Sample Student Research Project, fall 2004
LITR
4232: American Renaissance
Sample Student Research Project, fall 2004
Juliana Davila
November 16, 2004
Exploring
Spanish-American Literature
Introduction
Though
still very young as far as other countries are concerned, the United States
possesses a rich and growing literary canon. During the nineteenth century, the
United States’ literary world was going through a renaissance period,
producing many works that the literary community at large began to pick up and
take notice of. Amongst the great American novels, romantic short stories and
captivating poems are a smattering of works representing a much smaller portion
of the American literary community. These works are quite often over looked, but
have, in recent years, been gaining more attention.
Amongst
the so-called representative literature are those stories, poems and other
publications produced by those of Hispanic descent. While the northern and
eastern parts of the country reveled in their maturing literary world, the lives
of those in the ever-expanding southwest could be seen reflected in their own
literature. From political commentaries to narratives of everyday life to the
poetic corridos, Spanish-American
literature was trying to make itself discovered. Unfortunately, in a world
filled with literary giants such as Nathanial Hawthorne and Ralph Waldo Emerson,
those falling among the minority still struggled to be found. They are like
diamonds in the rough; their true treasures are hidden from all except those
with the most discerning of eyes.
For
my project for this class, I knew that I wanted to delve into the world of
Spanish-American literature, I just was not sure where I should start. The topic
is extremely broad, but I feared that it would be difficult to discover enough
research material to narrow it down. I first began with the textbook for our
course, considering names and ideas. I knew the corridos
held my interest, as well as some of the more traditional folktales, but where
to go from there? I scratched at the surface and gathered together my research
information.
Doing the Research
When
I began doing the research for this project, I realized right away that my first
assumptions were accurate. It was going to be very difficult to find good
sources I could use. The secondary sources available about Spanish-American
literature during the 1800s are limited. It has not been until more recent years
that a concerted effort has been made to try and piece together the literary
works of the Spanish-American authors. Primary texts were just as hard to come
by, mostly because many of the books I found containing pieces of
Spanish-American literature are written in Spanish, and few translations exist,
particularly for the older texts. I admit that this was disheartening.
I
did manage to get a hold of a couple of books that proved to be useful, but I
knew I would have to expand my research. Exploring online databases, and then
widening my search even further to include the Internet, provided me with other
sources, but it made me realize something else. The amount of literature written
by Hispanic individuals is by no means miniscule; there was much printed and
published. However, some of the richest aspects of Hispanic culture and
literature extend from its oral storytelling traditions. Therefore, some
information will just be harder to come by.
That
is changing, however. Due to the progress and perseverance of institutions and
programs, such as the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage (RUSHLH)
project, I hope that someday soon, the American canon will proudly boast the
literature of its Spanish-Americans. The RUSHLH project has dedicated itself to
the recovery of “hundreds of thousands of literary pieces, including essays,
autobiographies, diaries, and letters” (Recovering).
This organization hopes that having “accessibility to and study of this
literature will not only convey more accurately the creative life of U.S.
Hispanics, but will also shed new light on the intellectual vigor and
traditional values that have characterized Hispanics from the earliest moments
of this country’s making” (Recovering).
Laying the
Groundwork
“Our
goal is not to see literature and history as two separate things. Rather,
literature reflects history. And literature makes history” (White).
It
is a fact that literature and history are two branches of humanity studies that
are irrevocably entwined. Because of this fact, a brief look at the history of
the southwestern part of the United States may be beneficial. By taking a small
glimpse at the political and social forces at work during the nineteenth
century, some groundwork for studying the literature may be laid.
For
the first part of the nineteenth century, the southwestern portion of the United
States was still under Mexican rule. With the popularity of the ideal of
manifest destiny, the belief that a “future event [be] accepted as
inevitable” (Merriam-Webster),
growing, the desire for American expansion towards the West increased. During
the 1820s, Mexico encouraged US migration into Texas. The result was an eventual
strain between the Mexican government and the once welcomed U.S. settlers. In
1835, these settlers would declare their independence from Mexico, which they
would successfully attain in 1836. Texas would be annexed into the United States
under President Polk a little over nine years later (Nance).
With
the desire to move west only becoming stronger, the United States continued to
butt heads with Mexico. It was merely a matter of time before war over control
of land would break out again. Lasting approximately two years (1846-1848), the
Mexican-American War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Mexico gave up its claim to the land it had once owned and established the
border along the Rio Grande (Lauter 1461). The Gold Rush that occurred around
this time, as well, caused an even more dramatic influx of Anglo-Americans from
the East.
Due
to the rapid changes the southwestern part of the United States underwent during
a relatively short amount of time, “Mexican-Americans took up [their] pens
more anxiously, […] aware that the intruders would irreversibly transform
precisely the customs and values they held dear” (Lauter 1447). This turning
towards literature by the Hispanics of the time to preserve their cultural
identity resulted in keeping the American victory simply a military and
political one (Lauter 1461).
The Print Culture
During
the 1800s, specifically the 1850s and onward, the intermingling of Anglo- and
Spanish-Americans was inevitable. In many ways, these two very different
cultures influenced one another while still allowing for unique cultural
identity to remain. Literate Hispanic Americans turned to the power of the
written word for aid in expressing their opinions of the social and political
events taking place around them, but that power was limited. As with the
majority of the literature written during this time period by marginalized
societies, Spanish-American literature did not receive its due.
In
1813, printing presses were first found in Texas, and by the 1820s, New Mexico
and Spanish California had them, as well (Gruesz 100). With the arrival of these
printing presses, the “origins of a Spanish-language print culture […] and
small-circulation newspapers for the benefit of the literate minority” (Gruesz
100-01) were born. The letrado, or learned, now had their outlet for proclaiming their
views. Dozens of Spanish-language newspapers began to pop up all around the
southwest. Local authors got their chance to get their poems into print. “They
wrote lyric poetry after the fashion of Spanish romanticism and political poetry
treating every conceivable issue from bilingualism to statehood for New
Mexico” (Lauter 1447). These Spanish-language publications also provided
exposure to the Spanish writers beyond the southwest, as well as translations of
American poets such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
It
would seem, however, that the “fact that there were
publications in Spanish in the United States during the nineteenth century [is]
surprising enough to most readers” (Gruesz x). The truth is a Spanish-American
literary culture did exist during the
1800s. Authors such as Mariano Vallejo, Jose Maria Amador and Jose Francisco
Palomares were writing and trying to get their works recognized. But while
Spanish-American authors struggled to have their printed words read, the rich
cultural traditions that they had always had continued.
Literary Traditions
The
many periodicals and newspapers that abounded during the mid-1800s may have
provided a growing way for a wider audience to have access to the
Spanish-American literary force, but it by no means replaced the more
traditional methods by which Hispanics have been telling their stories. Hispanic
cultures have a strong folkloric history of oral storytelling, a history that
survives even to today. In oral folklore, the “elements of human behavior that
constitute tradition, the character, the feelings, the manners and customs, the
religious beliefs, the artistic powers, and […] the ideas of people are
documented” (Espinosa 67).
Corridos.
One
style within the art of oral storytelling is the ballad. A ballad is a
“narrative composition in rhythmic verse suitable for singing” (Merriam-Webster).
As a style for telling stories, ballads have often been “overshadowed by
written forms of historical documentation and fictional narrative in many
countries of the world” (Chamberlain 28). In the literature of
Spanish-America, the corrido stands as
the Hispanic equivalent of the ballad. The corrido
is “perhaps the most important expressive form for the Mexican Americans of
the Southwest during the period from 1865 to 1915” (Paredes). The corrido
is unique amongst storytelling traditions in the fact that it “not only
survives but also continues to flourish” (Chamberlain 28). Corridos
are still written, recorded and performed, even in the twenty-first century.
The
corrido resists attempts by scholars
to simply be pigeon-holed as a type of ballad. It is far more complex than that.
According to Alfred B. Lord, a Homeric scholar, the “greatest error [one can
make] when studying oral storytelling ‘is to attempt to make
“scientifically” rigid a phenomenon that is fluid’” (qtd. in Chamberlain
29). Since the corrido first made its
way into Hispanic culture, over 150 years have passed. In that time, the corrido
has adapted itself to the changing culture around it. It is not stiff or fixed,
but flexible, perhaps giving the reason as to why it has survived for so long.
At
the time of its inception, many corridos seem to involve themes centering around social antagonism (Aleman).
Because of this, many corridos often
appear to be ways Hispanic Americans dealt with the rapidly changing social and
political situations they found themselves in. Whether the stories narrated in
various corridos are based on fact, or
are purely fiction, scholars occasionally question. Because of the very nature
of the corridos, the actual facts, if
any, are most often lost to time. “The dividing line between historical
narrative and fiction lies in history’s recourse to documents” (Chamberlain
32). Without documentation, there can be no proof. There is, however, tradition
and preservation of tradition to back up the corridos.
The retelling of events over and over again through the use of corridos
gives them a “narrative identity,” and this identity “invests [corridos]
with the authority of tradition and with tradition’s claim to truth”
(Chamberlain 36). Corridos, however,
are not the only forms of oral folkloric storytelling the Spanish-Americans
practiced. Another is the folktale.
Folktales.
Though many folktales have now
found their way into print in some form or another, they were all originally
part of the oral storytelling traditions. Of all the various types of folklore,
considerably “more importance has been attached to the folktale” (Espinosa
174). Just as the corrido lends itself
to be studied from a “sociological, historical, regional, ideological,
archetypical, or structural perspective” (Chamberlain 29), the folktale
appeals to a wider variety of people. “Not only folklorists, but
anthropologists, ethnologists, philologists, historians, psychologists,
sociologists, and students of comparative literature” (Espinosa 174) show
interest in studying folktales of all nations.
Traditionally
speaking, a folktale is a “characteristically anonymous, timeless, and
placeless tale circulated orally among a people” (Merriam-Webster).
Those told by the Hispanics were no different. Their stories include “morality
tales alongside tales of picaresque rogues, tales of enchantment filled with
witches, ghosts, enchanted princesses and tales in which animals with the gift
of speech and wisdom reminded humans of their filial and social
responsibilities” (Lauter 1448). The folktales found around the world often
share some commonalities. This attribute attests to a unique condition specific
to the folktale: these narratives easily adapt themselves to various regions.
Folktales are a “special field [of literature] in which changes are taking
place continually and in which elements of foreign cultures may be easily
assimilated” (Espinosa 177). Examples of the folktale’s adaptive nature can
be found throughout several Spanish-American folktales, such as the story of La
Llorona, the “Weeping Woman.” The basis of La Llorona is the story of a poor
woman who murders her children and then kills herself. After she dies, La
Llorona “roams the streets, wailing for their loss and frightening those who
see or hear her” (Lauter 1457). Though the story varies from place to place,
“folklorists have found versions of the tale in Mexican American communities
across the United States, from Oregon to Rhode Island” (Lauter 1457).
Conclusion
Exploring
the Spanish-American literature of the nineteenth century provided me with an
opportunity to learn more about my own heritage. I was, in all honesty,
similarly unaware of the literary culture that was taking root and growing
during this time. It becomes obvious, however, through a little research, that
the very opposite is true. Despite any claims otherwise, a “meaningful
literary presence of Latinos or of the Spanish language within the United States
before the middle of the twentieth century” (Gruesz xi) existed. This
“literary presence” is important when studying Hispanic literature because
of the simple fact that its influence continues today in Chicano literature.
The
basic oral storytelling traditions, such as the corridos
and folktales, are still around in this day and age among Chicano literature.
People still create corridos, and
variations of folktales can be found all over the United States. Social and
political issues around the time period were often reflected in the literature
that was published. Many Spanish-language publications, such as El
Clamor Publico and La America
Ilustrada, sought to bring the literature of Spanish-Americans to the rest
of the country. Translators, such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, did what they
could for the English-speaking counterparts of the literary world. Yet, somehow,
the literary significance of the words printed in Spanish, or translated into
English, was ignored. Neglected, “the written word crumbles into the dust that
plagues the windswept, desolate” (Gruesz ix) borderlands.
The
good news is that the failure to notice Spanish-American literature as a
significant part of American canon is slowly starting to change. Efforts are
being made by organizations, such as the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary
Heritage project, to “patch a perceived hole in the historical fabric, a
missing piece of the Archive, in order to lay the groundwork for the invention
of a new, more usable past” (Gruesz 210). People are starting to realize that
there is much more to American literature than those traditional authors like
Hawthorne and Emerson. I, for one, am grateful to have had a chance to discover
them.
Works Cited
Aleman, Jesse. “Chicano Novelistic Discourse:
Dialogizing the Corrido Critical Paradigm.” MELUS
Spring 1998. Looksmart Findarticles.
Gale Group Databases. 12 Nov. 2004 <http://www.findarticles.com/>.
Chamberlain, Daniel F. “The Mexican Corrido:
Identity Configurations, Time, and Truth Claims.” Latin
American Narratives and Culture Identity. Ed. Irene Maria F. Blayer and Mark
Cronlund Anderson. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2004.
Gruesz, Kirsten Silva. Ambassadors
of Culture: The Transamerican Origins of Latino Writing. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 2002.
Espinosa, Aurelio M. The
Folklore of Spain in the American Southwest. Norman: University of Oklahoma
Press, 1990.
Lauter, Paul, ed. The
Heath Anthology of American Literature. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company,
2002.
Merriam-Webster
Online. 2004. Merriam-Webster, Inc. 17 Nov. 2004
<http://www.m-w.com/>.
Nance, Joseph Milton. “REPUBLIC OF TEXAS.” Handbook
of Texas Online. 4
Dec. 2002. The Texas State
Historical Association. 16 Nov. 2004 <
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/RR/mzr2.html>.
Paredes, Raymund. “Corridos.”
The Heath Anthology of American Literature.
2004. Houghton Mifflin Company.
12 Nov. 2004 <http://college.hmco.com/english/lauter/heath/4e/students/author_pages/late_nineteenth/corridos.html>.
Recovering the U.S.
Hispanic Literary Heritage. 2004. Arte Publico Press. 16 Nov. 2004 <
http://www.arte.uh.edu/recovery/index.aspx>
White, Craig. LITR
4232 UHCL lecture notes for Mohicans, 3rd meeting. 7 Sep. 2004.
University of Houston – Clear Lake. 17 Nov. 2004 <http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/LITR/4232/lecture/cooper3.htm>.