
position in the American society. Most of Anaya‟s novels have the same theme of
which Chicano cultural identities are always presented such as folk healing which
seemed be more appropriate than seeing doctors like other people frequently did.
Such folk healing can be the reflection of Chicano cultural identities that are
different from other ethnic groups.
Cultural differences of Chicanos with other groups were seen as the
symbol of their identity. Through this point, they celebrated their lineage of being
Chicano and traditional values which then became their emphasis on creating
identity of Chicano. Although their aim was to seek justice, but the basis was
promoting identities. Additionally, identities gave them power in gaining political
position in the U.S, in example not being exploited, deserving the same treatment
for public facilities, decent living, etc. Thus, identities are the strategic process to
get political change. The long process in achieving political goals, identities have
been formed through the mobilization/activism and this pivotal key becomes the
emphasis of why this identity politics theory is employed in the research.
commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
CHAPTER III
ANALYSIS
This chapter consists of the analysis to find the answer from the problem
statement: How does Rudolfo Anaya‟s novel, Bless Me, Ultima construct Chicano
identity in 1960‟s? This analysis is then divided into two subchapters. The first
subchapter is focused on the conflicting cultural background surrounding Antonio. In
this part there are explanations about the culture of Antonio‟s mother and father, the
values of Catholicism and the native myths, and also how the Chicanos are seen
different from the Anglos. The second chapter is about the affirmation of Chicano
identities illustrated through how Ultima and Antonio make sense of life. This part
explains the Anaya‟s way to affirm the Chicano identities by describing the meaning
of land, Ultima and healing power, and the spirituality of Ultima and Antonio. All of
those points are the arguments which contribute to the identities formation of the
Chicanos in the 1960‟s.
A. Antonio and His Conflicting Cultures
Anaya wrote Bless Me, Ultima (BMU) in his search to construct and tell
about the identities of Chicano. It can be seen through the inner and outer
conflicts experienced by the main character, Antonio Marez. Anaya tries to trace
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35
back traditional values from the roots of Chicano culture in order to make
meaning and solve the conflicts faced by the main character. These traditional
values later become the characteristics of Chicano cultural identities.
Furthermore, the way Anaya shows Antonio Marez‟ self identification is that
Chicano is neither Mexican nor American; but Chicano is a mixblood of both
Mexican and American. This hybridity is depicted through Antonio‟s contact with
different cultures which makes him begin to identify himself.
Antonio Marez has to face the dilemma in his early age. Antonio is only
six years old when he is to start learning to understand himself. Within two years,
Antonio tries to comprehend the dilemma within himself. The dilemma in the
novel is shown through the cultural conflicts surrounding Antonio‟s world. The
phases of Antonio‟s dilemma firstly come up from his family cultural life namely
the “vaquero” culture form his father and the “farmer/llano” culture from his
mother. Both of Antonio‟s parents hope for him to continue each of these two
existing cultures. This circumstance makes Antonio baffled to figure out which
one he should follow and which one that actually defines his identity.
This circumstance which caught Antonio in between is implied in the
story as the babes of Limbo. Based on the Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary,
Limbo is defined as “a situation in which you are not certain what to do next,
cannot take action, etc., especially because you are waiting for somebody else to
make a decision” (http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/limbo).
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36
It may also mean “the soul of unbaptized infants”, “an uncertain period of
awaiting a decision or resolution; an intermediate state or condition; a state of
neglect or oblivion” (http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/limbo?q=limbo).
The impact from this condition makes Antonio get through learning process.
Sometimes through his contact with two different things, two different culture,
Antonio finds out conflicts within and outside himself.
In my dream I saw Ultima’s owl lift la Virgen on her wide wings and fly her to heaven. Then the owl returned and gathered up all the babes of Limbo and flew them up to the clouds of heaven. The Virgen smiled at the goodness of the owl. (Anaya, 1999, p.14)
From the excerpt above, it could be interpreted that the babes of Limbo are those
people of learning who might stay in the edge between two things they could not
decide yet. The impact from learning process could bring those people into
“maturation”.
Besides being trapped in between “vaquero” and “farmer” culture, in the
later phase Antonio is being caught in his understanding of spirituality; when he
comes up learning Catholicism and Indigenous myth. At the age when Antonio
attends school, he begins to explore more about his identity by seeing the
differences between Chicano‟s culture and the Anglo‟s.
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1. Vaquero vs. Llano Culture
Anaya inserted his life background into Antonio‟s in BMU; that
Anaya was exposed into some differences in front of him, from the culture of
mother who was a farmer and father who was a rancher. Through the novel,
Anaya also provides some facts that most Chicanos have experienced, such as
the society in New Mexico who are mostly Mexican descendant and most of
them are still tied by their Hispanic blood. They are living in the barrio or the
neighborhood of Mexican descendant. The life of the people who settled in
the plains are mostly cattle grazing and those who are living near the river
valleys are well-known as farmers.
From his father‟s blood (Gabriel Marez), Antonio was born in family
of a rancher. Antonio‟s father have been a vaquero all of his life. The view
towards life and the customs that vaquero has are obviously different from
Maria Luna‟s, Antonio‟s mother, who is from a farmer family. In the
beginning of the story, the internal conflict within the self of Antonio is
clearly implied in the dream that Antonio has. The dream is about the birth of
son from a “vaquero” father and a “farmer” mother. It is also told the detail
of the view of life from both sides, vaquero and farmer/llano culture. Even
though Antonio has told half of his dream to his mother, he is still not sure in
which side he is going to stand. It is conflicting since he is figuring out what
the dream means and becomes more inquisitive about who himself really is.
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This dream is like a vision for Antonio to choose his life destiny as he grows
up.
This one will be a Luna, the old man said, he will be a farmer and keep our customs and tradition. Perhaps God will bless our family
and make the baby a priest. And to show their hope they rubbed the dark earth of the river valley on the baby’s forehead, and they surrounded the bed with fruits of their harvest so the small room smelled of fresh green chile and corn, ripe apples and peaches, pumpkins and green beans. (Anaya, 1999, p.6)
Gabriel, they shouted, you have a fine son! He will make a fine vaquero! And they smashed the fruits and vegetables that surrounded the bed and replaced them with a saddle, horse blankets, bottles of whiskey, a new rope, bridles, chapas, and an old guitar. And they rubbed the stain of earth from the baby’s forehead because man was not to be tied to the earth but free upon it. (Anaya, 1999, p.6)
From this excerpt, it could be interpreted that the Lunas (Antonio‟s
mother family) have straight life of which customs are farming and achieving
good education. Farming tradition is to continue the life tradition of the
Lunas to preserve the land wisely, for example by planting fruits and
vegetables. The farming tradition may also mean wealth which is, in this
context, crops. The crops gathered to serve and continue the life. Food seems
to be the culture and is seen as the source of life; that is why farming could
denote “nurturing life”. It is like priest as well; who has a sense to “nurture”.
In this sense, priest leads to the good life, enlightens people to walk this path
of life; and to become a priest needs a broad knowledge. In accordance to
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that, the Lunas had a descent life to view that education is not only important
for ones‟ faith but also for the lives itself.
After I was born in Las Paturas she persuaded my father to leave the llano and bring the family to the town of Guadalupe where she said
there would be opportunity and school for us. (Anaya, 1999, p.2)
From this quote, Antonio understands how his mother‟s culture
emphasizes on achieving good education. Antonio has realized what inside
his dream is similar with the dream of his mother for becoming priest and his
mother convinces him that he will be a priest not vaquero. Through this way,
his mother introduces him to the farmer culture. Most importantly, it would
be beneficial to equip children with the broad knowledge to lead this life or
either just to make them scholar especially in the middle of Anglo American
society who praises highly education.
“You will be like my brothers. You will be a Luna, Antonio. You will
be a man of the people, and perhaps a priest,” She smiled
A priest, I thought, that was her dream. I was to hold mass on Sundays like father Byrnes did in the church. I was to hear confessions of the silent people of the valley, and I was to administer
the holy sacrament to them. “Perhaps,” I said “Yes,” my mother smiled. She held me tenderly. The fragrance of her
body was sweet. “But then,” I whispered, “who will hear my confession?”
“What?” “Nothing,” I answered…
(Anaya, 1999, p.10)
At this point Antonio does not only know but also explores the culture from
his mother. The contact with his mother‟s culture makes Antonio do self commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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exploration. Antonio does not decide his life destiny as a priest but he rather
answers “perhaps” which means he is still in search and still observes the
circumstances he is facing surrounding him.
The farming custom from Antonio‟s mother can also mean keeping
“traditional values” that Chicanos have such as having garden or ranch. Like
what is explained slightly above, garden crops represent the traditional life of
Chicanos. The fruits and vegetables planted by the Chicanos are generally
corn, chile, green beans, apples, etc.
While I waited for my father to return with Ultima I worked in the garden. Everyday I had to work in the garden. Everday I reclaimed from the rocky soil to the hill a few more feet of earth to cultivate. The land of the llano was not good for farming, the good land was along the river. But my mother wanted a garden and I worked to make her happy. Already we had a few chile and tomato plants growing (Anaya, 1999, p.11)
It is showed above that Antonio is trying to adopt the attitude from llano
culture. Gardening could have brought Antonio to knowing more about the
Lunas‟ culture. He starts to do it for making his mother happy, but at least in
this phase of adopting culture, Antonio is exposed to the understanding of
traditional values taught by his mom; these values connect him to the culture
origin passed down by the Mexican descents settled down in the river valleys
where the Lunas are from. Therefore, in this phase Antonio associates
identity with heritage; and this process contributes to his self-identification.
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In the story, it is also told how the Chicanos are so attached with
those traditional foods. Like in Marez family, atole and tortilla are like life
for them. They do not only serve the Marez‟ energy, but it denotes meaning
that the Marez hold on cultural identity and respect for cultural values.
I sat across the table from Deborah and Theresa and ate my atole and hot tortilla with butter. (Anaya, 1999, p.8)
My mother had packed a small jar of hot beans and some good, green chile wrapped in tortillas. (Anaya, 1999, p.62)
I spread the blankets close to the wall and near the stove while Ultima prepared the atole. (Anaya, 1999, p.102)
All of the fragments illustrate the close attachment of Chicanos towards
traditional values, namely traditional foods: tortilla, atole, green beans, chile
which are all iconic to the Chicano cultural life. The foods symbolize the
cultural existence of Chicanos as long as the peoples still continue this
traditional life. Usually mother has more knowledge about teaching children
about Mexican culture. It is the same like Maria who subtly introduces and
teaches about food culture to children so that they are accustomed to this
culture. Knowing this food culture makes Antonio explore more the identities
that define himself. Especially when he gets to see the differences between
himself and his friends at school, he eats tortilla and others have sandwich
for lunch.
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At noon we open our lunches to eat. Miss Maestas left the room and a
high school girl came and sat the desk while we ate. My mother had packed a small jar of hot beans and some good, green chile wrapped
in tortillas. When the other children saw my lunch they laughed and pointed again. Even the high school girl laughed. They showed me their sandwiches were made of bread. Again, I did not feel well.
(Anaya, 1999, p.62)
..... I had tried to learn and they had laughed at me; I had opened my lunch to eat and again they had laughed and pointed at me. (Anaya, 1999, p.62)
Obviously, this cultural indication exposes how different Chicanos with the
Anglos who eat sandwiches with bread. Besides being alienated, Antonio is
also trapped in a conflicting feeling: to acknowledge “the self” as a Chicano
and at the same time to feel humiliated by others about his cultural identity.
The conflicts here portray even clearer that externally he is already
accustomed with this food culture but when he gets out of his community
zone, he internally feels humiliated for having this food culture.
On the other hand, the view of Antonio‟s father as a vaquero is so
different from that of Antonio‟s mother. The life of a vaquero is like the
frontiers in America: restless, rebellious and brave.
Gabriel, they shouted, you have a fine son! He will make a fine vaquero! And they smashed the fruits and vegetables that surrounded the bed and replaced them with a saddle, horse blankets, bottles of
whiskey, a new rope, bridles, chapas, and an old guitar. And they rubbed the stain of earth from the baby’s forehead because man was
not to be tied to the earth but free upon it.
(Anaya, 1999, p.6)
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From the fragment above, it can be interpreted that Antonio becomes the
hope of his father as a vaquero culture keeper. Antonio seems to follow his
father‟s spirit; as brave and restless as his father. The things mentioned like
saddle, horse blanket, and bottles of whiskey denote the life of vaquero who
is not only determined with one life, meaning they are brave to expect any
other challenge in life with the spirit of wandering. Being brave is needed to
wander this life, that is why Antonio‟s father understands that man could not
only be tied to the land but how man could set to be free upon it by
wandering. It even seems like vaquero has become the life of Antonio‟s
father. Being a vaquero, Antonio‟s father could feel getting his freedom.
My father had been a vaquero all his life, a calling as ancient as the coming of Spaniard to Nuevo Mejico. Even after the big rancheros and tejanos came and fenced the beautiful llano, he and those like him continued to work there, I guess because only in that wide expanse of land and sky could they feel the freedom they spirits
needed.
(Anaya, 1999, p.2)
From the excerpt above, it shows how the actual-American values have been
attached to Antonio‟s father. The life of wandering is so attached with the
frontiers lifestyle during the westward movement. This traditional value is
passed down to the life of Antonio during his growing up age.
The inner thought about vaquero culture caught Antonio after he sees
his father breaking fast before going to the Holy Communion. “My father and
Ultima were the only people I ever knew that did not mind breaking their fast commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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before communion,” (Anaya, 1999, p.33). He then contemplates about the
man and the sin, whether those people who do not follow the religious
instruction is a sinner or not. From the answer that his father gives that there
would be no sin but he would rather call it as „fact of life‟ (p. 33). Then, his
father states realistically that “everything he sees and does makes him a
man—“ (p.33). At this time, Antonio is more exposed to the vaquero culture,
that his father is living tied upon freedom.
Even though Antonio always questions himself of being more his
mother‟s character than his father‟s, he always tries to find out the answer
from the conflict within himself by learning all the experiences he has. For
example is the day when he will attend school for the very first time. Antonio
witnesses how his mother‟s view is so contradictive to his father‟s. This time,
he realizes how much Marez‟ blood and Luna‟s are in him.
“Ay! What good does an education do them,” my father filled the coffee cup, “they only learn to speak like Indians. Gosh, what kind of words are those?”
“An education will make him a scholar, like—like the old Luna priest,” “A scholar already on his first day of school!”
“Yes!” my mother retorted. “You know the signs at his birth were good. You remember, Grande, you offered him all the objects of life
when he was just a baby, and what did he choose, the pen and paper—“ “True, “ Ultima agreed.
“¡Bueno! ¡Bueno!” my father gave in to them. “If that is what he is to be then it is so. A man cannot struggle against his own fate. In my
own day we were given no schooling. Only the ricos could afford school. Me, my father gave me a saddle blanket and a wild pony when
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I was ten. There is your life, he said, and he pointed to the llano. So
the llano was my school, it was my teacher, it was my first love—“ (Anaya, 1999, p.57)
From the conversation between Antonio‟s father and mother which is
contradictive really shows the difference between vaquero culture and llano
culture. The story of the Lunas as farmers begins historically with the story of
land grants in the southwest. The Lunas are the land grants for Llano
Estacado; and some of them were being priests, well-known as the priest of
the Lunas. The priest is attached with the image of „being so educated‟ and
„rich with knowledge‟. Therefore, Antonio‟s mother hopes his son, Antonio,
to be a priest by being good scholar. However, Antonio‟s father sees that the
education should not only be gained formally at school. Antonio‟s father only
believes that education, being melted with the Anglo culture, will only
domesticate these people (Chicanos) just like Indians. Being melted within the
Anglo culture will destroy the originality of traditional culture; it is started
even with small thing like learning the language, English, because it would
make them forget their mother tongue, Spanish.
Antonio‟s father also views that education could also be achieved
through the place where people settle down. Antonio‟s father then recollects
the memory of his childhood, as young as Antonio, about knowing vaquero
culture in early age. Being a vaquero since a kid makes Antonio‟s father know
how life is. Through the conversation between mother and father, Antonio
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began to understand that he is in between two different cultures; and he
figures that he will, someday, have to choose which one he should be in.
However, Antonio realizes that there are real differences between
father‟s culture and mother‟s. The self identifying process becomes deeper
since Antonio studies the differences he sees. Like every Sunday mornings,
both of his parents keep arguing about things like religion. His father is
skeptic about religion while his mother is a devout catholic.
Then there was thing about religion. My father was not a strong believer in religion. When he was drunk he called priests “women”, and made fun of the long skirts they wore. […] My mother was a devout Catholic, and she said the world would be saved if the people turned to the earth. A community of farmers ruled over by a priest, she firmly believed, was the true way of life. (Anaya, 1999, p.31)
These contradictive cultures bring different attitudes to the life of father and
mother, therefore Antonio learns the differences in them; and Antonio grasps
from these differences with question “Why two people as opposite as my
father and mother had married I don‟t know. Their blood and their ways had
kept them at odds, and yet for all this, we were happy,” (p.31).
Antonio is seen as the hope of her mother and father even though
Marez family has two daughters whom they could expect for combination of
their lives. Rather than Deborah or either Theresa to fulfill their parents‟
dream, they choose Antonio to realize what their parents long for. In the story,
it is told that Antonio is the last son, since the parents can no longer expect for
Antonio‟s three brothers who already went for war. The one who is still commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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growing up is Antonio, growing up to be a man, to be the future of the family.
In the way he becomes a man, he keeps learning everything around him,
trying to make sense of the universe, surroundings and himself as being
Chicano through all of those traditional values performed by both his parents.
Oh please tell me which is the water that runs through my veins, I moaned; oh please tell me which is the water that washes my burning eyes! It is the sweet water of the moon, my mother crooned softly, it is the water the Church chooses to make holy and place in its font. It is the water of your baptism Lies, lies, my father laughed, through your body runs the salt water of the oceans. It is that water which makes you Marez and not Luna. It is the water that binds you to the pagan god of Cico, the golden carp! (Anaya, 1999, p.126-7)
Little by little Antonio keeps questioning himself whether there‟s more
Marez‟ blood or Luna‟s within him. The internal conflicts within himself
brought him in a dream; and the story of his dream like self identifying of
what culture runs in his blood.
2. Catholicism vs. Indigenous Myth
Most Chicanos profess Catholics even though it is not pure Roman
Catholic. It is from the typical Catholicism practiced in Mexico which has
also been passed down for generations. The Roman Catholic churches in
Mexico combine traditional doctrine with native folk practices, preached in
fatalism about life, and the relationship of the rural poor to the major land-
owners, or patrons reinforced these teachings (Dinnerstein & Reimers, 1982). commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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Like what is described in BMU, the mythical ancestry is bound within their
religious practices; or even when the Chicanos do not practice them, at least
the Chicanos still believe in it. The mythical bloodline in Chicano ancestry is
marked with the link of indigenous mythology which relies upon the pre-
Christian, pre-technology, or what Contreraz called as “indigenism” or
“primitivism” (Contreraz, 2008). It is connected to the unique historical
richness of civilization before the English, French, Spanish, and other
European came to the land of America.
Spirituality is the foregrounded feature related with the Chicano
cultural identities. Spirituality does not only mean attachment with religious
values but it weighs for values in leading the way of life. One of Chicano
cultural identities is described with the existence of spirituality owned by the
Chicanos. The cultural identities implied in the novel are shown through the
amalgamation of spirituality, the blending of Catholicism and the indigenous
myths.
Based on cultural tradition of Chicanos‟ life, those two distinctive
things are not conflicting but they rather live hand in hand. The spirituality
which is grounded on the concept of harmony life depicts the power of God
reflected through the nature and other living things that share spirit with
humans. Therefore, Chicanos do not conflict these two things but they try to
make sense of the blending Catholicism in the myths or vice versa. Through
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BMU, the depiction of harmony of life is reflected through several individuals
in the narration of, especially Antonio Marez.
The profound religiosity in the southwest states such as New Mexico
is usually marked with the link to the devotion of a certain patron saint,
commonly the Virgin of Guadalupe, or some religious home icons such as
home altar and the statute of Virgen de Guadalupe. In BMU, Antonio always
respects Virgen de Guadalupe so much. For example, after the supper time,
Antonio follows his mother praying the rosary and then asking for blessing
and forgiving to Virgen de Guadalupe.
After the supper we always prayed the rosary. The dishes were quickly done then we gathered in the sala where my mother kept her altar. My mother had a beautiful Virgen de Guadalupe. It was nearly two feet high. She was dressed in a long, flowing blue glown, and she stood on the horned moon. About her feet were the winged heads of angels, the babes of Limbo. She wore a crown on her head because she was the queen of heaven. […] it was hard to say the rosary because you had to kneel for as
long as the prayers lasted, but I did not mind because while my
mother prayed I fastened my eyes on the statue of the Virgin until I thought that I was looking at a real person, the mother of God, the last relief of all sinners.
(Anaya, 1999, p. 47)
The excerpt above clearly illustrates how the family and Antonio carry
on the great devotion to the typical Catholicism in the Southwest by highly
respecting the Virgin, having the Virgin statue, altar, etc. It also portrays the
close connection between Antonio‟s family, Antonio personally, and
Catholicism. Antonio shows respect to the Virgin as he tries to be loyal and a
good catholic. Antonio loves the Virgin since he believes that She has commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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understood and always listens to what he is asking. So Antonio believes in the
forgiveness the Virgin gives; and therefore Antonio loves the Virgin more
than any other thing. “God was not always forgiving. He made laws to follow
and if you broke them you were punished. The Virgin always forgave,”
(Anaya, 1999, p.47).
On the other hand, the close connection between Antonio with the
culture of Chicano, which has different Virgin as the patron saint, of what
they commonly call as „mestiza‟ Virgin, is also clearly shown in the novel.
Within the Chicano culture and community, the Virgin of Guadalupe is
believed as the patron saint of Mexico which almost always appears in
Chicana/o literature. The Virgin of Guadalupe in Chicano literary works also
illustrates the mythical and symbolic image; the connection to the deities of
Nahuatl (pre-Columbian civilization). The novel even clearly describes the
legend and myth of Virgen de Guadalupe and Her appearance.
We all knew the story of how the Virgin had presented herself to the little Indian boy in Mexico about the miracle she had wrought. My
mother said the Virgin was the saint of our land, and although there were many other good saints, I loved none as dearly as the Virgin.
(Anaya, 1999, p.47)
In the Chicano culture, the appearance of this Mestiza Virgin
embodies the relationship between Catholic religion and native religion. The
position of Virgin of Guadalupe in Chicano cultural life represents dual
meanings: devoutness in religion: Catholic and centralizing of mythical commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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character considered positive for women (Chicanas). Through the Virgin of
Guadalupe, Chicanas have a role model to act ideally. “Culture uses myths
and the stories of heroines/heroes to create role model” (Rebolledo, 1995,
p.49). Therefore, in BMU, Antonio‟s mother is a respectful figure towards the
Virgin of Guadalupe; and she somehow emulates the figure of Guadalupe in
trying to be a good mother in her family. “Chicano literature abounds with
dutiful mothers, wives, daughters, teachers, nurses, and other helpful,
nurturing, compassionate figures of all kinds” (Rebolledo, 1995, p.49). In
addition, the visual image of the Virgin of Guadalupe as patron saint was also
used as central image during the 1960‟s UFW strikes in Sacramento,
California. This image has been a strong image which asserts the existence of
Chicano community in the American society and the Chicano identities.
Catholicism and the indigenous myth which seem to be overlapped
are, in fact, living hand in hand especially in Chicano community. This can be
the factor why Chicanos barely ever immerse into the American culture which
is much based on the „puritan ethics‟. Because of this strength, Chicanos in
the United States has its own characteristic that may successfully differentiate
them from any other societies existing in the U.S, such as Irish-American,
Anglo-American, etc. Such examples from the novel illustrate the relationship
of inter-ethnic influences within the life of Chicano ethnic group. Chicanos‟
good perseverance of their heritage has marked their identities as Chicano
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In spite of the fact that Catholicism and indigenous myth appear to be
unproblematic for Antonio, the myth of the pagan God “golden carp” however
has created a certain conflict to Antonio. In this case, the indigenous myth,
which influences Chicano religiosity is the myth of pagan God „golden carp‟
as another God to believe. Like in the novel, Antonio even comes up with
religious questions when his friend Cico, who believes in the presence of
golden carp, has told him about the other God to believe in. Based on its tale
that some people may have believed in, golden carp cannot be hunted or even
killed; and its legend remains a myth among the folks. On the other day, Cico
brings Antonio to the river where they can see the golden carp. Cico then tries
to convince Antonio that golden carp is the “obvious, true” God. Yet, Antonio
does not put his faith in it right away. Antonio tries to still hold on the concept
of Christianity that God is represented in three parts (Father, Son, and Holly
Ghost).
Swear by the cross of the church that you will never hunt or kill a carp.” He pointed to the cross. I had never sworn on the cross before.
I knew that if you break your oath it was the biggest sin a man could commit, because God was witness to the swearing on his name. But I would keep my promise! I would never break my oath!
(Anaya, 1999, p.112)
[…] Everybody knew it was a bad luck to fish for the big carp that the summer floods washed downstream. After every flood, when the swirling angry waters of the river subsided, the big fish could be seen
fighting their way back upstream. It had always been so. (Anaya, 1999, p.82)
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However, Antonio is then more convinced by the truth revealed by
Cico, that those who are able to see golden carp are special. It is because not
all people can see the golden carp swimming in the river. When Cico brings
Antonio to the place where they find golden carp, Antonio finally witnesses
the golden carp swimming; and it then makes him think what he should do
after seeing the golden carp, whether believe in it as another God or not.
Well he told you about the people who killed the carp of the river and were punished by being turned into fish themselves. After that happened, many years later, a new people came to live this valley. And they were no better than the first inhabitants, in fact they were worse. They sinned a lot, they sinned against each other, and they sinned against the legends they knew. And so the golden carp sent them a prophecy. He said that the sins of the people would weigh so heavy upon the land that in the end the whole town would collapse and be swallowed by the water— (Anaya, 1999, p.122)
The passage above shows how people still traditionally believe in the
myth that the golden carp as the other representation of supernatural power
does exist. The Chicano community would have been afraid if they fished the
golden carp, something bad would happen to them. In the first excerpt, it even
contradicts the Catholicism that Antonio believes in. Although Antonio does
not really understand whether the existence of golden carp as “God” is true or
not, Antonio seems to put a little faith in the fear of getting bad luck by seeing
or fishing the golden carp. Therefore, to ease this fear Antonio makes an oath
by swearing to God he believes in the Catholicism doctrine.
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Even though Antonio is still baffled with the understanding about God
(based on the Catholicism and the native mythology), the time when Antonio
is told to start his catechism makes him contemplate that it will probably
answer his curiosity about God. The conversation between Maria and Antonio
below shows how Antonio hopes for the catechism to answer his curiosity.
“In the spring I will make arrangements for you to start catechism with the padre at the church, and then on Easter Sunday you will make your first holy communion. Just think, Antonio, for the first time you will hold God in your mouth, in your body, in your soul—you will speak to Him, and He will answer—“ she said to me. And she smiled, and there were tears in her eyes. “Then I will have the knowledge of God?” I asked. “Yes,” she sighed. (Anaya, 1999, p.187)
In the catechism, Antonio gradually gains knowledge about Jesus Christ,
Virgin Mary, God, etc. Through the process of following catechism, it can be
said that it is the time for Antonio taking spiritual journey to know more
closely about God and Catholicism. Having done with the catechism lessons,
Antonio has his first communion and confession. At the very first time
Antonio steps towards maturity—confessing sins, becoming a man. “My own
mother had said that losing your innocence and becoming a man was learning
to sin” (Anaya, 1999, p.124). The losing of innocence in this sense means that
Antonio has been learning or witnessing something more than adolescences
generally do in his early age, such as to understand his position in his family,
to learn the cultural identities from the surrounding, to cope with the
happenings around him (witnessing the death of 5 people: Lupito, commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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Trementina‟s daughter, Narciso, Florence, and Ultima). In this stage of life,
Antonio also wants to know more the meaning of being Chicano through the
learning process with Ultima.
From the experience of attending confession in the communion,
Antonio realizes that he has already betrayed the Catholic God by seeing and
trying to believe in the presence of Golden Carp as “another God” to believe.
At this part, Antonio confesses that it is one of the series of sinful things he
ever did; it would be hard for him to forget all of sins he ever made. “I closed
my eyes and tried not be distracted by anything around me. I thought hard of
all the sins I had ever committed, and I said as many prayers as I could
remember. I begged God forgiveness for my sins over and over” (Anaya,
1999, p.227). This way makes Antonio come up with the understanding of sin,
God‟s punishment, and forgiveness that still drowns him in the confusion of
his identity by examining the blending Catholic church doctrine and the
indigenous myth.
This internal conflict within the self of Antonio regarding the mixing
Catholicism and the indigenous myth is part of Chicano cultural values which
marks the Chicano identity. The Chicanos who are still tied with the
traditional values of its cultural entities indicate the difference from other
ethnic groups. Therefore, the Catholicism of most Chicanos is completely
distinctive with the Roman Catholicism or Catholicism professed by other
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people. It is proved that the religiosity in Chicano community has been
affected by and accepted based on the cultural values of the Chicanos.
3. Chicano’s Culture vs. Anglo Culture
The experience that the Chicanos had is different from the dominant
society, the Anglos. The difference of racial, ethnic, or cultural experiences of
the Chicanos in the U.S creates the Chicano identities that are different from
the Anglos‟. The differences between the Chicano identities and those of the
Anglos can be seen in BMU. The cultural aspect implied in the novel is
actually traced back through the connection with the roots which determine
culture and history. For Chicanos, their identities are not as simple as defining
that Chicano‟s are Indian and Spaniard (Portilla cited in Contreraz, 2008).
The cultural and historical realities experienced by Chicanos as mestizaje
(Indian and Spanish descendants) are concrete accounts of their ancestral ties.
Common perception toward the Chicanos‟ respect towards their
Hispanic roots is seen through their adherence and maintenance of the Spanish
language. Within the Chicano culture, Spanish language has always been an
important part. Spanish language is the language of the people, the ancestors,
and also the home before the land acquired by the Americans, before English
progressively became the dominant language.
During the postwar era, there were still a lot of Chicanos who
preserved Spanish language as mother tongue, especially those of the elders commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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who had limited contact with English and school. Those Chicanos were the
second generation of Mexicans after New Mexico gained the statehood from
the Congress of the United States. Therefore, mos Chicanos in the 90‟s in
New Mexico still held onto their Spanish tongue. The dialogue between
Antonio and Jasón‟s mother really shows that the Chicanos speak Spanish as
their first language in their family and community life; and even they do not
understand English at all.
“¡Jasón!” I called at the kitchen door. I had run hard and was panting. His mother appeared at the door. “Jasón no está aquí,” she said. All of the older people spoke only Spanish, and I myself understood only Spanish. It was only after one went to school that one learned English. “¿Dónde está?” I asked. She pointed towards the river, northwest, past the railroad tracks to the dark hills [...] (Anaya, 1999, p.10)
In the story, Antonio communicated with Jasón‟s mother in Spanish.
“Jasón no está aquí” means “He‟s not here”. Antonio came to Jasón‟s house
looking for him, Jasón‟s mother said in Spanish telling that he is not at home.
Then, Antonio answered in Spanish because Antonio had no contact with the
English speaking people and school. Through the influence of school,
Chicanos are introduced to the bilingualism system that they have to speak
and understand English and at the same time still maintain to speak Spanish in
the family.
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Compared to Antonio, Deborah already spoke English since she
already had contact with the Anglos and school. No good ability in English
somehow seems to be the barrier with the dominant society, as Chicanos
speak less English. For example, Antonio who needed to learn English at the
time he was about to go to school; and his sister, Deborah, who already spoke
good English since she had been in school for two years. She kept speaking
English and taught her sister, Theresa, a little about English too; then Antonio
realized the existence of himself as Chicano and the importance of speaking
English.
“Ready, mama,” Deborah called. She said that in school the teachers let them speak only in English. I wondered how I would be able to speak to the teachers. (Anaya, 1999, p.35)
She had been to school two years and she spoke only English. She was teaching Theresa and half the time I didn’t understand what they
were saying.
(Anaya, 1999, p.12)
From those excerpts, it is understood that somehow their mother
tongue should be abandoned in order to follow the dominant society from
which Chicanos start to realize that they are different, that they are Chicanos,
and that is the making sense of being Chicanos. Antonio realized that he could
no longer speak only Spanish after he went to school, he must learn English. It
highlights how school undermines the monolingualism and promotes bilingual
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culture to the family. School becomes the active agent for the Chicanos to
absorb American values and enforce children to decline the Spanish language.
The greatest sense of being lost and marginalized in the middle of
Anglos is portrayed vividly when Antonio arrived at the school looking for
Miss Maestas, a teacher who spoke Spanish. At this point, Antonio realized
the great barrier between his world and that of the Anglo society; he tried to
understand what the Anglos spoke, but it seemed so strange and hard for him
to understand.
Somehow I got to the school grounds, but I was lost. The school was larger than I had expected. Its huge, yawning doors were menacing. I looked for Deborah and Theresa but every face I saw was strange. I looked again at the doors of the sacred halls but I was too afraid to enter. My mother had said to go to Miss Maestas, but I did not know where to begin to find her. I had come to the town, and I had come to school, and I was very lost and afraid in the nervous, excited swarm of kids.
[…] I turned and looked into the eyes of a strange red-haired boy. He
spoke English, a foreign tongue. “First grade” was all I could
answer. (Anaya, 1999, p.60)
[..] She pointed at me but I did not understand her. Then the other boys and girls laughed and pointed at me. I did not feel good. Thereafter I kept away from the groups as much as I could and
worked alone. I worked hard. I listened to the strange sounds. I learned new names, new words.
(Anaya, 1999, p. 61)
From the excerpts, it is understood that it is not easy for Chicanos to melt with
Anglos culture, especially for adolescence like Antonio who was still figuring
out the sense of self from the surrounding. The more Antonio saw the
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differences between himself and the others, the more he realized being
himself and being a part of his community. As adolescence, Antonio‟s self
awareness came from the differences he noticed in his surrounding and
environment.
This part of the story actually reveals the part of Anaya‟s reality of
childhood experience in his early years spent in school; how Anaya got
“shocked” moving from Spanish-speaking community into English-speaking
community, although finally survived with the help of his teacher. Anaya,
who had been speaking Spanish since childhood in the family, had to face his
first ethnic awareness as Chicanos, which is different from the Anglos. “I had
always known that I was brown, that I was mejicano, in the language of my
community, that we were poor. But those had been elements of pride, and
now something had come to separate us” (Olmos, 1999, p. 4).
The return of Antonio‟s brothers also made Antonio examine the
differences around him. Antonio noticed the difference in his brothers since
they went back from war. His brothers seemed like lost men for Antonio.
They would not listen to his parents‟ dream, they hoped for living a life of
their own. Antonio‟s firstly noticed the changes in his brothers were due to the
war sickness. Yet, gradually, Antonio realized that it was because the
American values that they got since they were gone for war; Antonio‟s
brothers felt they got self-reliance during fighting the war, they could
determine their future without being tied to their parent‟s dreams. commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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“I don’t care what it is, Andy!” Eugene shot back. “I just feel tied
down! I can’t breathe!” “And papa is still talking about California,” Leon said dreamily
“That’s a bunch of bullshit!” Gene spit. “He knows damn well mama would never move—“ “And that we won’t go with him,” Andrew finished.
Eugene scowled. “That’s right! We won’t! He doesn’t realize we’re grown men now. Hell, we fought a war! He had his time to run around, now he’s getting old, and he still has the kids to think about. Why we should be tied down to him?” Andrew and Leon looked at Gene and they knew he was speaking the truth. The war had changed them. Now they needed to lead their own lives. (Anaya, 1999, p.69-70)
Antonio got an empty feeling when he saw his brothers, he did not feel
that they were like they used to before they went for war. The way Eugene
spoke with cursing and the views that his brothers had for the future were all
different from Antonio‟s. The understanding that Antonio got so far was
positioned oppositely to his brothers. Although Antonio still would not know
whether he followed his mother or father‟s dream, but he did not want to
betray the hope his parents had for him. Antonio saw that his brothers would
rather follow their own wants than followed their parents‟.
“I mean papa’s dream about moving to California, and mama’s wanting us to settle along the valley—“ he said. They looked at each
other uneasily. All their lives they had lived with the dreams of their father and mother haunting them, like they haunted me.
“Hell, Andy,” Gene said softly, “we can’t build our lives on their dreams. We’re men, Andy, we’re not boys any longer. We can’t be tied down to old dreams—“
“Yeah,” Andrew answered, “I guess inside I know you’re right,” I felt very sad when he said that.
“And, they still have Tony,” Gene said and looked at me. “Tony will be her priest,” he laughed. “Tony will be her farmer,” Leon added. commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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“And her dream will be complete and we will be free!” Gene
shouted. (Anaya, 1999, p.71)
The excerpt above shows the refusal of Antonio‟s brother to follow the
dreams of their parents. In other words, they thought that Antonio was the one
to make their parents dream come true to cherish the cultures and way of life
of the Chicanos. In contrast, Antonio‟s brothers felt free and got more
freedom to continue the life of their own. The desire of Antonio‟s brothers to
pursue their own life illustrates the conflict between two aspirations
surrounding Antonio. On the other hand, there is the aspiration to live for new
opportunities in America, to be free from tradition; and on the other hand, the
wishes of the parents to make their children keepers of the old values. Even
though Antonio also felt haunted by his parents‟ dream, he did not want to
make them sad.
B. Ultima and Antonio’s Affirmation of Chicano Identities
The coming of Ultima into Marez family is the time when Antonio starts
out to learn something that he cannnot get from his parents, school, or cathecism.
Even the first time Antonio hears the name “Ultima”, he feels that there would be
something special within Ultima. Indeed, Antonio and Ultima are spiritually
connected to each other. While the conflict of values and cultures surrounding
Antonio have baffled Antonio and confused Antonio, he finally overcomes his
internal conflict by the help of Ultima through the learning process given by her. commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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Antonio learns so much about the nature, and how the spirit of it shares with
human beings and how it has given powers to human and human‟s life. Antonio‟s
first encounter with Ultima is described to suggest the full meaning of Ultima‟s
presence to Antonio as the one who makes him able to sense and see the reality of
life and surroundings. As Anaya described in the novel:
She took my hand, and I felt the power of whirlwind sweep around me. Her eyes swept the surrounding hills through them I saw for the first time the wild beauty of our hills and the magic of green river. My nostrils quivered as I felt the song of the mockingbirds and the drone of the grasshoppers mingle with the pulse of the earth. The four directions of the llano met in me, and the white sun shone on my soul. The granules of sand at my feet and the sun and sky above me seemed to dissolve into one strange, complete being. (Anaya, 1999, p.12)
The presence of Ultima to Antonio in the novel has a significant meaning to the
Chicano identities formation. Ultima is as the one who opens Antonio‟s mind to
understand and accept the Chicano‟s way of life. Ultima guides Antonio not to
forget the Chicano culture and roots by taking meaning of the land, presenting
traditional healing practice, and Chicano spiritual life. In this regard, Anaya put
emphasis on these three important points in a way to construct and assert Chicano
identities.
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1. The Significance of Land
In a way to affirm the identities of Chicano, Anaya revealed these
native/indigenous cultural values. One of which values is the meaning of
land which contributes as one element to form the Chicano identities.
In the spirit of a new people that is conscious not only for its proud historical heritage but also the brutal „gringo‟ invasion of our territories, we, the Chicano inhabitants and civilizers of the northern land of Aztlan from whence came our forefathers, reclaiming the land of their birth and consecrating the determination of our people of the sun, declare that the call of our blood is our power, our responsibility, and our inevitable destiny. (Anaya & Lomeli cited in Jacobs, 2006, p.121)
Above Anaya noted that the meaning of land is important to give Chicanos
an identity among the „gringo‟ or the Americans (the Anglos); the land
connects the Chicanos to their roots, heritage, and birth. In the novel, Anaya
was speaking through Ultima who was portrayed as a concrete account of the
indigenous culture. Ultima‟s way of life was described thoroughly by Anaya
as a figure who lived the life based on indigenous values such as traditional
view towards the life by sharing power with nature and embracing the natural
sacredness.
It is so important to include land as one of the areas to define the
Chicano cultural identities since Chicanos always appreciate and take
meaning of land within their life. Land can be as meaningful as water which
provides resource and life. Land is associated with “a site of birth, death,
home, family, ancestors, yet also reminder of dispossession and the struggle
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to survive” (Counihan, 2009, p.44). This view about land is so much
influenced by the native‟s attitudes towards the land.
From the beginning of the story, Anaya already stated the description
of land and how it is inseparable from human and life. It is like when
Antonio‟s father recollected the past times; the past is connected to the land
rooted in the land.
He spoke Spanish, and the village he mentioned was his home. My father had been a vaquero all his life, a calling as ancient as the coming of Spaniard to Nuevo Mejico. Even after the big rancheros and tejanos came and fenced the beautiful llano, he and those like him continued to work there, I guess because only in that wide expanse of land and sky could they feel the freedom they spirits needed. (Anaya, 1999, p.2) Similarly, Antonio‟s dream of his soul wandering over the hills of llano to
recognize places, houses, and his birth established his connection to land.
In my dream I flew over the rolling hills of the llano. My soul
wandered over the dark plain until it came a cluster of adobe huts. I recognized the village of Las Pasturas and my heart grew happy. One
mud hut had a lighted window, and the vision of my dream swept me towards it to be witness the birth of baby
(Anaya, 1999, p.5)
As implied in the quote above, the land is also connected with the birth, the
beginning of life. Land is „the past‟, the „now‟, and „the future‟—the starting
of life, the existence of life, and the end of life. All of the things come from
land and will finally be back to the land as well. This view towards land is
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explicitly stated within the novel, and this view had been the traditional
values of the Indians.
I had learned that man is of the earth, that is the clay feet are part of the ground that nourishes him, and that it is this inextricable mixture
that gives man his measure of safety and security. Because man plants in the earth he believes in the miracle of birth, and provides a home for his family, and he builds a church to preserve his faith and the soul that is bound to his flesh, his clay. (Anaya, 1999, p.242)
The land gave so many meanings towards the life as well as its continuity.
By respecting land, humans could live the traditions, gain wealth, and serve
good deeds. “part of the ground that nourishes him” denotes how land has
been the source of wealth—source of foods to live. Land is viewed as
“miracle of birth” which people begin to live the tradition, the culture. It is
also a place where man “builds a church to preserve his faith and the soul”
in order to serve good deeds throughout the life.
The description of llano connects Antonio with the reminiscence of
the childhood time, the birth all of Marez‟ children, the home of Antonio‟s
father.
She took my hand, and the silent, magic powers she possessed made beauty from the raw, sun-baked llano, the green river valley, and the blue bowl which was the white sun’s home. My bare feet felt the
throbbing earth and my body trembled with excitement. (Anaya, 1999, p.1)
The part of story above illustrates the close relationship between land and
life. It also symbolizes the link to the past, the history of life because land is
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defined as the origin of people, where they were from. It is Ultima who
actually guides Antonio into the understanding of how meaningful land to
life. In understanding that the land gives so much meaning to life, Antonio is
guided by Ultima.
The teaching from Ultima about the land and nature gives Antonio
recognition to his heritage and roots. Land as the place where Antonio comes
from; the place where Antonio is tied down with the culture.
She took my hand, and I felt the power of whirlwind sweep around me. Her eyes swept the surrounding hills through them I saw for the first time the wild beauty of our hills and the magic of green river. My nostrils quivered as I felt the song of the mockingbirds and the drone of the grasshoppers mingle with the pulse of the earth. The four directions of the llano met in me, and the white sun shone on my soul. The granules of sand at my feet and the sun and sky above me seemed to dissolve into one strange, complete being. (Anaya, 1999, p.12)
The excerpt above shows the beginning when Antonio met Ultima for
the first time. The cosmic language that Anaya used to describe Ultima is an
assertion about the importance of landscape within the indigenous values.
Antonio can feel at the very first time that Ultima carries big power about
knowing the nature and the land. Ultima opens Antonio‟s mind to see that
nature is great, good, powerful, and at the same time, a reminder of where he
is from. The beauty of llano denotes the place where Antonio‟s father is
from, and green river depicts the place where Antonio‟s mother is from (the
valley of the Lunas was close to the river). In addition, the other components
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such as the song of mockingbirds, sun, sky made it complete to be called as
beautiful landscape. The phrases “the pulse of the earth” and the word
“magic” in the quote above confirm the idea of a living nature. Antonio
believes that through Ultima he would understand the beauty of the
landscape and finally understand his self.
Historically, the indigenous were so attached with the land; they
believed that landscape and particular sense of place in which they settled
were tied spiritually with humans and life (Moore & Pachon, 1976, p.31).
Then this myth was passed down and had shaped the life of Mexicans and
Mexican Americans as well.
I don‟t believe a person can be born and raised in the Southwest and not be affected by the land. The landscape changes the man, and the man becomes his landscape. (“Writer‟s Landscape” cited in Olmos, 1999, p.2)
Chicanos are also determined by U.S native historical connection (Contreraz,
2008). It is how they are connected to the historical experience of the
indigenous people of the Southwest part of America.
Through the story Anaya also asserts that land is significant thing to
respect, remember, and reminisce throughout the life. BMU is a novel rich
with the meanings of land—the link of land with human by describing family
history, birth, death, ancestral ties, spiritual relationship, cultural attachment,
and historical meanings. Counihan quoted from a friend of her who is the
chief of Native American about the meaning of land: “Life is a rebirth in one
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form or another. Just remember that people in life, locally, came from land.
Everything goes back to the land” (Counihan, 2009, p.55). In other words,
land gives resources to the survival of humans and therefore humans will go
back to the land where they are from.
From the family history described since the opening of the story,
Anaya portrayed the family history of Antonio Marez who was born in a
family from llano and El Puerto, rancher and farmer. The Marez and the
Lunas have different view about the future for Antonio but both of them
agree to put emphasize on taking meanings of land throughout the life of
Antonio. The story of the Lunas as farmers began historically with the story
of land grants in the southwest. The brothers of Antonio‟s mother were the
land grants for Llano Estacado. “They were the first colonizers of Llano
Estacado. It was the Lunas who carried the charter from Mexican
government to settle the valley,” (Anaya, 1999, p.55). From this place, it is
interpreted that the indigenism of the Chicanos (Antonio and family) are
rooted in here; and that is why the Chicanos have a strong bond with the land
as they grow up and set a life. In brief, these roots and heritage undeniably
connect the Chicanos with their ancestry which awakens their nationalism
and their national identity.
The novel clearly describes the connection to the land through so
many examples within the characters like Antonio, Ultima, Antonio‟s father,
and Antonio‟s mother. They all had the same point of view about the land, commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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that land is significant in life. The land connected Antonio with the birth,
Ultima with the source of revival—the herbs she got to cure people grew on
the land, Antonio‟s parents with the traditional values about vaquero‟s and
farmer‟s culture. In short, land gives everything in life.
2. Ultima and The Healing Power
Ultima as a curandera is also seen as a woman who has control, at
least to her own life and destiny since a curandera learns how to understand
the power of nature, to manage the body and souls from destruction of the
life, and to comprehend that nature has sacredness. The term curandera
means “a woman who practices folk medicine; an herb doctor”
(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/curandera). The concept of being a
curandera plays a great role in the middle of Chicano community.
Curandera as the important part of traditional ideology gives a certainty of
women role within the Chicano community system. The power of curandera
is more curative than doctors or even priest. Therefore, it is inevitable if a lot
of Chicanos still believe in the power of curandera; and becoming a
curandera will not be possible without the careful understanding of the earth.
BMU also presents curandera as one of powerful figures in order to
deliver historical memories and symbol with which Chicano‟s tradition is
tied. The cultural identities of Chicanos can also be seen from the existence
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One of the examples is traditional healing practiced by curandera or folk-
healer. These enriching elements to the Chicano cultural truth help the lives
function of Chicanos within the society. Through the ritual method to heal,
curandera represents the ethnic beliefs and practices. Curandera, as the
powerful figure in Chicano mythic tradition, can manage relationship with
nature, thus it is seen as a figure having control of life and destiny. The bond
with the nature also signifies nurturing figure as curandera tries to
understand earth/nature. Therefore, the representative image illustrated by
curandera throughout the novel is the „healing/recovering from the
devastation in the society‟. In a narrow sense, it could be the healing process
from the evil things to be good; the process of being „Limbo‟ to become an
enlightened being.
Although in recent days people are acquainted with sophisticated
technologies, many Chicanos who still want to strongly hold this cultural
heritage, still believe in the power of nature and the role of curandera to heal
illness. This traditional healing somehow depends on the knowledge about
plants, herb medicine, curative nature that became the basis for recent or
modern medicine. BMU is rich with references to some herbs medicine from
plants. Antonio accompanied Ultima gathering medicine plants such as yerba
del manso, oregano, osha, etc. “Of all the plants we gathered none was
endowed with so much magic as the yerba del manso. It could cure burns,
sores, piles, colic in babies, bleeding dysentery and even rheumatism” commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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(BMU, p.43). Yerba del manso is one of the herb medicines that Chicanos
still believe its curative power.
It is like la yerba del manso, a cure for everything. It cures coughs or colds, cuts and bruises, rheumatism and stomach troubles, and my
father once said the old sheepherders used it to keep poisonous snakes away from their bedrolls by sprinkling them with osha powder. It was a mixture with osha that Ultima washed my face and arms and feet the night Lupito was killed. (Anaya, 1999, p.43)
The other plants which are also used by curandera to make remedy were
osha and oregano. Osha is a wild celery to cure such diseases like
rheumatism, stomachache, and bruises.
Such practices (folk healing and using herb medicines) exist in
Mexico, even though there is no guarantee that Chicanos these days still
involve the role of curandera in their life. Nonetheless, the traditional
healing can be the mark of Chicano cultural heritage that is frequently
referred in 1960‟s literary texts such as BMU which was intended to search,
awaken, and form Chicano identity. In BMU, that curandera has more power
than doctor to cure the ill or a priest to remove evil curse in somebody‟s body
and soul is more convincingly stated. It is illustrated when Ultima lifted the
curse over Antonio‟s uncle, Lucas.
The power of the doctors and the power of church had failed to cure my uncle. Now everyone depended upon Ultima’s magic. Was it
possible there was more power in Ultima’s magic than in the priest?
(Anaya, 1999, p.103)
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The excerpt above illustrates how Ultima becomes the sign of the solution
for curing uncle Lucas who is cursed by the witch (Tenorio‟s daughter). She
put the evil curse over uncle Lucas.
Manuelito said he tried to turn the cows back, but they were already too near that evil place, and he was afraid. He tried to warn Lucas to stay away from that place. Dusk was falling and there were evil signs in the air, the owls were crying to the early horned moon— (Anaya, 1999, p.89)
Manuelito was the last person Lucas spoke to. Ay, that Lucas is so thick-headed, and so full of courage, he spurred his horse into the brush of the evil place— (Anaya, 1999, p.90) Antonio then sees the reality that there exists the wickedness surrounding
him; that even being good and brave man like uncle Lucas can be threatened
by the evil. This point suggests the starting point when Antonio is open to
learn the healing process with Ultima in order to understand about good and
evil.
The way to hold on Chicano traditional values that Antonio and
family hold is by involving the role of curandera which shows the mark of
Chicano identity. Antonio gets through the journey to learn folk healing by
helping Ultima in the process of curing uncle Lucas. It is Ultima who wants
Antonio and asks a favor to Maria to allow herself bringing Antonio. “Evil is
not easy to destroy, one needs all the help one can get. The boy will have to
go with me” (Anaya, 1999, p.93). Then, Ultima comes with Antonio to El
Puerto to see and cure uncle Lucas.
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All of the preparations are ready to start the healing process, and
Antonio starts to learn helping a curandera. During the healing process,
Antonio closely paid attention to the steps that Ultima took to heal.
Curandera always has such first ritual before giving the remedy, namely
burning some sweet incense. Ultima commands Antonio to make a fire for
Ultima to burn the sweet incense. “She lit the kerosene lantern while I made
the fire, then she burned some sweet incense” (Anaya, 1999, p.100). Its smell
could be purposely soothing for the sick; and it could mean „purifying all the
bad things to go away‟. Then, Ultima begins to give her first remedy for
uncle Lucas by mixing all the herbs she already gathered.
Ultima prepared her first remedy. She mixed kerosene and water and carefully warmed the bowl on the stove. She took many herbs and roots from her black bag and mixed them into warm oily water. She muttered as she stirred her mixture and I did not catch all of what she said. (Anaya, 1999, p.101)
That is the example of how Ultima gives the remedy, and it broadens
Antonio‟s mind to know such things that he cannot get from other people.
Besides, it also makes Antonio believe in the power and the sacredness of
nature. Antonio learns to take meaning that every single thing from nature is
useful for the lives, for example „blue corn‟ which was so effective in giving
energy to people. “There is much good in blue corn meal. The Indians hold it
it sacred, and why not, on the day we can get uncle Lucas to eat a bowl of
atole then he shall be cured. Is that not sacred” (Anaya, 1999, p.102). This is
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also a part where Chicano is tied with the past, taking and keeping this
cultural heritage to be one of the ideal characteristics of Chicano‟s way of
life; tracking back traditional values to be the Chicano identity.
Ultima gives more understanding about traditional values that
Antonio could grasp. Ultima‟s knowledge in curing the sick is more inclusive
of other belief system; it relies on the tradition and the sacredness. From the
experience of Antonio in healing uncle Lucas and Ultima‟s successful way to
give back the life spirit of uncle Lucas, it is understood that the spirituality
that Chicanos had was not merely about Catholicism. The novel illustrates
the balance of Catholicism and spiritual connection with nature—both living
hand in hand, not conflicting, among the Chicanos. The novel emphasizes
more in the sacredness of nature power as the Chicano‟s traditional values.
Moreover, Ultima also performs the moral values about “the good
will always win over the evil” which means spirituality is not only about
relationship with God and nature, but also about doing good deeds. These
moral values are all proved true by Antonio based on both Catechism lessons
he was through and lessons he got from Ultima in healing uncle Lucas. The
process of healing uncle Lucas could also mean that the bad would be cured
by the good through series of spiritual process. Ultima delivers the
knowledge about this healing to make Antonio see about good and evil; and
the traditional curing heritage helps Antonio see the roots of his people.
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However, Ultima is also sometimes associated with bruja or a witch,
since a curandera also owns spiritual power. Based on mythical belief of
Chicanos, curandera could also be a bruja since curandera has power to put
and lift the curse, but mostly currandera never chooses to do so. Curandera
uses the power to do positive things.
[…] “Ultima was a curandera, a woman who knew the herbs and remedies of the ancients, amiracle-worker who could heal the sick. And I heard that Ultima could lift the curses laid by brujas, that she could exorcise the evil the witches planted in people to make them sick. And because a curandera had this power she was misunderstood and often suspected of practicing witchcraft herself” (Anaya, 1999, p.4) Within Chicano mythical belief, the image of curandera can be more than
just a healer, she could be midwives as well. In BMU, it is mentioned that
Ultima as curandera who has helped bring the Marez family into life and a
lot of things she has served for others‟ lives. Like what Antonio‟s mother
said “… I could not have survived without la Grande’s help (Ultima). Oh
those were hard years,“ (Antonio, 1999, p.3). Ultima has helped Maria to
give birth all of her children including Antonio.
All of the good deeds that have been done by Ultima convince
Antonio about the lessons he has learned. Through this healing process,
Ultima is essential to make Antonio understand about good and evil; to
renew the soul to be a good one through spiritual connection; and also about
God and God‟s spirit. To feel the God‟s spirit is through the spirit of nature
that gives people life to do good things; and as a culture keeper, Antonio also commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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learns the roots of Chicano culture through Ultima. Through all of these
characters, Anaya took these cultural values to affirm the identities of
Chicanos.
3. Ultima and the Maturation of Antonio’s Spirituality
Antonio is in search of understanding Catholicism and the indigenous
myth; and the coming of Ultima to live with Marez‟s family helps Antonio to
cope with the questions of holding on both Catholicism and the myth the
Chicanos have. From the basic thing he learned with Ultima is to know that
there are powers that nature gives to humans and human‟s life. To feel the
greatness of the nature somehow contributes to Antonio‟s understanding
about the conflicts he is facing in order to accept the realities in his life.
The role of Ultima and her spirituality is important in guiding
Antonio to have an understanding about the spiritual connection with the
nature. It is Ultima who opens Antonio‟s mind to observe and grasp things
around him. The first time meeting with Ultima, Antonio is open with the
spiritual landscape she has.
She took my hand, and I felt the power of whirlwind sweep around
me. Her eyes swept the surrounding hills through them I saw for the first time the wild beauty of our hills and the magic of green river. My nostrils quivered as I felt the song of the mockingbirds and the drone
of the grasshoppers mingle with the pulse of the earth. The four directions of the llano met in me, and the white sun shone on my soul.
The granules of sand at my feet and the sun and sky above me seemed to dissolve into one strange, complete being. (Anaya, 1999, p.12) commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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Antonio tries to gradually see the beauty of nature which connects human
and the life. Through this nature realm, Antonio grows to be a complete
individual who is able to see that something can be viewed not only from his
Catholicism doctrine but also the Chicano traditional values that bring him to
trace his lineage.
The spirit of the nature is shared to human‟s life. Therefore,
respecting nature is all important to the continuity of life. Antonio is told to
feel that all the things surround him are alive, such as river, blowing wind,
etc. Then, Antonio begins to feel the presence of the river; that it could speak
to human and connect to the soul of human; as if the blowing wind spoke to
him.
We were silent for a long time, lost in memories that the murmur of the mourning wind carried across the treetops. Cotton from the trees drifted lazily in the heavy air. The silence spoke, not with the harsh sounds, but softly to the rhythm of our blood.
“What is it?” I asked, for I was still afraid. “It is the presence of the river,” Ultima answered. I held my breath and looked at the giant, gnarled cottonwood trees
that surrounded us. Somewhere a bird cried, and up on the hill the tinkling sound of a cowbell rang. The presence was immense, lifeless, yet throbbing with its secret message.
“Can it speak?” I asked and drew closer to Ultima. “If you listen carefully—“ She whispered.
“Can you speak to it?” I asked as the whirling, haunting sound touched us “Ay, my child,” Ultima smiled and touched my head, “you want to
know so much—“ And the presence was gone.
(Anaya, 1999, p.45)
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It is the part when Antonio starts to learn the presence shared between
nature and human; and during his learning process, he comes up with
questions. It suggests meaning that there is the spiritual sacredness; and
without too much questioning will keep its spiritual feeling and connection
whih is emphasized on the line “you want to know so much—“And the
presence was gone. The language that Anaya used to describe the nature, it
suggests that the nature really speaks to human and it somehow gives
spiritual connection or even immersion between nature and humans.
Chicanos believe that the nature is manifestation of God and God‟s power,
therefore there is a very close connection between humans and nature since
the nature shared spirit as the spirit from God.
And I was happy with Ultima. We walked together in the llano and along the river banks to gather herbs and roots for her medicines. She taught me the names of plants and flowers, of trees and bushes, of birds and animals; but most important, I learned from her that there
was a beauty in the time of day and in the time of night, and that there
was peace in the river and the hills. She taught me to listen to the mystery of the groaning earth and to feel complete in the fulfillment of its time. My soul grew under her careful guidance.
I had been afraid of the awful presence of the river, which was the soul of the river, but through her I learned that my spirit shared in the spirit of all things. But the innocence which our isolation sheltered
could not last forever, and the affairs of the town began to reach across our bridge and enter my life.
(Anaya, 1999, p.16)
Antonio seems to gradually grasp that he does not only feel
companion from Ultima, but he also feels that Ultima will be the initial
teacher before he attends school. It is like Antonio learns spirituality from
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small thing first. Ultima gives a little by little portion to recognize the real
spirit that nature shared with human. “My soul grew under her careful
guidance” denotes how Ultima touches the soul of Antonio and brings him
to feel the greatness of the nature. Antonio experiences the guidance of
Ultima in leading his way towards the sacredness of the natural realm. The
view that Ultima has about the nature is simple that makes Antonio easy to
comprehend God‟s spirit through the spirit of the nature. This has been
something new that Antonio understands to find the way answering the
dilemma in understanding God based on the Catholic Church doctrine and
the myth Chicanos have been keeping. Through Ultima and her spirituality, it
gives Antonio the knowledge to comprehend more about spirituality without
betraying one of the beliefs he has been held onto. By tracing back the
traditional values, together with Ultima, Antonio realizes the position of
being Chicano within the American society. Anaya inserted these traditional
values in the story in order to mark its differences among other ethnic
groups.
The significant element within the Chicanos‟ spirituality implied in
the novel is the inclusiveness of myth which is also the basis for Chicanos‟
life. The traditional culture preserved by the Mexican society is taken from
the native‟s/indigenous‟ values namely the Indians (Aztec and Maya) who
are strongly connected to the nature. Therefore, the connection between
humans and nature are portrayed vividly in the story. That connection with commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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nature symbolizes of how much humans depend on the nature. The
(indigenous) myth was then also born from all of human‟s relations with
nature. The myth which the Chicanos believe in becomes something
significant in how they will shape the life as well. The sacredness of nature
ties humans with tradition. Then the tradition is passed down for generations
through stories which became myth and legend. Historical and cultural
realities trace this myth and legend as the way of Chicanos view the life and
hold onto understanding their spirituality connection (God and nature).
For Ultima, even the plants had a spirit, and before I dug she made me speak to the plant and tell it why we pulled it from its home in the earth. “You that grow well here in the erroyo by the dampness of the river, we lift you to make good medicine,” Ultima intoned softly and I found myself repeating after her. (Anaya, 1999, p.43)
In the story, it is also shown that treating nature is as good as treating
human since they are also living things which could give power and strength
to humans. Ultima is one of the figures being able to treat the nature
pleasingly where she could get the power from. Ultima speaks to the plants
to make permission; and that is what she teaches Antonio to do with the
nature. One plant would give up its life to give another life to other living
things, in this case humans. This concept of sharing power and spirit is the
keypoint to manifest spirituality relationship with both God and God‟s
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creature. It reflects the understanding ways of the Chicano‟s life by bringing
up the importance of traditional values.
Through the times Antonio being Ultima‟s companionship, he soon
understands how the spirit of nature connects to humans through all the
natural circumstances surrounded him. Little by little Antonio learns how to
pull out the plant from its home and to care with the nature. Ultima also
teaches Antonio to name vegetations, give him understanding that they live
like human, and give human power to live. In short, Ultima is the one who
comes at the right time when Antonio is seeking the answer for his dilemma
finding his identities, his self-position in his process of growing up.
In the hills Ultima was happy. There was a nobility to her walk that lent a grace to the small figure. I watched her carefully and imitated her walk, and when I did I found that I was no longer lost in the enormous landscape of hills and sky. I was a very important part of the teeming life of llano and the river. (Anaya, 1999, p.43)
The excerpt above reveals the elements that both of Antonio‟s parents hold:
llano (and river) and hills (and sky). Llano is closely related with the culture
of Antonio‟s father, and river is also related with Antonio‟s father family
name—Marez which actually means sea. River, in this sense, may denote the
small element of the sea, which mostly always signifies with „the restless‟. In
contrast to that, his mother with family name Luna (the moon), is symbolized
with the sky which could mean the light. In this sense, it is related with the
enlightment that the Lunas give to the society, like the Lunas family history
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by becoming priest (Luna priest). The hills denote the culture of the Lunas
who also become farmers. “no longer lost in the enormous landscape of hills
and sky” gives meaning how Antonio would find the way to make sure about
his part of himself belongs to mother‟s culture. Furthermore, “I was a very
important part of the teeming life of llano and the river” means how Antonio
would balance the culture he understood from his mother with the culture
from his father through the ways that Ultima showed him “I watched her
carefully and imitated her walk”. Afterall, it is convinced by the statement of
Antonio to his father about his identities that he would not only be Marez or
Luna but both, “Then maybe I do not have to be just Marez, or Luna,
perhaps I can be both—“ (Anaya, 1999, p.261).
Antonio becomes surer about deep spiritual connection between
human and nature on the day Ultima is dead, as he is witnessing that the
flowers die as well. Antonio has also examined the „crying owl‟ on the day
before the death of Ultima depicting that something bad is going to occur.
In the dark night we heard an owl sing. It was Ultima’s owl. It was the first sign of life we had heard around the ranch all day, and it lifted our spirits. Somehow the memory of the falling rocks faded with
the owl’s cry, and what had been frightening and unexplainable grew distant.
(Anaya, 1999, p. 247)
Antonio already feels that he is frightened about what would happen with
Ultima, despite he does not really know exactly whether the feeling is right or
not. Yet, he becomes aware with something going to occur around him.
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Although Ultima is eventually dead, the teaching to Antonio would
be always remembered. The experiences that Antonio have with Ultima open
the way to the maturation to be a good and wise man without forgetting his
identities as a Chicano.
“The owl is dead—“ was all I could say. I wanted to tell her that I had tried to come in time, but I could not speak. “Not dead, “ she smiled weakly, “but winging its way to new place, a new time—just as I am ready to fly—“ “You cannot die,” I cried. But in the dim of flickering light I saw the ashen pallorof death on her face. (Anaya, 1999, p. 275)
From the excerpt, it is understood that the death of Ultima is marked with the
death of Ultima‟s owl. However, the teaching, experiences, and knowledge
inherited to Antonio denotes that Ultima is not dead. In other words, the way
of life might be ended, which cannot be avoided due to transformation of
society; but the views, the values are already handed down to Antonio.
I dropped to my knees. “Bless Me, Ultima—“
Her hands touched my forehead and her last words were, “I bless you in the name of all that is good and strong and beautiful, Antonio. Always have the strength to live. Love life, and if despair enters your
heart, look for me in the evenings when the wind is gentle and the owls sing on the hills. I shall be with you—“
(Anaya, 1999, p.276)
The blessing Ultima gives for Antonio is a spiritual strength that would
always connect Antonio with the Chicano cultural values.
Most importantly, Antonio finally grasps the beauty in time and a
peace in places; all the good things that he has learned from Ultima help him
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feel those beauty and peace. The learning process that Antonio gets from
Ultima is enough to find ways to break all the mysteries of his dilemma.
Antonio has understood his position within his dilemma; Antonio
understands the way he knows identities; that embracing, keeping, and
respecting all of those traditional values are important to form his identities
as a Chicano. Although the first understanding that Antonio got is influenced
by his religion, Catholic, the teaching from Ultima about the land and nature
has opened his mind to finally understand himself and his identity.
The teaching from Utima and the learning process he goes through
with Ultima makes Antonio more matured in accepting the realities he is
facing such as the evil curse from Trementina to his uncle, the baffling myth
of Golden Carp, and the position of himself in his family. The conflicts
which Antonio has faced during the learning process are finally resolved by
the help of Ultima. Through how Antonio‟s conflicts are resolved, Anaya
tries to affirm the traditional values of Chicano which later become the
characteristic of Chicano cultures that give ideal identities to Chicanos.
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CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
A. Conclusion
The analysis in the previous chapter is intended to answer the research
question which is mentioned in the first chapter, that is “How does Rudolfo Anaya’s
novel, Bless Me Ultima construct Chicano identities in 1960’s?”. It then can be
concluded from the analysis that the formation of Chicano identities in 1960’s in
Bless Me, Ultima are illustrated through the main character, Antonio and also the
conflicts faced by Antonio. Then, Anaya affirmed the Chicano traditional values as
the mark of Chicano identity through Antonio and other characters who keep and
manifest those values in life.
1. The surrounding conflicting cultures faced by Antonio
It is concluded that Anaya presents the conflicting cultures portrayed in
Antonio’s life in a way to search and construct the identities of Chicanos. Antonio
is surrounded by conflicting cultures such as the vaquero culture vs. the llano
culture, Catholicism vs. the indigenous myth, and the Chicano culture vs the
Anglo culture. All of these conflicts baffle Antonio in finding out the position of
of himself in family and community and in making sense of being Chicano. In
this stage, Antonio starts to learn identifying himself, his position within his
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family and society, and also his Chicano blood among the American society.
However, these conflicting cultures bring Antonio to trace back the traditional
values of Chicanos which link up to the roots of Chicano, to the Chicano’s
ancestry: the indigenous/native American.
2. Affirming the traditional values as the mark of Chicano identities through
Antonio’s learning process with Ultima
Anaya in Bless Me Ultima tried to construct the Chicano identities through
the illustration about traditional values revealed by especially Antonio and
Ultima. Then, Anaya emphasized on marking these traditional values as the
“otherness” of Chicano community; and it became the ideal characteristic within
Chicano community which is distinctive from other ethnic group.
Chicano culture is marked with how the Chicanos take meaning of land
like what is portrayed by Anaya through the characters in the novel especially
Ultima, Antonio, and Antonio’s parents. They respect the land as the source of
living and life, the place that connects to the history of life and society, and also
the place in which the Chicanos share the spirits. The Chicanos take all of these
meanings to live their cultural life and to get their existence within the American
society.
Another implicit way to show the mark of ideal Chicano characteristic is
through the illustration of curandera who embraces the nature: taking meanings
of the land and having spiritual connection with the nature. The spiritual
connection and the attitude towards the nature that curandera performs is through commit to user perpustakaan.uns.ac.id digilib.uns.ac.id
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the traditional values handed down from the indigenous, the roots of the
Chicanos. Anaya researched these traditional values and then constructed it to
become the identities of Chicanos. Furthermore, this representation of traditional
healing practiced by curandera also presents the Chicano spiritual life. Therefore,
Ultima as a curandera contributes significantly to Antonio’s spiritual maturation.
The help from Ultima for Antonio to finally have spiritual maturation gives
message that the Chicano spiritual life has been different from other ethnic
groups.
In the 1960’s, when Anaya wrote and finished this novel, was the time of
the rise of Chicano community to be recognized in the American society. To get
position being acknowledged by the society, Anaya researched the identities and
used these constructed identities through the literary works to awaken the
Chicanos that they have identities, they need to be recognized, to be
acknowledged, to have the same rights in the American society.
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B. Recommendation
Anaya’s novel Bless Me Ultima has rich cultural issues of Chicanos. To
explore the identities construction of Chicano is only a slight part of issues that could
be observed about Chicanos and their cultural life. Having research on the
construction of Chicano identities, the researcher did not find any significant
difficulties, but rather it had given challenge to research on this subject since there
was still few research about Chicanos in American studies (Sebelas Maret University)
especially based on the view of ethnic studies.
Another possibility to research on the same subject is still wide open from the
same novel, Bless Me Ultima, or from other series of Anaya’s novels. From the issues
about cultural life of Chicanos, it can be analyzed more deeply in the issues like
gender role in the Chicano’s life or the contradiction of curandera’s power of bruja’s
power, and etc. It is interesting that such issues about identities are closely related
with the recent issues. That people in this global life these days have more and
vaguer, vanished identities or even some of them have lost identities. Some of people
these days also begin to trace back their roots to find back their identities. Therefore,
there is still a wide scope of research that can be further conducted dealing with this
identities issue. It can be observed by drawing a comparison between one ethnic
group with another one and how they are proud with their identity, or how significant
the identities in these global era, etc.
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