my newest read

     I just started reading this book, and this short review only covers the foreword and introduction.  I usually don’t enjoy reading the foreword and introduction because it gives/guides too much of the reading process. This happens in poetry books which I prefer reading in sporadic order.  

But in this case I read both and continue thinking much on ideas which are similar to the concept of the Nuev@ Chican@ Poetics group I participate in. William Luis, when talking about the ethnically diverse community he was raised in, says “When I look back, I did not feel comfortable accepting one identity over another but felt the need to embrace all of my multiple identities” (ix).  Although I didn’t grow up in an ethnically diverse area (the Rio Grande Valley is comprised of approximately 90% Mexican Americans), I do think of identities as the different types of Mexican Americans/Mexicans which exist, in particular because of social or economic status.

     In the introduction, the concept is talked about a bit more by Blas Falconer and Lorraine M. Lopez who wrote “the former [Lorraine M. Lopez] probes the prejudice emanating from native Chicanos toward those who have emigrated recently from Mexico, suggesting that there are at least as many ways to be Chicano as there are to be Latino” (3). If this can be agreed upon then my questions are “what are these forms of Chicano?” and “What creates these differences?” Some of the answers may appear obvious, like the nature of a person’s upbringing.  But there’s probably more, and I’m interested in seeing the influences on identity.

Just some thoughts and as I continue reading I will post more.

-ic