The Construction of Latina/O Literary Imaginaries

The Construction of Latina/o Literary Imaginaries

The Construction of Latina/o Literary Imaginaries:

Essays on Alternative Worldviews

By Donna M. Kabalen De Bichara

The Construction of Latina/o Literary Imaginaries: Essays on Alternative Worldviews

By Donna M. Kabalen De Bichara

This book first published 2018

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN (10): 1-5275-0889-7 ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-0889-7

To my husband Roberto: Thank you for your patience, for your encouragement and for the gift of time to create.

To my children: Monica, Roberto and Denise

To Manuel Tapia Becerra and Fabián Montemayor Morales: Many thanks, for without your technical support this book would not have been possible.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ...... 1

Part One: Border Newspapers and the Conservation of Cultural Memory

The Hispanic Periodical and Promotion of Moral and Cultural Values: La Prensa ...... 11

Expressions of Conflicting Worldviews in Religious Print Culture: Casa Editorial Revista Católica and Casa Bautista de Publicaciones ...... 23

Part Two: Memory, Life Writing, and Fictions

Unhailed Heroines ...... 41

Performing Autobiography and Identity in The Adventures of Don Chipote, or, When Parrots Breastfeed, by Daniel Venegas ...... 63

Narrating a Clandestine Existence: Ramón “Tianguis” Pérez´s Diary of an Undocumented Immigrant ...... 75

Part Three: Border Literature and the Articulation of Identity

Self and Collective Representation in the Essays by Chicano Authors Rolando Hinojosa and Sergio Troncoso ...... 91

Transcendental Train Yard and the Creation of Poetic and Visual Texts: The Construction of Cultural Memory and Identity ...... 111

Works Cited ...... 127

INTRODUCTION

The essays that make up this volume are the result of research that has focused on recovered Latina/o literary texts and recent publications by contemporary authors. Much of my work draws on the comprehensive bibliography available to scholars as part of the University of Houston’s Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage Project, which includes collections of literary works written by Latina/o authors dating from the colonial period until 1980. The wealth of information made available by the recovery project includes historical articles, pamphlets that provide information on religious and political issues, historical newspaper and periodical collections, and historical books. I would also like to clarify that throughout this book I refer to concepts such as literature and literary. My use of the terms involves a broad spectrum of writing that includes not only the novelistic and poetic form, but also articles and essays that can be found in the more than 1,400 historical newspapers included in the Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection: Series 1 and 2 and the University of Houston collection of Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808–1980, now available through Readex Collections. For the purpose of classifying the collection of texts examined in The Construction of Latina/o Cultural Imaginaries: Alternative Worldviews, I have chosen to use the term “Latina/o” rather than “Hispanic.” The use of the term Hispanic in reference to literary works has traditionally encompassed print culture that has its origins in Spanish-speaking countries, and often references the Iberian Peninsula. For instance, a major anthology of US literary production from the period of exploration and colonization of the New World to the present uses the term in its title: Herencia: The Anthology of Hispanic Literature of the United States (2002). The Spanish version of the same text uses the term “hispana”: En otra voz: Antología de la literature hispana en los Estados Unidos (2002). The editors chose to use the term “US Hispanic” because “[i]t is a literature that transcends ethnicity and race, while striving for a Chicano, Nuyorican, Cuban American, or just Hispanic or Latino identity” (1). Furthermore, with the publication of the Norton Anthology of Latino Literature in 2010, the change in usage from “Hispanic” to “Latino” was 2 Introduction discussed by one of the anthology’s editors, Ilan Stavans,1 who points out that:

Two prominent terms, “Latino” and “Hispanic,” refer to people living in the United States who have roots in Latin America, Spain, Mexico, South America, or Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries. “Hispanic” is a reference to Hispania, the name by which Spain was known in the Roman period, and there has always been strong ambivalence toward Spain in its former colonies. Hispanic was the term adopted by the government—by the Nixon government in particular—and that made the community feel it was being branded. The term “Latino” has emerged as more authentic, although it’s gender specific. In any case these two terms, at present, keep on fighting for space. Newspapers will sometimes use both in the same article as if editors chose not to choose. The anthology’s editorial team endorsed the community-preferred word and made that clear in the preface. (Schama)

In addition to Stavans’s comments, I find Linda Martín Alcoff’s scholarly argument in “Latino vs Hispanic: The Politics of Ethnic Names” to be enlightening. Her analysis focuses on the cultural relevance surrounding the “descriptive adequacy” (396) of the terms “Hispanic” and “Latino,” and she suggests that Hispanic refers more specifically to a historical past marked by Spain’s role in the colonization of the Americas until 1848, when:

the Spanish Empire controlled most of the land mass of the Americas, reaching from what is now California and Colorado to Chile and most of Argentina, and also to Florida, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. By 1920, nearly all of these lands were independent of Spanish colonial rule but had come under various amounts of control by the United States, either through annexation, colonization or a more diffuse but still very powerful control exerted through territorial treaties, military occupation, and neo-colonial relations of economic subordination. (401)

Based on her reading of Walter Mignolo’s perspective on the effects of the Spanish American War, Martín Alcoff further explains that, “historically, the term Latino signiﬁes and is itself marked by that moment of crystallization in the colonial relation between, not Spain and Latin America, but the USA and Latin America” (402). Neither Stavans nor Alcoff provides a definitive answer to the debate over whether Hispanic or

1 The complete interview with Chloe Schama and Ilan Stavans is available at: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/what-defines-latino-literature- 73399798/#71fpMtC72V5r2TPh.99. The Construction of Latina/o Literary Imaginaries 3

Latino is a more appropriate term, but the term Latina/o is used in a recent publication: The Cambridge Companion to Latina/o American Literature (2016). The critical essays that make up the volume follow a chronology that takes the reader from studies on trans-American encounters of the early nineteenth century to contemporary Latina/o literature that focuses on topics such as migration, transnationalism, questions of the American dream, and literature about undocumented immigration. Therefore, in keeping with these recent scholarly views, and in line with The Cambridge Companion to Latina/o American Literature, I have chosen to use the more gender-inclusive term “Latina/o” to define the corpus of texts selected for this study. A defining characteristic of this book is to pull together different forms of Latina/o literary production that are informed by elements such as nationalist and religious concerns, self and collective memory, exile and immigration, and Latina/o identity and cultural memory. Interestingly, in Imaginary Ethnographies, Gabriele Schwab posits the connection between literature and its function in cultural production: “Literature is a medium that writes culture within the particular space and mode of aesthetic production” (2). A perception of literature as a means of writing and creating culture underlies my analytical approach to texts that include non- fiction, fiction, poetry, and the text image. The essays gathered here also expand on my work in Telling Border Life Stories: Four Mexican American Women Writers, which focuses on a historical, cultural, and ideological reading of autobiographies written by Latina women. My intention in The Construction of Latina/o Cultural Imaginaries: Alternative Worldviews is to demonstrate the way the threads of the texts and their various layers of information contribute to a clearer understanding of a cultural continuum that links the past with the present. In keeping with Schwab’s concept of writing culture, I also turn to Yuri Lotman’s concept of the text as a meaning generator as a way of coming to a better understanding of the dialogical relation that exists between the works I have selected for analysis. My critical analysis of texts created by Latina/o writers, in terms of their alternative worldview, stems from sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s definition of the literary field as “a world apart, subject to its own laws” (48). Although Bourdieu’s focus provides a lens through which to examine writers and artists and the subordination they suffered during the nineteenth century, his concept of the “literary field” provides an avenue for appreciating the various cultural perspectives presented by the writers I discuss here. By exploring their texts, we discover a discourse that breaks away from a literary hierarchy and instead produces a different type of discourse that is polysemic. That is, each text 4 Introduction functions as a mechanism for articulating an imaginary punctuated by certain expressive values that reveal alternative cultural and historical meanings. The essays in part one of this volume, “Border Newspapers and the Conservation of Cultural Memory,” explore early twentieth-century periodical print culture that centers on themes related to the preservation of cultural values that are directed towards a Spanish-speaking reader living in the United States as an immigrant or exile. Meaning is produced through the written form, and border periodicals took on a number of functions, the most important of which was the maintenance of cultural identity through articles, essays, serialized fiction, and other literary forms that remained sensitive to a Spanish-speaking reading public dealing with changing conditions in the United States. My analytical approach to the Texas periodical La Prensa highlights articles that were intended to guide the reader by focusing on traditional issues, such as the moral necessity of abstaining from alcohol consumption and the problem of modern marriages. The essay also turns to an article published in 1915 that argues in favor of reform in Texas schools and the importance of separate education for boys and girls. By 1917, the suffrage movement in the United States was gaining momentum, and members of the National Woman’s Party demonstrated outside the White House under the leadership of Alice Paul. The circulation of discourse related to women’s rights and the right to vote certainly reached the Spanish-speaking female reader. However, as I point out, the woman’s role in society and her interest in taking part in activities traditionally reserved for men are questioned by writers such as Manuel Músquiz Blanco, who demonstrate an ideological stance intent on maintaining the status quo that situated women in the domestic sphere. An analysis of entire pages dedicated to women in 1919 reveals conflicting realities. Here, I examine articles found in the Home and Society pages that emphasize the woman’s traditional role, alongside the use of discursive references addressed to the modern Mexican woman who is instructed in the importance of the homeland, as well as the question of adapting to certain American values. Part one of this volume also includes an essay concerned with the religious cultural clashes between Catholic and Baptist publishing houses. My intention in this essay is to explore the way the cultural encounter between Mexico’s traditional adherence to Catholic doctrine enters into conflict with a Protestant viewpoint. It is important to mention that my work in the area of Catholic and Baptist periodical print culture is based on previous research in the rare books special collection housed in the Cervantine Library at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico. I found The Construction of Latina/o Literary Imaginaries 5 that various texts from the nineteenth century focus on similar arguments regarding the circulation of Protestant ideology in Mexico. For example, in 1872 José Antonio De la Peña y Navarro, Bishop of the Diocese of Zamora, Michoacán, Mexico wrote a pastoral letter to the Catholics of his diocese intended to enlighten them about the errors of Protestant religious views. A fragment of the text makes the Bishop’s position clear: “Nuestros enemigos, esos hijos del engaño y de la mentira, que ahora se ocupan de ardides para arrancarnos la fé católica, en seguida se ocuparán de estratagemas para despojarnos de nuestra patria, porque el primer paso abre la puerta a la segunda” ‘Our enemies, those sons of deception and of lie[s], those now occupied with the task of tearing from us the Catholic faith, will next be occupied with ploys to strip us of our country, because the first step opens the door to the second’ (Pastoral número cinco del Obispo de Zamora 5). This text is framed by the previous history of Mexico’s loss of more than half of its national territory in 1848, and its intolerant tone is intended as a warning to the faithful about incursions into Mexico by missionaries of various Protestant denominations. In this same vein, I have explored Revista Católica ‘Catholic Magazine’ and El Bautista ‘The Baptist’ and their role as distinct religious authorities in the history of print culture that give shape to the pursuit of specific religious goals. An ongoing research interest in the autobiographical form, as well as the subgenre of the diary, informs my critical reflections on a repertoire of texts that accentuate self-representation and cultural memory. Part two, entitled “Memory, Life Writing, and Fictions,” offers insights into the autobiographical writings of Leonor Villegas de Magnón in The Rebel and La Rebelde. This analysis is also complemented by an examination of various elements found in Mónica Lavín’s text, Las rebeldes ‘The Rebels,’ a fictional narrative that questions Villegas de Magnón’s portrayal of her life as head of the White Cross. As I explain, the English and Spanish versions of Villegas de Magnón’s life narratives are an attempt on the part of the writer to insert an “other” history into dominant historical perspectives regarding the Mexican Revolution. Her role as founder of the Constitutionalist White Cross during the Revolution and the role of an important number of women who labored with her as nurses to aid both federal and rebel troops are the focal points of her texts. Indeed, as Clara Lomas argues in her introduction to The Rebel and La Rebelde, both works intend “to capture brief moments of lives, deeds, social mores, customs, landscapes and historical events filtered through the memory of Villegas de Magnón” (The Rebel xvii). A key issue presented in my analysis of Villegas de Magnón’s La Rebelde and questions raised by Mónica Lavín 6 Introduction in Las Rebeldes centers on the role of memory and the creative elements that most certainly enter into the texts of both writers. Daniel Venegas’s The Adventures of Don Chipote, Or, When Parrots Breastfeed and Diary of an Undocumented Immigrant, written by Ramón “Tianguis” Pérez, provide a view of life experiences related to migration from Mexico to the United States. Originally written in Spanish, both narratives present transnational elements that contribute to the history of Latina/o immigrant literature. My analysis of both texts draws on Nicolas Kanellos’s exploration of “transnational literary texts,” or those narratives that depict journeys from Mexico to the United States with the inclusion of textual commentary on “life and culture in the United States … [where characters] suffer emotional pain, exploitation, and discrimination during their journey” (A Schematic Approach 29). Here, I look at parameters such as the main character’s decision to abandon the homeland in search of improved economic possibilities, his initial imaginings regarding what the United States can offer him, and the way both Don Chipote and “Tianguis” Pérez navigate the various barriers they encounter. Although Don Chipote is written as a picaresque novel, my interest in this work has to do with the autobiographical interventions provided by Venegas, who at one time worked as a migrant laborer. The intention of this text is to dissuade those Mexicans who foolishly believe that the streets of the United States are paved with gold and offer easy economic gain. Ramón “Tianguis” Pérez writes a text in a diary format that is intended to document his journey from his home in San Pablo de Macuiltianguis, Oaxaca to the United States. He also emphasizes the dangers he faced during illegal border crossings, and his menial work experiences as an illegal immigrant that take him from the Texas border and beyond. The common aspect of both texts is the decision to return home. Don Chipote’s journey does not result in an improved economic situation and he returns home as penniless as when he left his ranch in Mexico, whereas “Tianguis” Pérez returns to his home village with carpentry tools and clothing for his family. As I point out, although both texts bear the mark of autobiographical writing, their ultimate contribution to the literary field is a description of the migrant experience. Part three of this volume, “Border Literature and the Articulation of Identity,” draws attention to the space of south Texas and creative imaginaries provided by Rolando Hinojosa, Sergio Troncoso, Norma Cantú, and Marta Sánchez. The three texts provide similar representations of Mexican American identity, one that is tied to place, family, and history. A Voice of My Own: Essays and Stories by Rolando Hinojosa and Crossing Borders: Personal Essays by Sergio Troncoso portray the The Construction of Latina/o Literary Imaginaries 7 subjective experiences of each writer. Hinojosa emphasizes his identity as the son of a Texas Mexican father and his Anglo Texas mother, whereas Troncoso focuses attention on his parents and grandparents, who were Mexicans. Unlike Hinojosa’s family, who descended from early Spanish settlers in what is today known as the Rio Grande Valley, Troncoso’s Mexican parents would eventually emigrate from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico to El Paso, Texas. Hinojosa places special emphasis on the question of the history of a geographical space and his sense of identity in relation to a community of Latinas/os situated in the border region of the Rio Grande, and Troncoso draws the reader into a world of various types of border crossings that take him from the border town of El Paso, Texas, to Harvard College, and then to his life in Manhattan’s Upper Westside. In Transcendental Train Yard, Norma Elia Cantú and Marta Sánchez provide the reader with a poetic and visual text intended to project a sense of identity connected to the Texas border region of Laredo, as well as the history of the urban border landscape of the train yards. As I note, Cantú and Sánchez contribute to an understanding of an excluded history of Latina/o labor in the United States. Indeed, through poetic and visual texts, the reader is transported into the realm of history, the Aztec heritage, the role of women as homemakers, and their history as activists. These and similar elements underlie my analytical perspective that takes into consideration the socio-communicative function of a selection of literary and artistic texts, and their capacity to portray Latina/o perceptions regarding self and collective identity, as well as cultural positions in a complex world sphere marked by the intersection of two cultures.

PART ONE

BORDER NEWSPAPERS AND THE CONSERVATION OF CULTURAL MEMORY

THE HISPANIC PERIODICAL AND PROMOTION OF MORAL AND CULTURAL VALUES: LA PRENSA

The Readex collection of Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808–1980, and originally housed in the University of Houston, provides access to hundreds of digitized newspapers published in Spanish, with some in English and others in a bilingual format. Interestingly, and as suggested by Silva Gruesz, “the profoundly transnational and bilingual character of such publications has pushed them to the margins of the history of US print culture” (459). I would argue further that, although the major portion of the content of these periodicals focuses on historical and cultural memory concerning Mexico and México de Afuera (‘Mexico on the Outside), this part of the history of print culture has been marginalized in Mexico as well. From my perspective, then, archival research in the area of periodical print culture is a necessary step in uncovering and recovering the history and cultural memory of immigrants and exiles who left Mexico during periods of national crisis, and who in many cases, returned to their homeland. The newspapers that form part of the Hispanic American Newspapers 1808–1980 collection, and specifically those published in Texas, provide information regarding the periodical as a vehicle for communicating news about Mexico and its interaction with the United States during various moments in history. A close analysis of a selection of articles that form part of the collection of more than fifteen thousand issues of La Prensa (1913–1963), a newspaper established by Ignacio Lozano in San Antonio, Texas, reveals details about Mexican history and ideological perspectives, as well as cultural practice and memory. That is, the research and examination of various articles, essays, novels, and short stories published by immigrants and exiles who found their way to the United States during periods of political unrest and economic crises in Mexico point to ideological positions that gave shape to an imaginary surrounding the home country, as well as viewpoints about the United States. For example, in his study of Mexican American literature between 1912 and 1959, Luis Leal emphasizes that during “the first ten years of the twentieth century there was an increase in the influx of political refugees and thousands of 12 The Hispanic Periodical and Promotion of Moral and Cultural Values

Mexican farmworkers and laborers attracted by the agricultural and industrial boom …” (76). It was precisely this flow of immigrants that resulted in an effort on the part of the press to connect “México de Afuera” ‘Mexico on the outside’ with information that focused on issues involving the home country. Leal also notes that: Spanish language newspapers have always had other important functions, such as political and social activism; the promotion of civic duties; the defense of the population against the abuse of the authorities and other organized groups; the sponsoring of national and religious holidays; the provision of an outlet for the public to express their activity in the form of poems, short stories, essays, and an occasional serialized novel … [that] has been useful in the documentation of a Chicano literary history (77). Along similar lines, Kanellos affirms that another major function of the press is related to its attempt to “solidify the community, protecting it and furthering its cultural survival” (“A Socio-Historic Study of Hispanic Newspapers” 107). Furthermore, during the period between 1836 and 1900, the Hispanic press contributed to the preservation of “the language, culture and rights of an ethnic minority within a larger culture that was in the best of times unconcerned with the Hispanic ethnic enclaves and in the worst of times openly hostile” (Hispanic Periodicals 5). Historically, political views are evident in an important number of the articles, columns, and essays in the Spanish-language press, yet the conservation of cultural memory and practice is a theme that addresses the concerns of a reading public of immigrants and exiles as they attempt to adapt to a foreign environment, yet at the same time are unwilling to sever ties to the homeland. Therefore, a major question to consider is the target audience of various columns that were published in Hispanic newspapers such as La Prensa. In this direction, I am particularly interested in how society in general, and particularly women, were educated through the press, in articles, columns, and “crónicas” ‘chronicles’ aimed at various groups of readers. Therefore, in the discussion that follows I focus on feature articles from La Prensa that demonstrate a cultural project aimed at instructing a Hispanic reading public. As a means of understanding these articles, especially those intended to educate a general reading public, it is important to recall Pierre Bourdieu’s view on the literary and artistic field as being “inseparably, a field of positions and a field of position-takings” (34). That is, from Bourdieu’s perspective, it is impossible to comprehend the meaning of a work of art or a literary text in isolation. Rather, it can only be understood in relation to other texts. Therefore, by probing the meaning of a selection of articles published in La Prensa between 1913 and 1918, a broad The Construction of Latina/o Literary Imaginaries 13 ideological vision becomes evident, especially in terms of the education of women. Indeed, as suggested by Kanellos: the “México de afuera” ideology was markedly nationalistic and militated to preserve Mexican identity in the United States. In a philosophical, cultural and biological sense, the ideology ensured the preservation of the group in an environment where Hispanic women were in short supply and seen as subject to pursuit by Anglo-American males, where the English language and more liberal or progressive Anglo-American customs and values were overwhelming and where discrimination and abuse against Mexicans occurred (Hispanic Periodicals 35). The perspectives of Latina/o writers who published in periodicals such as La Prensa reflected a specific type of cultural discourse that circulated in the United States during various historical periods. One of these was the discourse of temperance that had its beginnings in the United States in the early nineteenth century when the American Temperance Society was formed in 1826. Ideologically, this type of organization focused on discursive referents that pointed to voluntarily refraining from alcohol consumption. A vision of the evils related to consuming alcohol is clearly reflected in a column entitled Por la Patria y por la Raza1 ‘For the Homeland and for the (Hispanic) Race’2 that includes an article entitled “El Alcoholismo, Sus Consecuencias Morales” ‘Alcoholism, Its Moral Consequences.’ The article elaborates on issues that contribute to the formation of moral citizens and emphasizes alcoholism as a “gangrena social, mil veces peor que todos los males que asuelen a los pueblos” ‘social gangrene, a thousand times worse than all the evils that ruin communities of people’ (LP 1 June 1915, 3). The pitfalls of alcoholism are highlighted through the use of textual markers that again point to ruin: “la rueda fatal ha cogido en su engranje una victima” ‘the fatal wheel has taken a victim into its gears’ (3), and the anonymous writer continues to stress those evils that befall a family, specifically the children whose tears beg for food in a home lacking “fuego” ‘fire’ or warmth. The intention of

1 The term “raza” literally refers to being a member of a particular race. In the article, it is a term intended to declare a sense of identity that is different from that of an Anglo American. “La Raza” see themselves as people of mixed race or mestizos, thus recalling the history of the Spanish conquest of indigenous Indian groups throughout Latin America. The use of the term is clearly an expression of difference, a declaration of identity. José Vasconcelos would later use the term in his text La raza cósmica in reference to a third period of humanity’s destiny that involved the fusion of races resulting in a superior race. See The Cosmic Race ‘La Raza Cósmica’ by José Vasconcelos. 2 All translations in this work are mine unless otherwise stated. 14 The Hispanic Periodical and Promotion of Moral and Cultural Values the writer of the article is to educate a reading public about the negative effects of alcohol consumption that result in a home marked by family violence. Furthermore, the discourse of the article enters into obvious contact with a cultural movement within the United States intent on punctuating a supposed need to control access to alcohol. Along these lines, the text ultimately turns to the question of the government’s role in providing a solution to the problem of alcohol abuse. Recognizing that the government benefits from the sale of alcoholic beverages, the writer suggests specific interventions on the part of the state that would aid in solving this social problem. The argument of the text then calls upon the reader to reflect on and contribute to the eradication of alcoholism and its negative consequences: “[c]ada gobernante, cada funcionario público que tiene alguna autoridad, cada dama de una liga antialcohólica, cada miembro de una sociedad temperante, no debe leer estas líneas para encogerse los hombros y prorrumpir en una lamentación inútil” ‘each government figure, each public official that exercises some type of authority, each woman [who belongs to] a temperance league, each member of a society of teetotallers, must read these lines and not just shrug his shoulders and erupt into a useless lament’ (3). The article, then, appeals not only to the government but also to the reader and his/her individual responsibility in the project of eradicating alcohol production and consumption. This type of discursive focus demonstrates the communicative relationship between the text and Latinas/os situated in an Anglo-European world sphere where certain cultural and moral ideological norms circulate. As my previous discussion reveals, immigration and exile bring about changes that affect individuals, families, and communities as they come into contact with a foreign culture. Kaminsky, for example, asserts that “exile and all the processes related to it have a material component, and that component is felt, experienced, and known through the body” (xi). Furthermore, Webb points to a “series of dialectic tensions revolving around central components of the exile’s cultural identity: nation, time, language, and space” (2). One of the tensions related to the experience of cultural contact between those of Mexican descent living in the United States as immigrants and exiles was the conflict surrounding the notion of family and its traditions. Indeed, Kanellos argues that “culture conflict was and still is integral to immigrant literature’s binary structure and opposition of the homeland’s culture to that of the United States” (Hispanic Immigrant Literature 29). This opposition to US culture is apparent in the article “Matrimonio a la Moderna” ‘Modern Marriage’ The Construction of Latina/o Literary Imaginaries 15 where the author, El Marqués de Polanueva,3 laments “Los matrimonios a la moderna que desgraciadamente van ganando prosélitos todos los días, empiezan los domingos en la cinematógrafo, con suspiros capaces de conmover a un gendarme, y terminan al domingo siguiente con una fuga aparatosa y novelesca en una tranvía … y luego en el juzgado, donde las palomas quedan unidas ‘indisolublemente,’ hasta el día en que, fastidiados uno y otro, se deciden a sacar su ‘divorcio’” ‘Modern marriages that unfortunately continue to have converts every day, begin on Sundays in the movie theater, with sighs capable of moving even a gendarme, and they finish up the following Sunday fleeing flamboyantly in a streetcar … and then at the Justice of the Peace, where the love doves are united [in an] ‘indissoluble’ [marriage], until the day when they are tired of each other, and decide to get a divorce’ (LP 3 Apr. 1913, 4). The ironic tone of the article continues with a description of “matrimonios de antaño” ‘marriages of yesteryear,’ in which the future husband, together with his family, visits the bride’s home to ask for her hand in marriage. This was a marriage arranged between the families, and the innocent bride would throw herself into the loving arms of her mother, not her future husband. The recounting of a tradition long past is done ironically, and the text demonstrates a desire for the past: “Benditos tiempos aquellos, que ván desapareciendo para dar paso a los inmorales matrimonios a la moderna!” ‘Blessed be those days past, [those] that are disappearing and giving way to immoral modern marriages’ (4). The question of being tainted by the modern, or, as the reader can infer, by the culture of the US, is a recurrent theme in a number of novels, such as The Adventures of Don Chipote, Or When Parrots Breastfeed by Daniel Venegas. Here, the main character is seduced by American ways after he emigrates to the southwest to find work on the railroads. The notion of preserving a national imaginary regarding the family appears in Julio G. Arce’s chronicles, also published in La Prensa. According to Baeza Ventura, Arce offers “una crítica severa de la inmigrante mexicana que haya optado por seguir prácticas que distan

3 It is difficult to determine whether this article was written by a European writer or whether the signature, El Marqués de Polanueva, is a pseudonym. Articles written under this name began appearing in La Prensa in April of 1913, two months after the founding of the newspaper in February of that same year. It is interesting to mention here that in a collection of short stories created by the Spanish author Leopoldo Alas and published in 1898, one of the stories, “De la comisión” ‘From the Commission,’ narrates a political satire on the political excesses of the “marqués de Pozos-Hondos” ‘the Marquis of Deep Wells’. Like “Modern Marriage,” the general tone of the stories that make up the collection is didactic and critical. 16 The Hispanic Periodical and Promotion of Moral and Cultural Values de las mexicanas” ‘a severe criticism of the Mexican immigrant who has opted to follow practices that are far removed from those [practiced] by Mexicans’ (59). Although Baeza Ventura’s discussion focuses on Arce’s view on the role of women, this same ideology permeates the article on modern marriage which is intended to educate the reader about turning one’s back on tradition and the possibility of becoming like the cultural “other.” In addition to articles that highlight cultural mores, a number of articles on the theme of education appear in La Prensa. The question of separating boys and girls in primary school is discussed in the article, “Interesantes Reformas Propuestas para las Escuelas del Estado de Texas” ‘Interesting Reforms Proposed for the Schools of the State of Texas’ (LP 13 July 1915, 6). The writer argues that, at the end of first grade, teachers are aware of the differences between boys and girls: “Silenciosamente, al final del curso, se han establecido con toda precision las diferencias del sexo … Este es el momento en que se notan ciertos rasgos femininos en el hombre y en que las muchachas piensan que el muchacho es muy llano y desagradable en sus costumbres” ‘Silently, at the end of the school year, the difference between the sexes has been established with precision … This is the moment when certain feminine features are noticeable in the male and girls think that the boy is simple and disagreeable in his habits’ (6). The article attempts to argue in favor of separating boys and girls in the Texas school system because girls are at least two years ahead of boys in their development and are “superior en inteligencia” ‘of superior intelligence’ (6). At the end of the article, the writer explains the importance of separating boys and girls to assure the future of the female sex. Although the article is anonymous, the reader cannot help but wonder whether the writer is a woman, especially because a major purpose of the article is to support the education of young girls and assure they are able to progress intellectually by being separated from young boys, who develop more slowly. The final portion of the article argues that this type of educational innovation will have a positive effect on the future of the country. Here, it is relevant to recall Bourdieu and Passeron’s definition of culture as “a system of durably acquired schemes of perception, thought and action, engendered by objective conditions but tending to persist even after an alteration of those conditions” (32). What stands out in this anonymous text, then, is a “scheme of perception” that suggests specific actions intended to assure that the female child is educated separately due to her superior intellectual development. Interestingly, this perspective stands in clear contrast to a Hispanic cultural ideology that traditionally defined the female as a member of the weaker sex, subject to the power of The Construction of Latina/o Literary Imaginaries 17 the father or other male figures of the family. The writer’s insistence on educating girls and boys separately, then, may very well be related to traditional Catholic cultural practice in Mexico where male and female students were educated in separate schools. The theme of cultivating female intelligence dealt with in the above- mentioned article does not define in what way separate education for girls would be beneficial for the future of the country, yet it raises a question that is certainly related to the future of women and their role as active members in society. However, as mentioned previously, the Hispanic community promoted a cultural imaginary based on the value of adherence to traditional roles assigned to men and women. Such meditations on women and their place in society are framed in “El Imperio de Su Majestad la Mujer” ‘The Empire of Her Majesty the Woman’ (LP 2 Sept. 1917, 10). The article is signed by M. Músquiz Blanco, whose literary texts, such as Cartas de Mujeres, are included in the list of miscellaneous books and pamphlets that were sold by Lozano in his bookstore.4 Manuel Músquiz Blanco’s5 discourse is ironic as he questions whether or not women belong in the public sphere or whether their place should continue to be the domestic space. The opening lines of the article state the writer’s musings on the subject as he invites the complicit male reader to share his thoughts on the “ciego empeño de las mujeres” ‘blind endeavor of women’ (10) who attempt to take part in the public sphere of politics, business, and science. His question set before the reader is glaring: “Qué mal diablejo, solíamos decirnos, habrá aconsejado a las pobres y bellas mujeres, que abandonan la paz del hogar por el afán de este campo de ruda lucha que es nuestro vivir?” ‘What evil devil, as we used to say, could have advised these poor and beautiful women, that they eagerly abandon the peace of the home, [to take part] in this place of rough battle that is our way of life?’ (10). The writer’s discourse relies heavily on the notion of the

4 As Kanellos points out in his discussion of the history of Hispanic periodicals, Ignacio Lozano was a well-respected member of the Hispanic immigrant community in San Antonio. La Prensa was a successful enterprise, and an important part of Lozano’s commercial project was the sale of books that dealt with themes such as adventure, religion, education, and prayers. He also made available books on history, the history of the Mexican Revolution, as well as popular novels. The entire list of books and pamphlets offered to the reading public were those written in Spanish. 5 Músquiz Blanco was a prolific writer and author of a number of novels, some of which were published by Casa Editorial Lozano in San Antonio, Texas, such as En casa ajena: impresiones y semblanzas (1916), Cartas de Mujeres (1919), and El Tesoro de Axayacatl: Novela Histórica (1920?). 18 The Hispanic Periodical and Promotion of Moral and Cultural Values woman as an object of beauty, a description that is taken up once more as he mentions the Garden of Eden and the moment when man realized there was a woman at his side, someone whose eyes were alight with fire: “y en su boca más dulce miel que la de las flores” ‘and in her mouth honey sweeter than flowers’ (10). The descriptive discourse of this passage focuses once again on the physical aspect of the woman as an object of beauty and desire, as the writer suggests: “que se conformen con ser bellas y amadas con que el mundo entero gira en torno de ellas” ‘let them be satisfied with being beautiful and loved and that the entire world revolves around them’ (10). This romantic posturing about the woman may seem to be complementary. Yet, later in the article, the reader finds a change in focus: the author’s acceptance of the fact that, in spite of having been tempted by a demon, through tenacious work, constancy, and faith, a small number of women in New York have been fighting for the right to vote. In the final lines of the article, the future of women becomes the major referent: “las mujeres conquistan, junto con el derecho de voto, el derecho a la riqueza, a la felicidad, al dominio absoluto de su mundo sin perder el supremo derecho sobre nuestro corazón y sobre nuestra vida” ‘together with the right to vote, women conquer the right to wealth, to happiness to absolute dominion over their world without losing the supreme right to our heart and over our life’ (10). Dominated by an array of conflicting views, the major portion of the article emphasizes the peace and safety provided by the woman’s traditional role within the domestic space. Yet, Músquiz Blanco’s reference to the small number of women in New York intent on fighting for the right to vote stands as a harbinger of things to come, even for the Hispanic female reader living in the United States. In 1919 La Prensa began dedicating entire pages to the female reading public: “Pagína de las Damas” ‘The Ladies’ Page’ (LP 26 Dic. 1919, 10), “Lecturas del Hogar” ‘Readings for the Home’ (LP 8 Nov. 1920, 7), and “Página del Hogar y de la Sociedad” ‘Home and Society Page’ (LP 8 Sept. 1929, 7) are a few examples. Tellingly, rather than emphasizing the intelligence of women or the issue of suffrage, these pages are dedicated to fashion and articles such as “¿Quién Dio el Primer Beso?” ‘Who Gave the First Kiss?’ (LP 28 Dic. 1919, 10). On this same page the reader finds an article entitled “El deporte y la mujer” ‘Exercise and the Woman’ (LP 28 Dic. 1919, 10) which is dedicated to women and the theme of exercise declaring that “[l]a mujer moderna necesita del ejercicio libre, tanto como la instrucción, para el desarrollo del cuerpo y de su salud” ‘The modern woman needs to exercise freely, as much as [she needs] instruction, for the development of her body and health’ (10). The focus of the article, however, is on the American woman who, in addition to her regular The Construction of Latina/o Literary Imaginaries 19 educational schedule, also spends time outside doing exercise that includes dance, skating, and playing tennis and golf. Another article entitled, “La Mujer, Buena Amiga de los Pájaros” ‘A Woman, Good Friend of Birds’ (LP 28 Dic. 1919, 10). Like the previous article, the reader once again finds a reference to acceptable activities for the fairer sex. Here the photograph and article describe two women from New York, T.M. Jenkins and M.A. Thompson, who dedicate time caring for sick birds, an activity “muy propio para las mujeres, dado el delicado sentimiento de que es poseedora la compañera del hombre” ‘very appropriate for women, given the delicate sentiment that man’s companion possesses’ (10). Absent from this article is a discourse related to the intelligence of the female as someone capable of conquering new options; instead, the woman is othered. Although she may have a regular educational schedule, the final focus of the article is similar to the references found in the Músquiz Blanco article. That is, the woman is represented as the man’s companion and capable of “delicate sentiment” rather than able to surpass the male intellectually, as suggested in the article dedicated to the theme of primary education. More important, however, is the fact that this page dedicated to women in a Spanish-language newspaper makes no reference to the Latina/o woman and simply provides an Anglo model to be followed. It is important to mention, however, that there are articles in later issues of La Prensa written by women who take up the cause of women’s education once again. For example, in the column “Lecturas del Hogar” ‘Readings from the Home’ (LP 8 Nov. 1920, 7), the article entitled “La Mujer Moderna en el Hogar” ‘The Modern Woman in the Home’ situates the woman in the domestic space, yet this is countered by an argument concerning the need to change, “leyes y costumbres para adaptarse al nuevo criterio de la mujer que no se considera ya inferior al hombre sino equivalente a él” ‘laws and customs so as to adapt to the new criteria of the woman who no longer considers herself inferior to man but equal to him’ (7). Unlike many of the texts found on pages dedicated to women, this article is signed by Ariana,6 and it calls for educating women as a means of preparing them for the future. Of particular interest is the writer’s focus on feminism, but a type of feminism that will have more of an effect on the woman’s role in the family rather than in the public sphere: “Tratase de la relación del feminismo con los importantísimos asuntos del amor y el matrimonio, y es tal su trascendencia que mientras

6 Ariana is the author of a number of articles in La Prensa. The author’s name appears in signed articles beginning in 1920. Her articles include various themes such as the practice of virtue, but several articles focus on the woman and her role in society. Information regarding the identity of Ariana is presently unavailable. 20 The Hispanic Periodical and Promotion of Moral and Cultural Values no haya sido resuelto, el feminismo alcanzará triunfos más aparentes que reales” ‘This has to do with the relation of feminism with very important issues of love and marriage, and its transcendence is such that if not resolved, feminism will achieve triumphs more apparent than real’ (7). The critical aspect of the text is its question concerning the process of change and whether those who surround the modern woman will, “gozar de las conquistas que ella ha realizado y de los bienes que se adelanta a ofrecerles?” ‘enjoy the conquests she has achieved and the goods she goes on to offer them?’ (7). Although the text appears in a column dedicated to reading for the home, it performs the act of contesting the generalized view of the woman’s place in society as well as society’s capacity to accept change in the woman’s status. However, in keeping with a traditional ideological perspective, the writer suggests that both the home and marriage will benefit from the woman’s new role—her “conquests.” Feminism from this point of view suggests that that the modern woman has a “personalidad bien definida y no cuenta entre sus virtudes la humilde resignación que adornaba a nuestras abuelas” ‘a well-defined personality and does not count among her virutes the humble resignation that adorned our grandmothers’ (7). The writer of the article emphasizes, as well, that this new type of personality does not mean that women will be lacking in love and tenderness for their families. The overt message of the article, then, is to warn that these changes cannot come about simply by educating women in their new role. Rather, society in general must be educated about the positive aspects of the new role for women in society. In his discussion of the ideology of Mexican immigrants and exiles in the United States, Kanellos argues that “in the canon of ‘México de Afuera,’ the highest niches in the pantheon, in fact, were reserved for preserving the Spanish language and preserving the Mexican culture and Catholicism” (Hispanic Periodicals 35). Therefore, although the education of women and even the possibility of their more active role in society are important issues for a certain sector of the female population, another theme found in the Hispanic press is the preservation of culture while at the same time adapting to life in the United States. In the column “Lecturas Populares: Deberes de los Mexicanos en el Extranjero,” ‘Popular Readings: Duties of Mexicans in Foreign Territory’ (LP 21 Nov. 1918, 6), the author addresses readers who work in the United States, reminding them of the importance of maintaining their connection with the homeland: “La Patria es nuestra madre, la que nos ha dado nuestros padres naturales, el habla que poseemos, la luz de su sol, su historia, sus tradiciones, la que meció nuestra cuna …” ‘The Homeland is our mother, she who gave us our natural parents, the language we possess, the light of The Construction of Latina/o Literary Imaginaries 21 the sun, her history, her traditions, she who rocked our cradle …’ (6). Giving priority to the homeland provides an insight into the ideology of “México de Afuera” and its insistence on the reader’s natural or true identity that is linked to the Spanish language, values, and traditions. Although proper actions within the host country are important, the final recommendation is to adapt to the United States and learn from its citizens: “Los mexicanos que viven en este país deben aprender de los americanos sus hábitos de trabajo, de constancia y de ahorro” ‘Mexicans who live in this country should learn the work habits, constancy and [the practice of] saving from the Americans’ (6). The final proposal of the article performs its politics by focusing first on Mexican identity and honoring the homeland, yet ultimately confirming the need to adapt to the cultural mores of a country that practices saving. It is by adopting this cultural practice that Mexicans will become independent and demonstrate that they are a “laboriosa y progresista raza” ‘hardworking and progressive race’ (6). In keeping with the theme of progressivism, a later editorial entitled “La Raza,” continues in a similar vein: “El ideal supremo y base de LA PRENSA ha sido y será el prestigio y agrandecimiento de nuestra raza Mexicana” ‘The supreme ideal and basis of LA PRENSA has been and will be the prestige and aggrandizement of our Mexican race’ (LP 17 Mar. 1919, 3). The editorial argues that this “aggrandizement” is the result of the fusion of ethnic elements that has taken place for generations. The discursive reference to a history of ethnic fusion as a positive element in Mexico’s history contests an ideological perspective that circulated in the US as early as 1846 when, according to Kanellos, there was fear “about ‘debasing’ the American form of government by making Mexico a colony and /or having its mongrelized people become citizens of the United States” (Thirty Million Strong 75). The articles I have analyzed in this chapter point to a project inherent in Hispanic periodicals such as La Prensa. The front page of the newspaper presents a selection of news articles that focus on world affairs, local affairs, and those concerned with the home country. However, because cultural survival was of utmost importance for Mexican immigrants and exiles living in the United States, the periodical functioned as a vehicle for the continued cultivation of a vision of the homeland and its traditions as the basis of identity. However, readers were confronted consistently with opposing worldviews, thus forcing them to attempt a balancing act between conserving old values and trying to grapple with progressive changes that necessarily affected the possibility of maintaining their Mexican identity.