LITR 4333 American Immigrant Literature UHCL 2006 student poetry presentation

For weeks now

I have not been able

to liberate me from my name.

Always I am history I must wake to.

In idiot defeat I trace my routes

across a half-forgotten map of Texas.

I smooth out the folds stubborn

as the memory.

Let me see: I would start from San Marcos,

moving northward,

bored beyond recognition

in the stale air of a '52 Chevy:

to my left, the youngest of uncles

steadies the car;

to my right, Grandfather finds humor

in the same joke.

I am hauled among family

extended across the back seat,

as the towns bury themselves forever

in my eyes: Austin, Lampasas, Brownwood,

past Abilene, Sweetwater,

along the Panhandle's alien tallness.

There it is: Lubbock sounding harsh as ever.

I press its dark letters,

and dust on my fingertips is so alive

it startles them

as once did sand.

Then west, 10,000 acres and a finger's breadth,

is Levelland

where a thin house once stood,

keeping watch over me and my baseball glove

when the wrath of winds cleared the earth

of stooping folk.

There's Ropesville, where in fifth grade

I didn't make a friend.

My arm is taut by now and terrified.

It slackens,

begins falling back into place,

while the years are gathering slowly

along still roads and hill country,

downward

to where it all began – 500 McKie Street.

I am home, and although the stars

are at rest tonight,

my strength is flowing.

Weep no more, my common hands;

you shall not again

pick cotton.

Poet and writer Tino Villanueva was born on December 11, 1941, in San Marcos, Texas to a family of migrant workers. Because of the demands of traveling to harvest crops, Villanueva was never able to attend school regularly. Despite the hardships, he managed to graduate from San Marcos High in 1960 and began working on an assembly-line at a local furniture factory. In 1963, he was drafted into the United States Army in 1963 and spent two years in the Panama Canal Zone. There he became immersed in Hispanic literature, reading the works of poets such as Ruben Dario and Cuban revolutionary José Martí. Upon returning to San Marcos, he took advantage of the GI Bill to study English and Spanish at Texas State University-San Marcos. He completed his B.A. in three years and then moved to Buffalo, New York to attend the State University of New York. He finished his M.A. in 1971 and moved to Boston University, where he began his doctoral studies. He earned a Ph.D. in Spanish literature and teaches Spanish and translation at Boston University.

Instructor’s Question: How does Hispanic or Caribbean literature resemble or differ from either the immigrant narrative or the minority narrative?

Objective 3. To compare and contrast the immigrant narrative with the minority narrative – or, American Dream versus American Nightmare

Tino Villanueva, was quoted in the May 2000 issue of The Texas Observer, that he would "not want to live in a literary barrio." He is recognized as a highly acclaimed Chicano writer as well as a gifted painter, who writes in his poem, Haciendo Apenas la RecolecciÓn:

Villanueva's poem traces a personal history that he is powerless to forget. As a youth, he followed the routes of migrant workers who picked fruit and cotton as they followed the seasons, until finally, after the harvest was gathered he was able to return to school. But, more than often, he was away from school traveling a migrant's path. When he was able to return to school, he imagined a life that brought hope of assimilation into normal American society as is revealed in the following lines:

His dreams, as a second generation American, were reminiscent of immigrant dreams of successfully assimilating into American society. However, Tino faced minority discrimination and segregation while living in Texas during the 1950's, as in the poem he recalls, "where in fifth grade I didn't make a friend." He is well-known for the book-length poem, Scene from the Movie GIANT, that addresses anti-Mexican racism – American dream versus American nightmare. Villanueva's identification with the predicaments of his youth ties him to his past. This creates a strong resistance to complete assimilation, unlike the traditional immigrant who blends into dominant American culture, his early struggles long forgotten as he resides instead in the shadow of his future, not of his past.

Tino's journey finally takes him away from the migrant hardships of his youth and he attains education and literary success, as implied with the words, "Weep no more, my common hands; you shall not again pick cotton." This appears to imply that Villanueva is a model of immigrant success because American dreams are realized. However, Villanueva's achievements are always inescapably reflective of his past. This distinction marks a vivid contrast to immigrant narratives whose assimilation makes them wholly American by dissolving their "old world" roots.

Villanueva's world lies somewhere in-between that of the forced African American immigrant or the American Indian whose world was blanketed by the dominant culture of the European immigrant whose past was willingly erased. Therefore, I conclude that Tino's minority distinction is in his ability to tenderly uncover and cling to the vulnerability of his youth, and with unyielding hope "smooth out the folds stubborn as the memory" that permeate his Hispanic identity, and all of the missed opportunities of his early life.

Question 1: What do the words, "and dust on my fingertips is so alive it startles them as once did sand," signify to you in relation to the poem?

Could it mean that the sensation of sand on his fingers causes him to recall a time in his youth when his hands were used for harvesting as opposed to being used to express his creativity?

Question 2: What do you think that Tino Villanueva commented that, he would "not want to live in a literary barrio?"

Tino Villanueva's response to my question regarding the title of the poem, Haciendo Apenas la RecolecciÓn:

February 4, 2006

Dear Peggy Johnson,

I'm flattered you're taking the time to read and discuss (?) one of my poems from some time ago, from my book Shaking Off the Dark (1984; 2nd edition 1998). The title of the poem is a bit complicated, for I intended it to have a triple meaning; I'd be too wordy to try to explain each possibility. So, when I read it before an audience--the poem is one of my favorites--it simply goes under the generic name of "A Farmworker's Recollection."

The title's complexity stems from the fact that two of the words have a double meaning in Spanish: apenas (hardly, barely); a penas (painfully); la recoleccion (the picking / gathering [of the crops]; la recoleccion (also means ''memory''). Therefore, the expression ''hacer la recolleccion'' would mean either "to remember" or "to pick / to gather in" [the crops]. So one cannot arrive at one simple title, but at several. And that was the purpose--for it to resonate with native-speakers especially when the latter are looking at the text, but only hearing the title being read...so is it apenas or a penas and how should ''recoleccion'' be interpreted in relationship to this / these word(s)?

Consequently, "A Farmworker's Recollection'' is good enough to introduce the poem. This is the best I can do, I'm sorry.

If you have further questions, don't hesitate to contact me.

Good luck on your presentation. Sincerely, TVillanueva

May 13, 2006

Dear Peggy Johnson,

Eureka! Thank you much for the wonderful map and comments. Authors like to be read, so please know I appreciate your taking the time to pay attention to one of my poems...and I see you got well rewarded for your efforts. I wish you much success with your future graduate work.

Sincerely, TVillanueva