DOCSLIB.ORG

The Life and Work of Gloria Anzaldúa: an Intellectual Biography

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Life and Work of Gloria Anzaldúa: an Intellectual Biography University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies Hispanic Studies 2012 THE LIFE AND WORK OF GLORIA ANZALDÚA: AN INTELLECTUAL BIOGRAPHY Elizabeth Anne Dahms University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Dahms, Elizabeth Anne, "THE LIFE AND WORK OF GLORIA ANZALDÚA: AN INTELLECTUAL BIOGRAPHY" (2012). Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies. 6. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/hisp_etds/6 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Hispanic Studies at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained and attached hereto needed written permission statements(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine). I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless a preapproved embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s dissertation including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Elizabeth Anne Dahms, Student Dr. Susan Carvalho, Major Professor Dr. Susan Larson, Director of Graduate Studies THE LIFE AND WORK OF GLORIA ANZALDÚA: AN INTELLECTUAL BIOGRAPHY ____________________________________ DISSERTATION ____________________________________ A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Elizabeth Anne Dahms Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Susan Carvalho, Professor of Hispanic Studies Lexington, Kentucky 2012 Copyright © Elizabeth Anne Dahms 2012 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION THE LIFE AND WORK OF GLORIA ANZALDÚA: AN INTELLECTUAL BIOGRAPHY The writings and life of Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa (1942-2004) have had an immense impact in a variety of disciplines. Her oft-cited text Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (1987) is included in many university courses’ reading lists for its contributions to discourses of hybridity, linguistics, intersectionality and women of color feminism, among others. Unfortunately, most scholars content themselves with the intricacies of Borderlands to the neglect of her corpus of work, which includes essays, books, edited volumes, children’s literature and fiction/autohistorias. This analysis presented here wishes to expand our understandings of Anzaldúa’s work by engaging with her pre- and post-Borderlands writings in an attempt to highlight the unrecognized contributions Anzaldúa offers to feminist theory, spirituality, spiritual activism, queer theory, expansive ideas of queerness and an articulation of alternative, non-Western epistemology. This project offers close readings of published and archival Anzaldúan text and draws parallels between her life and her writing. KEYWORDS: Gloria Anzaldúa, Spiritual Activism, Queerness, Queer Theory, Epistemology Elizabeth Dahms Student’s Signature May 3, 2012 Date THE LIFE AND WORK OF GLORIA ANZALDÚA: AN INTELLECTUAL BIOGRAPHY By Elizabeth Anne Dahms Susan Carvalho Dr. Susan Carvalho Susan Larson Dr. Susan Larson May 3, 2012 Date For Joyce Metz, who showed compassion and changed my educational track For my girls ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the incredible support and hard work of my Director Dr. Susan Carvalho. I am profoundly grateful for her careful and timely insights, meticulous editing, and continued encouragement. I also want to thank my dissertation committee, Drs. Susan Larson, Yanira Paz, Cristina Alcalde and Carol Mason, for their time, effort, and participation in this project. The collective contributions of this committed group of faculty members have played an essential role in helping to nurture both my scholarship and my spirit. I also want to thank AnaLouise Keating for her academic generosity. I want to also recognize the generosity of the University of Kentucky Graduate School, which enabled me to travel to the Gloria Anzaldúa Archives at the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Library at the University of Texas, Austin in August 2011 and pursue this research. Without the support of the Graduate School, the Department of Hispanic Studies and the Gender and Women’s Studies Department Bonnie Jean Cox Award, I would not have had the opportunities to develop this work at conferences and network with scholars in the field. I am also grateful to my colleague Jeff Zamostny for his model of academic rigor and generosity. In addition to the professional support that helped to see this project come to fruition, it could not have happened without the help and support of my family. Their wide-ranging support, both material and emotional, during the writing of this dissertation was an essential contribution to its completion. Finally, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Tori who exercised extreme patience and tireless understanding for my need for time and space to complete this project. And to our daughters, Willa and Sudi, who tolerated my absence. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. iii List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... vi Chapter One: Introduction: Gloria Anzaldúa: Always on the Other Side .......................... 1 Brief Biography..................................................................................................... 12 Anzaldúa’s Contributions in Borderlands/La Frontera ....................................... 15 Anzaldúa’s Legacy................................................................................................ 16 Why Anzaldúa?..................................................................................................... 20 Chapter Two: Shamanic Urgency and Two-Way Movement as Writing Style in the Works of Gloria Anzaldúa .......................................................................................... 26 Queer as Shaman................................................................................................... 36 A note on terminology .......................................................................................... 39 Marked at Birth ..................................................................................................... 42 Risking the Personal ............................................................................................. 49 The Quest: Writing as Shamanic Pilgrimage ........................................................ 51 Shamanic reconstruction ....................................................................................... 63 Feeding the body ................................................................................................... 70 Writing in the Night: “wounding is a deeper healing” ......................................... 74 Flying .................................................................................................................... 80 El Mundo Zurdo: The Path to Healing ................................................................. 84 Chapter Three: “You make the inner changes first, and then you make the outer changes”: Queerness, Spiritual Activism and Other ‘Unsafe’ Border Crossings ....... 92 Expanding: An Introduction ................................................................................. 92 Overview of Mainstream Queer Theory and Hames-García’s Counter- Genealogy ....................................................................................................... 95 Terminology.......................................................................................................... 98 Gloria Anzaldúa as Queer Writer AND Queer Theorist..................................... 100 Surveying the Queer Landscape of Anzaldúan scholarship ............................... 109 Shamanism and Spiritual Activism..................................................................... 116 Queer Theory in “El Paisano is a bird of good omen” ....................................... 119 Queerer than homosexual.................................................................................... 128 Compulsory Heterosexuality Highlights Difference .........................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Creating an Osage Future: Art, Resistance, and Self-Representation
    CREATING AN OSAGE FUTURE: ART, RESISTANCE, AND SELF-REPRESENTATION Jami C. Powell A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Anthropology. Chapel Hill 2018 Approved by: Jean Dennison Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld Valerie Lambert Jenny Tone-Pah-Hote Chip Colwell © 2018 Jami C. Powell ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Jami C. Powell: Creating an Osage Future: Art, Resistance, and Self-Representation (Under the direction of Jean Dennison and Rudolf Colloredo Mansfeld) Creating an Osage Future: Art, Resistance, and Self-Representation, examines the ways Osage citizens—and particularly artists—engage with mainstream audiences in museums and other spaces in order to negotiate, manipulate, subvert, and sometimes sustain static notions of Indigeneity. This project interrogates some of the tactics Osage and other American Indian artists are using to imagine a stronger future, as well as the strategies mainstream museums are using to build and sustain more equitable and mutually beneficial relationships between their institutions and Indigenous communities. In addition to object-centered ethnographic research with contemporary Osage artists and Osage citizens and collections-based museum research at various museums, this dissertation is informed by three recent exhibitions featuring the work of Osage artists at the Denver Art Museum, the Field Museum of Natural History, and the Sam Noble Museum at the University of Oklahoma. Drawing on methodologies of humor, autoethnography, and collaborative knowledge-production, this project strives to disrupt the hierarchal structures within academia and museums, opening space for Indigenous and aesthetic knowledges.
    [Show full text]
  • Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer Y La Influencia De Heinrich Heine, Por Linda Ojeda
    ENSAYOS / ESSAYS POESIA / POETRY InVerso Home A Critical Analysis of Bernal Diaz del Castillo’s La Conquista de Nueva España: Problems in Historiography. By Daniel Santana-Hernandez Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer y la influencia de Heinrich Heine, por Linda Ojeda Back to Issue 16 InVerso Home A Critical Analysis of Bernal Diaz del Castillo’s La Conquista de Nueva España: Problems in Historiography Daniel Santana-Hernandez Department of History, California State University, Northridge Abstract Of all the Spaniard accounts of the conquest of Mexico, Bernal Diaz Del Castillo’s are one of many that nurture the violent imaginations of historians citing pre-Cuauhtemoc Mesoamerican civilization. Castillo is well known for his first-hand experience in the conquest. He is especially known for his repeated accounts of supposed mass human sacrifice. He also paints us a picture of how great a captain he saw Hernan Cortes to be and how he felt they were on a mission to bring Christianity to the nation. Often historians may overlook the possibility that the conquistador’s accounts may have been grossly exaggerated. Here, I briefly explore Castillo’s La conquista de Nueva España (The Conquest of New Spain) and examine the fallacies that surround his written accounts such as the questionable intent of the Spaniards, his flawed portrayals of Mesoamerican civilization, and his supposed accounts of mass human sacrifice. Moreover, I relate this to contemporary problems in the field of historiography where historians may rely too heavily on the mistranslations and misinterpretations of amateur historians. Introduction Some historians rarely take into account the possibility of inaccuracies in Díaz’s writings.
    [Show full text]
  • SSEM: Native American Literature and Culture
    ENG 4973.004/HON 3233.002 Dr. Annette A. Portillo Fall 2010 Office: MB 2.482 Time: W 2-4:45p Office Hours: W 12-2p or by apt. Location: MB 1.208 e-mail: [email protected] NOTE: I reserve the right to make any changes deemed necessary and/or appropriate. Students are responsible for being aware of these changes. SSEM: Native American Literature and Culture Catalog Descriptions: 4973 Seminar for English Majors (3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: 12 upper-division semester credit hours in English. This undergraduate seminar, limited to English majors in their senior year, offers the opportunity to study a genre, author, or period in English or American literature. Content varies with each instructor. May be repeated once for credit when topics vary. 3233 Honors Seminar in Arts & Humanities (3-0) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Enrollment in the Honors College or consent of instructor. Interdisciplinary seminar that explores broad topics and themes in arts and humanities. May be repeated for credit when topics vary. Course Description: This interdisciplinary course seeks to examine American Indian experience and culture by reading literature, testimonies, and socio-historical essays. Our main objective will be to better understand the native stories and histories of independent sovereign nations who have persevered through genocide and 500+ years of colonization, assimilation, and in some cases the absolute destruction of their culture. This course will encourage you to critically examine instances of cultural tourism and popular media stereotypes that continue to perpetuate gross misconceptions about American Indian identity. There will be no romanticizing of the “vanishing race,” but rather this course will seek to represent Indians as real flesh and blood people who have their own stories and histories.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Re-Borderisation' in the South-Western Novels of Ana Castillo and Cormac Mccarthy
    Revista de Estudios Norteamericanos, nº 12 (2007), pp. 21-37 ‘RE-BORDERISATION’ IN THE SOUTH-WESTERN NOVELS OF ANA CASTILLO AND CORMAC MCCARTHY. PETER CARR Swansea University, UK Two novels of the US/Mexican borderlands published in the early 1990s achieved notable mainstream success and critical acclaim –So Far From God by Ana Castillo (first published in 1993) and All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (first published 1992). Here were two ostensibly very different South-Western novels which nevertheless managed to achieve a singular effect: in each case it was this novel that thrust an established, but limited-appeal, writer out of the gloom of academic readership and into the glare of mainstream literary celebrity. These texts, then, are crossover novels in two senses. They are of the margins in the sense that as novels of the borderlands they each deal with the interface of Mexican and Anglo cultures but they are also of the centre in that their multicultural narratives have been embraced by the mainstream. This paper argues two main points. The first is that the mainstream consumer-appeal of these novels –their successful commodification of multicultural images– actually relies upon the subtle repetition of myths of the borderlands in ways that that reinforce ethnic and cultural stereotypes. The second argument is that this process in the novels is part of a general mainstream ‘reborderization’ in the US in the early-to mid-1990s: a reactionary response to the perceived erosion of traditional concepts of national identity in an era dominated by post-modern trans- boundary forces exemplified by initiatives such as the North American Free Trade Agreement.
    [Show full text]
  • This Bridge Called My Back Writings by Radical Women of Color Editors: Cherrie Moraga Gloria Anzaldua Foreword: Toni Cade Bambara
    Winner0fThe 1986 BEFORECOLTJMBUS FOTJNDATION AMERICANBOOK THIS BRIDGE CALLED MY BACK WRITINGS BY RADICAL WOMEN OF COLOR EDITORS: _ CHERRIE MORAGA GLORIA ANZALDUA FOREWORD: TONI CADE BAMBARA KITCHEN TABLE: Women of Color Press a New York Copyright © 198 L 1983 by Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without permission in writing from the publisher. Published in the United States by Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, Post Office Box 908, Latham, New York 12110-0908. Originally published by Peresphone Press, Inc. Watertown, Massachusetts, 1981. Also by Cherrie Moraga Cuentos: Stories by Latinas, ed. with Alma Gomez and Mariana Romo-Carmona. Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1983. Loving in the War Years: Lo Que Nunca Paso Por Sus Labios. South End Press, 1983. Cover and text illustrations by Johnetta Tinker. Cover design by Maria von Brincken. Text design by Pat McGloin. Typeset in Garth Graphic by Serif & Sans, Inc., Boston, Mass. Second Edition Typeset by Susan L. Yung Second Edition, Sixth Printing. ISBN 0-913175-03-X, paper. ISBN 0-913175-18-8, cloth. This bridge called my back : writings by radical women of color / editors, Cherrie Moraga, Gloria Anzaldua ; foreword, Toni Cade Bambara. — 1st ed. — Watertown, Mass. : Persephone Press, cl981.[*] xxvi, 261 p. : ill. ; 22 cm. Bibliography: p. 251-261. ISBN 0-930436-10-5 (pbk.) : S9.95 1. Feminism—Literary collections. 2. Radicalism—Literary collections. 3. Minority women—United States—Literary collections. 4. American literature —Women authors. 5. American literature—Minority authors. 6. American literature—20th century. I. Moraga, Cherrie II.
    [Show full text]
  • Black Women, Educational Philosophies, and Community Service, 1865-1965/ Stephanie Y
    University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-2003 Living legacies : Black women, educational philosophies, and community service, 1865-1965/ Stephanie Y. Evans University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Evans, Stephanie Y., "Living legacies : Black women, educational philosophies, and community service, 1865-1965/" (2003). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 915. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/915 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. M UMASS. DATE DUE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST LIVING LEGACIES: BLACK WOMEN, EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES, AND COMMUNITY SERVICE, 1865-1965 A Dissertation Presented by STEPHANIE YVETTE EVANS Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2003 Afro-American Studies © Copyright by Stephanie Yvette Evans 2003 All Rights Reserved BLACK WOMEN, EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOHIES, AND COMMUNITY SERVICE, 1865-1964 A Dissertation Presented by STEPHANIE YVETTE EVANS Approved as to style and content by: Jo Bracey Jr., Chair William Strickland,
    [Show full text]
  • Teaching to Transgress: Education As the Practice of Freedom Would Be a Book of Essays Mostly Directed to Teachers
    Teaching to Transgress This page intentionally left blank Teaching to Transgress Education as the Practice of Freedom bell hooks Routledge New York London Published in 1994 by Published in Great Britain by Routledge Routledge Taylor & Francis Group Taylor & Francis Group 711 Third Avenue 2 Park Square New York, NY 10017 Milton Park, Abingdon Oxon OX14 4RN Copyright © 1994 Gloria Watkins All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data hooks, bell. Teaching to transgress : education as the practice of freedom / bell hooks p. cm. Includes index ISBN 0-415-90807-8 — ISBN 0-415-90808-6 (pbk.) 1. Critical pedagogy. 2. Critical thinking—Study and teaching. 3. Feminism and education. 4. Teaching. I. Title. LC196.H66 1994 370.11 '5—dc20 94-26248 CIP to all my students, especially to LaRon who dances with angels in gratitude for all the times we start over—begin again— renew our joy in learning. “. to begin always anew, to make, to reconstruct, and to not spoil, to refuse to bureaucratize the mind, to understand and to live life as a process—live to become ...” —Paulo Freire This page intentionally left blank Contents Introduction I Teaching to Transgress 1 Engaged Pedagogy 13 2 A Revolution of Values 23 The Promise of Multicultural
    [Show full text]
  • The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry
    0/-*/&4637&: *ODPMMBCPSBUJPOXJUI6OHMVFJU XFIBWFTFUVQBTVSWFZ POMZUFORVFTUJPOT UP MFBSONPSFBCPVUIPXPQFOBDDFTTFCPPLTBSFEJTDPWFSFEBOEVTFE 8FSFBMMZWBMVFZPVSQBSUJDJQBUJPOQMFBTFUBLFQBSU $-*$,)&3& "OFMFDUSPOJDWFSTJPOPGUIJTCPPLJTGSFFMZBWBJMBCMF UIBOLTUP UIFTVQQPSUPGMJCSBSJFTXPSLJOHXJUI,OPXMFEHF6OMBUDIFE ,6JTBDPMMBCPSBUJWFJOJUJBUJWFEFTJHOFEUPNBLFIJHIRVBMJUZ CPPLT0QFO"DDFTTGPSUIFQVCMJDHPPE The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry The Black Arts Enterprise and the Production of African American Poetry Howard Rambsy II The University of Michigan Press • Ann Arbor First paperback edition 2013 Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2011 All rights reserved Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America c Printed on acid-free paper 2016 2015 2014 2013 5432 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rambsy, Howard. The black arts enterprise and the production of African American poetry / Howard Rambsy, II. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-472-11733-8 (cloth : acid-free paper) 1. American poetry—African American authors—History and criticism. 2. Poetry—Publishing—United States—History—20th century. 3. African Americans—Intellectual life—20th century. 4. African Americans in literature. I. Title. PS310.N4R35 2011 811'.509896073—dc22 2010043190 ISBN 978-0-472-03568-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-472-12005-5 (e-book) Cover illustrations: photos of writers (1) Haki Madhubuti and (2) Askia M. Touré, Mari Evans, and Kalamu ya Salaam by Eugene B. Redmond; other images from Shutterstock.com: jazz player by Ian Tragen; African mask by Michael Wesemann; fist by Brad Collett.
    [Show full text]
  • Notes for the Downloaders
    NOTES FOR THE DOWNLOADERS: This book is made of different sources. First, we got the scanned pages from fuckyeahradicalliterature.tumblr.com. Second, we cleaned them up and scanned the missing chapters (Entering the Lives of Others and El Mundo Zurdo). Also, we replaced the images for new better ones. Unfortunately, our copy of the book has La Prieta, from El Mundo Zurdo, in a bad quality, so we got it from scribd.com. Be aware it’s the same text but from another edition of the book, so it has other pagination. Enjoy and share it everywhere! Winner0fThe 1986 BEFORECOLTJMBUS FOTJNDATION AMERICANBOOK THIS BRIDGE CALLED MY BACK WRITINGS BY RADICAL WOMEN OF COLOR EDITORS: _ CHERRIE MORAGA GLORIA ANZALDUA FOREWORD: TONI CADE BAMBARA KITCHEN TABLE: Women of Color Press a New York Copyright © 198 L 1983 by Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without permission in writing from the publisher. Published in the United States by Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, Post Office Box 908, Latham, New York 12110-0908. Originally published by Peresphone Press, Inc. Watertown, Massachusetts, 1981. Also by Cherrie Moraga Cuentos: Stories by Latinas, ed. with Alma Gomez and Mariana Romo-Carmona. Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1983. Loving in the War Years: Lo Que Nunca Paso Por Sus Labios. South End Press, 1983. Cover and text illustrations by Johnetta Tinker. Cover design by Maria von Brincken. Text design by Pat McGloin. Typeset in Garth Graphic by Serif & Sans, Inc., Boston, Mass. Second Edition Typeset by Susan L.
    [Show full text]
  • Lerud Dissertation May 2017
    ANTAGONISTIC COOPERATION: PROSE IN AMERICAN POETRY by ELIZABETH J. LERUD A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of English and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2017 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Elizabeth J. LeRud Title: Antagonistic Cooperation: Prose in American Poetry This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the English Department by: Karen J. Ford Chair Forest Pyle Core Member William Rossi Core Member Geri Doran Institutional Representative and Scott L. Pratt Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2017. ii © 2017 Elizabeth J. LeRud iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Elizabeth J. LeRud Doctor of Philosophy Department of English June 2017 Title: Antagonistic Cooperation: Prose in American Poetry Poets and critics have long agreed that any perceived differences between poetry and prose are not essential to those modes: both are comprised of words, both may be arranged typographically in various ways—in lines, in paragraphs of sentences, or otherwise—and both draw freely from the complete range of literary styles and tools, like rhythm, sound patterning, focalization, figures, imagery, narration, or address. Yet still, in modern American literature, poetry and prose remain entrenched as a binary, one just as likely to be invoked as fact by writers and scholars as by casual readers. I argue that this binary is not only prevalent but also productive for modern notions of poetry, the root of many formal innovations of the past two centuries, like the prose poem and free verse.
    [Show full text]
  • A Queer of Color Critique of Black Justice Discourse in Anti- Transgender Policy Rhetoric Antron D
    University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class Volume 19 | Issue 1 Article 3 When the Spirit Says Dance: A Queer of Color Critique of Black Justice Discourse in Anti- Transgender Policy Rhetoric Antron D. Mahoney Heather Brydie Harris Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/rrgc Recommended Citation Antron D. Mahoney, & Heather B. Harris, When the Spirit Says Dance: A Queer of Color Critique of Black Justice Discourse in Anti- Transgender Policy Rhetoric, 19 U. Md. L.J. Race Relig. Gender & Class 7 (). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/rrgc/vol19/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Academic Journals at DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MAHONEY & HARRIS WHEN THE SPIRIT SAYS DANCE: A QUEER OF COLOR CRITIQUE OF BLACK JUSTICE DISCOURSE IN ANTI-TRANSGENDER POLICY RHETORIC ANTRON D. MAHONEY* HEATHER BRYDIE HARRIS** INTRODUCTION In a closed-door forum on July 11, 2017, United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions invoked Martin Luther King, Jr. in a speech given to and in support of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), an anti- LGBT religious freedom group responsible for crafting many early anti- transgender bathroom bills.1 Employing King, Sessions parallels the ra- cial civil rights struggle of the past to the current “important work” of the ADF—by representing a divine moral right that he suggests be pro- tected by the state.2 Besides the personal criticism of Sessions’ civil rights record by Coretta Scott King when he was nominated for federal judgeship in 1986,3 Sessions’ deployment of King seems paradoxical on © 2019 Antron D.
    [Show full text]
  • Putting Coyolxauhqui Back Together: Queer Nepantleras Rewriting Latinx Memory
    AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Alex Aleman Villalba for the degree of Master of Arts in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies presented on June 13, 2016 Title: Putting Coyolxauhqui Back Together: Queer Nepantleras Rewriting Latinx Memory Abstract approved: __________________________________ Qwo-Li Driskill Indigenous and Latinx communities have always used storytelling to pass along ancestral histories and memories, whether it be through the act of speaking, performing or other types of artwork. This thesis examines the ways that queer Latinx artists are retelling the stories that have been mistold to erase, repress and ignore queer indigenous and Latinx individuals. Chapter One focuses on the movement towards a gender non-specific language through the usage of ‘x’ while also introducing Gloria Anzaldúa’s theory of nepantlas as a space navigated by Latinxs to queer and rewrite dominant understandings of being. Chapter Two looks at the poster art of Julio Salgado and Melanie Cervantes to do an aesthetic analysis of the ways that placing art in the public sphere tells stories that remember indigenous and queer histories. Additionally, by looking at the burlesque performance of Xandra Ibarra and the music videos of Persia and Daddie$ Pla$tik this project provides insight to the ways which resistance against repressive polices (such as the issues of gentrification and border violence) are shifting the political landscape in a way that responsibly acknowledges and centers queer indigenous and Latinx bodies. To conclude this thesis, I integrate my own personal storytelling as a way to exercise the types of activism the mentioned artists demonstrate. By engaging with current art activism, policies and historical moments this thesis imagines a future that centers queer and indigenous Latinxs.
    [Show full text]