One of the best things about taking a class devoted to women and literature is discovering new authors.
My favorite discovery this quarter is Gloria Anzaldua.
I like how she thinks about stories:
"My 'stories' are acts encapsulated in time, 'enacted' every time they are spoken aloud or read silently. I like to think of them as performances and not as inert and 'dead' objects (as the aesthetics of Western culture think of art works). Instead, the work has an identity; it is a 'who'or a "what" and contains the presences of persons, that is, incarnations of gods or ancestors or natural and cosmic powers. The work manifests the same needs as a person, it needs to be 'fed,' 'la tengo que banar y vestir'."
I am intrigued by her thoughts on gender and culture:
"I think Chicano families can be really hard on women and maybe they are hard on men, too. Very early on you start being taught how to be a man and being taught how be a little woman and the divisions are pretty rigid."
I think her ideas about being a writer could apply to being an artist or a teacher, or being a woman:
"To write, to be a writer, I have to trust and believe in myself as a speaker, as a voice for the images. I have to believe that I can communicate with images and words and that I can do it well."
* Quotes taken from The Norton Anthology of Literature by Women: The Traditions in English (pp 1254-1265)
Yes, her comments can apply to teaching. One has to believe in oneself in order to do something well. This concept not only applies to teachers, but to the students we teach. Study after study points to the fact that student expectation directly correlates with student achievement. If our students feel we believe in them, they in turn believe in themselves. Think about the brown-eyed, blue-eyed experiment. Also, studies show that students who grow up in generational poverty all attribute their rise from poverty to having a mentor or someone who believed in them and helped them through school.
ReplyDeleteGreat Post! Looking forward to reading her work.
Totally agree with you woman! specially coming from a Chicano writer, her voice is rising and over the current discrimination and oppression that women in this population are living, and women in general. Thanks for sharing, we need to read her work and rise with her.
ReplyDeleteI love the correlation between achievement and expectations you pointed out Lindee. I can honestly feel the results of that in my own personal life! Especially from people like you!
ReplyDeleteKiona-YES! - I totally agree. What a refreshing voice of change and true introspection she possesses. I think the first step in rising above oppression is having an honest conversation about it.
No, I've never heard of her, but I sure am appreciative of the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite class of all time from the University of Vermont still reigns: Caribbean Women's Literature. Edwidge Danticat, Krick Krack. 'Nough said.