Herencia The Anthology of Hispanic Literature of the United States

by Kanellos, Nicolas

• ISBN13: 9780195138252
• ISBN10: 0195138252
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-09-18
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Herencia (meaning "inheritance" or "heritage") is the first anthology to bring together literature spanning the entire history of Hispanic writing in the United States, from the age of exploration to the present. The product of a ten-year project involving hundreds of scholars nationwide, Herencia is the most comprehensive literary collection available, covering over three centuries and including writers from all the major Hispanic ethnic communities as well as a broad sample of writing from diverse genres. Here is the voice of the conqueror and the conquered, the revolutionary and the reactionary, the native and the uprooted or landless. Of course, readers will find pieces by such leading writers as Piri Thomas, Luis Valdez, Isabel Allende, Oscar Hijuelos, and Reinaldo Arenas. But what truly distinguish this anthology are its historical depth and its rich, complex portrait of Hispanic literature in the United States. Beginning with Cabeza de Vaca's account of his explorations in the New World, the anthology includes a passage from La Florida , a narrative historical poem of 22,000 verses, written by Franciscan friar Alonso de Escobedo. It also features an attack on Mexican stereotypes in the nascent movie industry written by Nicasio Idar, editor of Laredo's La Cronica; and an essay about Coney Island written by revolutionary Jose Marti. Embracing Chicano, Nuyorican, Cuban American, and Latino writings, the voices of immigrants and the voices of exiles, Herencia makes a vital contribution to our understanding not only of Hispanic writing in the United States, but also of the great contribution Hispanics have made to the United States.

Author Biography

Nicolas Kanellos is the Brown Foundation Professor of Hispanic Literature at the University of Houston and the Director of Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage, a major national research program. He is also founding publisher of the noted Hispanic literary journal The Americas Review and founder of the nation's oldest and most esteemed Hispanic publishing house, Arte Publico Press.

Table of Contents

An Overview of Hispanic Literature of the United States	1	(32)
PART I. The Literature of Exploration and Colonization	33	(32)
The Account (excerpt)	35	(4)
Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca
Discovery of the Seven Cities of Cibola (excerpt)	39	(7)
Fray Marcos de Niza
La Florida (excerpt)	46	(1)
Alonso Gregorio de Escobedo
History of New Mexico (excerpt)	47	(9)
Gaspar Perez de Villagra
The Account (excerpt)	56	(2)
Fray Francisco de Escobar
Lord, if the shepherd does not hear the sheep's complaint . . .	58	(7)
Fray Matias Saenz de San Antonio
PART II. Native Literature	65	(24)
Toward a Mestizo Culture	67	(22)
By This Divine Light . . .	67	(2)
Anonymous
The Comanches	69	(17)
Anonymous
Little Indian Ballad of Placida Romero	86	(3)
Anonymous
The Contest of Coffee and Corn Gruel	89	(550)
Anonymous
Memories of Things Past	92	(14)
Testimony Recounted by Jose Francisco Palomares	92	(2)
Jose Francisco Palomares
A Glimpse of Domestic Life in 1827	94	(1)
Brigida Briones
Occurrences in Hispanic California	95	(5)
Maria de las Angustias de la Guerra de Ord
Letter to William Heath Davis	100	(2)
Platon Vallejo
``The Old Guide'': Surveyor, Scout, Hunter, Indian Fighter, Ranchman, Preacher: His Life in His Own Words	102	(4)
Jose Policarpo Rodriguez
Roots of Resistance	106	(24)
Personal Memoirs of John N. Seguin, from the Year 1834 to the Retreat of General Woll from the City of San Antonio 1842	106	(3)
Juan Nepomuceno Seguin
Editorials	109	(2)
Francisco Ramirez
The Californios	111	(1)
Pablo de la Guerra
Proclamation	112	(3)
Juan Nepomuceno Cortina
Joaquin Murieta; The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez	115	(5)
Anonymous
The Real Billy the Kid (excerpt)	120	(3)
Miguel Antonio Otero, Jr.
The Squatter and the Don	123	(7)
Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton
Defending Cultural and Civil Rights	130	(46)
A Protest Rally, 1901	130	(5)
Eusebio Chacon
Plea for the Spanish Language	135	(4)
Aurora Lucero White Lea
``P.G.'' The Spanish Language: A Plea to the Hispanic Legislators	139	(3)
For Our Race: Preservation of Nationalism; We Should Work	142	(2)
Jovita Idar
Greetings and Aims (editorial)	144	(1)
La Defensa
Open Letter to a Libelist	145
Lorenzo Pineiro Rivera
Ignorance: The Cause of Racial Discrimination; The Evolution of Mexican-Americans	152	(4)
Alonso S. Perales
The Mexican Question in the Southwest	156	(6)
Emma Tenayuca
Homer Brooks
Step-Children of a Nation	162	(8)
Isabel Gonzalez
The Mexico-Texan; The Hammon and the Beans	170	(6)
Americo Paredes
Preserving Cultural Traditions	176	(19)
The Courteous and Kindly Child and the ``Good People'' on the Underground Passageway	176	(2)
Adina De Zavala
The Phantoms at San Luis Rey	178	(5)
Adolfo Carrillo
Samuel's Christmas Eve	183	(1)
Herminia Chacon
The First Cactus Blossom	184	(2)
Jovita Gonzalez
Midwife	186	(2)
Marcelina
The Clown of San Cristobal	188	(3)
Nina Otero-Warren
The Fiddler and the Angelito	191	(4)
Fray Angelico Chavez
Militant Aesthetics	195	(36)
I Am Joaquin	195	(4)
Rodolfo ``Corky'' Gonzales
Pilgrims in Aztlan (excerpt)	199	(6)
Miguel Mendez
must be the season of the witch; mis ojos hinchados	205	(2)
Alurista
Dear Rafe	207	(5)
Rolando Hinojosa
Puerto Rican Obituary	212	(8)
Pedro Pietri
Saliendo; Light after Blackout	220	(2)
Miguel Algarin
Los Vendidos	222	(9)
Luis Valdez
Contemporary Reflections on Identity	231	(60)
The Truth about Them (excerpt)	231	(3)
Jose Yglesias
Down These Mean Streets (excerpt)	234	(4)
Piri Thomas
A Lower East Side Poem	238	(3)
Miguel Pinero
Uncle Claudio	241	(3)
Nicholasa Mohr
My graduation speech; the africa in pedro morejon	244	(3)
Tato Laviera
La Guera	247	(7)
Cherrie Moraga
How to Tame a Wild Tongue	254	(8)
Gloria Anzaldua
Above All, a Family Man	262	(4)
Alicia Achy Obejas
My Name Is Maria Christina; Anonymous Apartheid	266	(3)
Sandra Maria Esteves
Ending Poem	269	(2)
Aurora Levins Morales
Rosario Morales
Our House in the Last World (excerpt)	271	(9)
Oscar Hijuelos
Day of the Moon (excerpt)	280	(5)
Graciela Limon
Anything but Love (excerpt)	285	(6)
Gustavo Perez Firmat
Rites of Passage	291	(28)
Going Up North	291	(5)
Evelio Grillo
My Wonder Horse	296	(5)
Sabine Ulibarri
First Communion	301	(3)
Tomas Rivera
The Moths	304	(4)
Helena Maria Viramontes
Amanda	308	(6)
Roberta Fernandez
Volar; Maria Elena; Exile	314	(5)
Judith Ortiz Cofer
New Directions in Poetry	319	(16)
Day Laborer; Strange City	319	(1)
Mercedes de Acosta
The Latest Latin Dance Craze; today is a day of great joy; Loisaida; energy	320	(6)
Victor Hernandez Cruz
Beneath the Shadow of the Freeway	326	(3)
Lorna Dee Cervantes
Legal Alien; Curandera	329	(2)
Pat Mora
Mi abuelo; Wet Camp; Nani	331	(4)
Alberto Alvaro Rios
PART III. The Literature of Immigration	335	(174)
Encounters with the Modern City	337	(23)
Two Views of Coney Island (excerpt)	337	(4)
Jose Marti
New York from Within: One Aspect of Its Bohemian Life	341	(3)
Francisco Gonzalo ``Pachin'' Marin
Fourth Missive	344	(4)
Nicanor Bolet Peraza
Lucas Guevara (excerpt)	348	(4)
Alirio Diaz Guerra
A Song for Wall Street; The Secret	352	(1)
Salomon de la Selva
The Hispanic Barrio	353	(3)
A. Ortiz-Vargas
Tropics in Manhattan (excerpt)	356	(4)
Guillermo Cotto-Thorner
Negotiating New Realities	360	(65)
My Valise	360	(1)
Wen Galvez
The Factory (excerpt)	361	(3)
Gustavo Aleman Bolanos
The Texas Sun (excerpt)	364	(3)
Conrado Espinosa
The Adventures of Don Chipote or, When Parrots Breast Feed (excerpt)	367	(5)
Daniel Venegas
Easy Jobs	372	(2)
Alberto O'Farrill
Memoirs of Bernardo Vega (excerpt)	374	(5)
Bernardo Vega
The Dishwasher; The Deportee	379	(6)
Anonymous
A Jibaro's Lament; A Jibaro in New York	385	(2)
Miguel Angel Figueroa
Anonymous
Prayer to Home Relief	387	(2)
Americo Meana
Take the Dead Man Away (excerpt)	389	(2)
Gonzalo O'Neill
El Coyote/The Rebel (excerpt)	391	(3)
Luis Perez
The Oxcart (excerpt)	394	(5)
Rene Marques
Scribbles	399	(4)
Pedro Juan Soto
The Night We Became People Again	403	(8)
Jose Luis Gonzalez
El Super (excerpt)	411	(3)
Ivan Acosta
Diary of an Undocumented Immigrant (excerpt)	414	(3)
Ramon ``Tianguis'' Perez
No Face	417	(4)
Junot Diaz
Odyssey to the North (excerpt)	421	(4)
Mario Bencastro
Early Perspectives on Class and Gender	425	(19)
The Rebel Is a Girl	425	(4)
Leonor Villegas de Magnon
The Emotions of Maria Concepcion	429	(3)
Maria Cristina Mena
How Poor Women Prostitute Themselves	432	(2)
Luisa Capetillo
The Intelligent Woman	434	(2)
Maria Luisa Garza
The Stenographer	436	(2)
Julio G. Arce
I'm Going to Mexico	438	(3)
Jesus
Netty Rodriguez
The Flapper	441	(1)
Jesus Colon
Women and Puerto Rican Identity	442	(2)
Consuelo Lee Tapia
Editorial Discontent	444	(14)
Speech Read by the Author on the Evening That the ``Society of Workers'' Celebrated the Twenty-Fourth Anniversary of Its Founding	444	(1)
Sara Estela Ramirez
The Castilian Language and Puerto Rico	445	(2)
Tomas Gares
Editorial, August 7, 1927	447	(1)
Grafico
How to Unite the Puerto Rican Colony	448	(3)
Joaquin Colon
Those Who Return	451	(2)
Rodolfo Uranga
Open Lettter to Don Luis Munoz Marin, President of the Puerto Rican Senate; United States	453	(5)
Erasmo Vando
Cultural (Dis)Junctures	458	(30)
The Key West Rose (excerpt)	458	(4)
Eliseo Perez Diaz
A Prayer in the Snow	462	(3)
Wilfredo Braschi
Barrio Boy (excerpt)	465	(5)
Ernesto Galarza
Kipling and I	470	(3)
Jesus Colon
Miracle on Eighth and Twelfth	473	(2)
Roberto Fernandez
Chronicles; Self-Portrait	475	(1)
Isaac Goldemberg
The Herb Shop	476	(7)
Dolores Prida
The Argonauts	483	(5)
Isabel Allende
Reflections on the Dislocated Self	488	(21)
I Was My Own Route; Farewell in Welfare Island	488	(3)
Julia de Burgos
Horizons; Five-Pointed Stars	491	(2)
Clemente Soto Velez
Mexico; Dark Romance; Marina Mother	493	(3)
Lucha Corpi
Spared Angola; Going Under (excerpt)	496	(3)
Virgil Suarez
The Greatest Performance	499	(4)
Elias Miguel Munoz
A Matrix Light	503	(6)
Cristina Garcia
PART IV. The Literature of Exile	509	(114)
Struggle for Spanish-American Independence	511	(34)
``The Friend of Men'' On Behalf of Mankind: To All the Inhabitants of the Islands and the Vast Continent of Spanish America	511	(6)
Mexicans: Signaled by Providence	517	(4)
Jose Alvarez de Toledo y Dubois
Necessary Ideas for All Independent People of the Americas Who Want to Be Free	521	(1)
Vicente Rocafuerte Bejarano
Essay on Slavery; Jicotencal	522	(11)
Felix Varela
To the People of Cuba	533	(3)
Enrique Jose Varona
With All, for the Good of All	536	(9)
Jose Marti
Hymn of the Exile	545	(33)
Hymn of the Exile	545	(4)
Jose Maria Heredia
Always; Song of the Cuban Women	549	(2)
Miguel Teurbe Tolon
To Spain	551	(6)
Pedro Santicilia
In Greenwood	557	(1)
Juan Clemente Zenea
My Flag	558	(2)
Bonifacio Byrne
Ode to October 10	560	(3)
Lola Rodriguez de Tio
A Statistic; Fragments	563	(3)
Francisco Gonzalo ``Pachin'' Marin
Hatuey	566	(9)
Francisco Sellen
Simple Verses	575	(3)
Jose Marti
Against Tyranny	578	(21)
Why Are You Still Here, Mexican Men? Fly to the Battlefield	578	(2)
Andrea
Teresa Villarreal
Revolutionary Hymn	580	(3)
Enrique Flores Magon
Letter	583	(1)
Ricardo Flores Magon
The Underdogs	584	(2)
Mariano Azuela
The Aching Soul	586	(2)
Santiago Arguello
Blood	588	(3)
Gustavo Solano
Postcard	591	(1)
Liron
Emmaus; Stuck to the Wall	592	(3)
Juan Antonio Corretjer
I Also Accuse! By Way of a Prologue	595	(4)
Carmita Landestoy
Contemporary Exiles	599	(24)
The Cow on the Rooftop: A Story of the Cuban Revolution	599	(6)
Lino Novas Calvo
It is dark . . .; This senor don Gringo . . .	605	(2)
Jose Kozer
Before Night Falls (excerpt)	607	(4)
Reinaldo Arenas
I'm Your Horse in the Night	611	(3)
Luisa Valenzuela
I Grew Accustomed; Here Am I Now	614	(2)
Emma Sepulveda
Exile (excerpt)	616	(7)
Matias Montes Huidobro
PART V. Epilogue: Sin Fronteras, Beyond Boundaries	623	(16)
Danger Zone: Cultural Relations between Chicanos and Mexicans at the End of the Century	625	(6)
Guillermo Gomez-Pena
The Flying Bus	631	(8)
Luis Rafael Sanchez
List of Editors, Contributors, and Translators	639	(4)
Source Notes	643