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"Las flores siempre ganan": Mexican American women writers of the Arizona desert Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors De la Pena, Susana Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 11/10/2021 05:51:33 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/289060 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. 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Bell & Howell Information and laming 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 "L45 FLORES SIEMPRE GANAN": MEXICAN AMERICAN WOMEN WRITERS OF THE ARIZONA DESERT by Susana de la Pena Copyright © Susana de la Pena 1999 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1999 UMi Number 9957982 Copyright 1999 by de la Pena, Susana All rights reserved. UMI* UMI Microform9957982 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microfonn edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Trtle 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA « GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Coomiittee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Susana de la Pena entitled "EAS FLORES SIEMPRE GANAN"; MEXICAN AMERICAN WOMEN WRITERS OF THE ARIZONA DESERT and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Date Dati Date Date Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. //<^ ssertation Director Date;/ / 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank my Doctoral Committee for their support and guidance: Dr. Susan Aiken for being so generous with her time and energy and giving me, as always, very helpful, intelligent, insightful, and substantive commentary; Dr. Ana Perches for her editing comments and for agreeing to step in late in the game. I give a very special and appreciative thank you to the Chair of my Conraiittee, Dr. Larry Evers, for his excellent guidance and wisdom. It is safe to state that were it not for Dr. Evers' leadership, I would not be receiving this degree. Thank you. Dr. Evers, for always being there for me, especially when others were not, and for your exceptional and sterling integrity in the midst of mean-spirited institutional politics. Thank you for believing in me and for advocating on my behalf. It is no wonder so many of your former students—and I include myself—love and respect you, being who you are. In a time when it becomes more and more rare to encounter the heroic, I unabashedly state that for all of these reasons, and more, you are my hero. I thank Marcia Marma for her patience every time I misplaced—^yet again— another form she'd given me to fill out, and for her excellent way of keeping me organized and meeting all departmental deadlines. I thank Judy Applegate for her generosity with her time, her expertise, and her very patient nature helping me through the computer mazes. I thank Debbie Hester for her continuing insight and support. Un abrazo muyfuerte, y mucho carina for Olivia Arrieta, Patti Blanco, Josefina Castillo, and Margarita Youngo for their friendship, encouragement, comadrazgo, and moral support the whole time I was in graduate school and while I wrote this dissertation. Thank you to my cousin, Nydia Hinojosa Lieck, for her love and moral support sent all the way from Brownsville, Texas, and especially for the light during the dark days. A very special thank you to my loving family: to my brother-in-law Lynn Brokaw and my sisters Gloria Brokaw and Norma de la Pena for driving all the way from California just to help me move and get settled in my new home. Because of your love and magnanimity, I was able to spend my time and energy on the final draft of this dissertation. Thank you to Stephen Billings, Perry Higgins, and Margarita Youngo for helping, too, in a very big way. Thank you, Elma, for your love and support. I thank my father, Roberto de la Pena, for being proud and motivating me to finish this degree so that he could attend my graduation. A heartfelt thank you to my sister, Gloria, who kept me laughing the whole time through like only she can do. CiNunca acabaronr) DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation in loving memory to my mother, Ofelia Lopez de la Pena, who modeled for me the beauty and dignity of the Mexican American woman. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT J 1. DESERT WOMEN: AN INTRODUCTION TO IAS ARIZONENSES BLANCO, PRECIADO-MARTESr, WILBUR-CRUCE AND WOOD 8 2. DEL RANCHO AL BARRIO: EVA AmONlAWfLBUR-CRUCE AND PATRICIA PRECLVDO MARTIN WRITING ON THE BORDERLANDS OF GEOGRAPHIC AND CULTURAL TRANSITIONS 29 2.1 Dando a Liiz: Stories Brought to Light by Wilbur-Cruce and Precidado-Martin 40 2.2 Moving the Centre: "Creating Space for a Hundred Flowers to Bloom" 47 3. WRITING AS BRANDING: NAMING AND RECLAIMING NARRATIVE SPACE AND HOMELAND 55 3.1 Eva in a Garden of Eden: A Place of Her Own on Pesqueira Hill 66 3.2 A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Vaquera 71 4. (THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITORY) PLOTTING STORY AND PLACE: WHERE AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY MEET 77 4.1 Home on the (Bordered) Range: Between Indian Country and the Big House 88 4.2 The Tilling of Souls: Grandfather Vilducea's Garden as Mission 103 5. "THE JOURNEY" TO THE HEART: INSIDE EL BARRIO VIEJO 113 5.1 Tickets to Turistalandia: Tucson as Guest Ranch and Spa (How the West was Lojfj 127 5.2 Growing Up "Encorralados": Coming of Age in the Barrio 133 6. MIRACLES, MYTHS, AND MAMAGRANDES: UVIN' LA VIDA MAGICA 150 6.1 A "Fiesta of the Living": Reflection, Redemption, and Remembering in "El Milagro" and "El Creciente" 166 6.2 The House of the Fig Tree: Planting Tradition in the Old Pueblo 175 7. CORAJE Y CORAZON: PATTI BLANCO AND SILVIANA WOOD BEARING WITNESS TO LA VIDA COTIDIANA AND CREATING COMMUNITY THROUGH SOCIAL ACTION DRAMA 180 7.1 "^Dejame Decirte...": Plain Talk and Poetry in the Oral History Narratives by Patti Blanco 187 7.2 Social Conscience and Community in the Plays by Silviana Wood 196 8. IN HER OWN WORDS: INTERVIEWS WITH BLANCO, PRECIADO-MARTIN, AND WOOD 206 8.1 Interview with Patti Blanco 207 8.2 Interview with Patricia Preciado Martin 232 8.3 Interview with Silviana Wood 269 9. WORKS CITED 299 7 ABSTRACT This dissertation is a study of the Arizona Mexican American women writers— las arizonenses—of the twentieth century, with special emphasis on the works by Eva Antonia Wilbur-Cruce and Patricia Preciado Martin. A primary focus of the dissertation is the ways in which these writers relate to their physical and cultural landscapes. A comparative analysis is made between Wilbur-Cruce who responds to a critical time of transition for Mexican American rancheros moving from rural to urban areas at the turn of the century, and Preciado Martin, who focuses on the neo-colonization and growing tourism of Tucson and surrounding areas during the second half of the twentieth century. Playwright Silviana Wood and poet Patti Blanco are studied for the contributions they make to the writing about life in a small Arizona mining community and the Tucson Mexican American barrio, respectively. 8 Desert Women Desert women know about survival.