After reading the first two chapters of Borderlands/ La Frontera I was both intrigued and confused at the same time. Adding in poetry in both Spanish and English helped to give me the idea that her identity issues are not from just one source. For the majority of the First chapter, Anzaldua spoke of the history of Mexico and the Indians who once inhabitated the area. She then went on to speak of how the Spaniards and later the Americans stripped away at Mexico and it's people. After reading these parts I immediatley thought of two novels we have read in class, Things Fall Apart and This Earth of Mankind and their disdain for White Europeans and what they had done to their native lands. However, Anzaldua's issues with White culture and her area of interest are part of the very country I live in and thus hit me harder and in a more complex way than the other novels. Seeing the view of a Mexican American describing the chaos of the borderlands in my own country is something that opened me to this often unseen world.
In chapter two, Anzaldua completely changed my view of her novel as a call to reclaim the SouthWest when she started to speak of her own issues in the Mexican community both as a woman and a lesbian. Seeing how repressed women and homosexuals were, I began to think of her identity problems in a new way. In addition to having issues finding her identity as both Mexican and American, Anzaldua had an extra burden of being a homosexual female trying to find her identity as a Mexican Catholic.
In closing, as in Things Fall Apart, I started to question whether the problems brought up in the novel stemmed mostly from either the native culture or the White culture that had taken over their land and culture? Perhaps both parties are equally guilty in giving Anzaldua such trouble in finding herself.
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I definitely agree with the title of your post: Who's to Blame? While reading the first three chapters I felt that Anzaldua was playing with my emotions. She introduces us to this world of the "chicano" and describes the history of Mexico and the Indians constantly bringing up the fact that the "Gringo, locked into the fiction of white superiority, seized complete political power, stripping Indians and Mexicans of their land while their feet were still rooted in it." But then several passages later she criticizes her culture for being a violently patriarchal society that demonizes women under the false heading of protection.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with you're observation that this novel criticizes White America the same way Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness does, I found more of a direct relationship to the film Bamako. There are instances when she genders Mexico and makes 'her' into a victim the same way the citizens of Mali did during the trial. She describes mothers being forced to work in exploitative conditions in American owned factories in order to pay debts and then in turn their abandoned children join gangs and lead a life of violence leading to an endless cycle of exploitation.
I don't know if Anzaldua discusses her sexuality as a way to make her seem extra burdened but instead by declaring herself "the coming together of opposite qualities within" she might be trying to draw a parallel between the physical borderlands and the borderland of her own psyche. Is it because she has no individual culture of her own that she has become a "half and half" internally as well? I also found it curious that she never finds herself wholly immersed in the cultures that she is a part of but instead only partly subjected to the cultures and fully aware of the judgement and fear that they offer.
I see how you question the fact of 'who's to blame' in Anzaldua not being able to find herself. Personally I feel that it is a little bit of everyone's fault. I feel that the “White culture” has over stepped their boundaries with trying to take over the land from under the under the Mexicans feet, just like they did in the previous books we've read. I feel that in both “Things Fall Apart” and “Heart of Darkness” the white man thinks that they have an obligation to 'help' these other cultures, and they truly believe that they can do it by any means necessary. They don't ask for permission, except for Mr. Brown, they just take what they want. When something like this happens I can see why Anzaldua doesn't know 'who she is' because is she suppose to listen to her Mexican heritage or the new white culture that's taking over. Also, the Anzaldua both talks about her culture with pride and dishonor.
ReplyDeleteI also feel that she partially has herself to 'blame' for the fact that she can't find herself. Simply due to the fact that she must have some sexual issues, because while almost every other gay person if fighting to make people believe that it's not a choice to be gay, it's inherited, Anzaldua claims that it was a choice. I found this both very interesting and complexing. Hoepfully as the book continues we'll be able to answer your question further, but I hope my opinion helped you clear some issues.