This class will explore the power of Mexican American folklore by studying Mexican American literature and culture in an effort to understand Mexican American identities. Especially now, in the face of open hostility towards people of Mexican descent (and other cultures, to be sure), it's essential we learn as much as we can about each other. As friend and colleague, Tyesha Stafford-McGilbrey, says, “People forget that there is power within, in the margins, and from ancestry.” This class explores the many faces of power that exist in the margins of society and within our ancestry. We may be surprised by how powerful we really are!
A few texts we’ll read are Sandra Cisneros’ Woman Hollering Creek, an excerpt from Juan Rulfo's Pedro Páramo, Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima, excerpts from Gloria Anzaldúa's Borderlands/La Frontera, various Latinx and Chicanx poets and storytellers, and assorted leyendas like La Llorona. We’ll also examine how Mexican Americans have been portrayed in pop culture. And we’ll go back to 1930s California in an effort to discover when, why, and how the “Mexican American” identity originated.
Sample assignments will be reflections, literary analyses, and a final digital project that explores the student's culture by re-telling a family folklore and situating that story within folklore and literature.
The prerequisite for this class is ENGL 1302. This course is an academic non-core course, which means this class counts as a required literature class and/or a required elective.
NOTE: All cultures and identities are welcome. While this class focuses on Mexican American literature, this class will be intersectional as we read and learn more about the literature and folklore of various cultures in order to understand our own identities.
Sample assignments will be reflections, literary analyses, and a final digital project that explores the student's culture by re-telling a family folklore and situating that story within folklore and literature.
The prerequisite for this class is ENGL 1302. This course is an academic non-core course, which means this class counts as a required literature class and/or a required elective.
NOTE: All cultures and identities are welcome. While this class focuses on Mexican American literature, this class will be intersectional as we read and learn more about the literature and folklore of various cultures in order to understand our own identities.
Questions? Please contact me