Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza is a 1987 semi-autobiographical work by Gloria E. Anzaldúa that examines the Chicano and Latino experience through the lens of issues such as gender, identity, race, and colonialism. Borderlands is considered to be Anzaldúa’s most well-known work and a pioneering piece of Chicana literature.
In an interview, Anzaldúa claims to have drawn inspiration from the ethnic and social communities of her youth as well as from her experiences as a woman of color in academia. Scholars also argue that Anzaldúa re-conceptualized the theory of the "mestiza" from the Chicano Movement.
The term Borderlands, according to Anzaldúa, refers to the geographical area that is most susceptible to la mezcla [hybridity], neither fully of Mexico nor fully of the United States. She also used this term to identify a growing population that cannot distinguish these invisible "borders," who instead have learned to become a part of both worlds, worlds whose cultural expectations they are still expected to abide by. Borderlands details the invisible "borders" that exist between Latinas/os and non-Latinas/os, men and women, heterosexuals and homosexuals, and other groups. Each of the essays and poems draws on the author’s life experiences as a Chicana and a lesbian. In both prose and poetry sections, Anzaldúa challenges the conception of a border as a divide and calls for the majority, especially those from the Western culture, to nurture active interest in the oppressed, and change their attitudes that foster the growth of borders.
Borderlands is a semi-autobiographical account that contains a mixture of prose and poetry. Anzaldúa alternates between Spanish and English using a technique such as “code-switching.” Additionally, Anzaldúa’s frequent usage of metaphors and imagery has been described by scholars as “poet-shaman aesthetics.”
Borderlands has been a subject of controversy; it has been promoted in educational spaces for its role in affirming student identity, but also targeted by Arizona House Bill 2281, which banned the teaching of ethnic studies courses and literature that were thought to “promote resentment towards a race or class of people”.
Background Born in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas on September 26, 1942, Gloria Anzaldúa grew up on a ranch where her parents worked as farmers. In an interview with Professor of Literature Ann E. Reuman, Anzaldúa expresses that her ethnic background and childhood experiences in a southern Texas farming culture both heavily influenced her work in Borderlands.
In 1969, Anzaldúa received her bachelor's degree in English from the University of Texas- Pan American. From there, she went onto a master's program at the University of Texas-Austin and graduated with her master's in English and Education in 1972. On May 15, 2004, Gloria Anzaldúa died of diabetes complications.
As the publication of Borderlands followed the Chicano Movement, Professor of Sociology María L. Amado argues that Anzaldúa drew influence for her concept of the “new mestiza” from that of “la Raza mestiza,” a theory of collective identity predicated on notions of racial purity created by philosopher José Vasconcelos, later adopted by Chicanos.
Scholar Melissa Castillo-Garsow also lends much of Anzaldúa’s influence to her experiences as a woman of color in academia. Rather than having Borderlands maintain adherence to academic norms, Castillo-Garsow argues that Anzaldúa’s work challenges traditional paradigms through her theorization of the “mestiza consciousness” and the intermingling of her own Chicano Spanish with standard academic English, drawing from her background as a Chicana woman.
Summary
Chapter 1: The Homeland, Aztlán / El Otro México
El otro Mexico que aca hemos construido, el espacio es lo que ha sido territorio nacional. Este el esfuerzo de todos nuestros hermanos y latinoamericanos que han sabido progressar.
The other Mexico that we have constructed, the space is what has become national territory. This is the work of all our brothers and Latin Americans who have known how to progress.
In this first chapter, Anzaldúa argues that land is not the property of European descendants but rather is of Indigenous ancestry, "humankind in the U.S.the Chicanos' ancient Indian ancestorswas found in Texas and has been dated to 3500 B.C." Further, Anzaldúa describes the removal of Mexican and Indigenous populations from their land during the Mexican-American War. She refers to this as “the fiction of White Superiority,” in which the “Anglos” claimed both the territory of and power over its previous Mexican and Indian inhabitants. Anzaldúa contends this displacement of Mexican and Indigenous communities extended beyond the border, as corporations and landowners from the U.S. began to decrease Mexico’s monetary sovereignty.
Chapter 2: Movimientos de Rebeldía y las Culturas que Traicionan
Esos movimientos de rebeldía que tenemos en la sangre nosotros los mexicanos surgen como ríos desbocanados en mis venas. Those rebellious movements we Mexicans have in our blood surge like overflowing rivers in my veins.
She recognizes that she challenges social norms and her culture in various ways. She wants to be happy with the way she is, but it causes discomfort within society and her family. By being lesbian, she challenges the norms imposed by the Catholic Church. As a little girl, she was raised to keep her mouth shut, respect men, slave for men, marry a man, and not ask questions. Gloria was not allowed to be "selfish" and if she was not doing something for a man, then it was considered laziness. "Every bit of self-faith I'd painstakingly gathered took a beating daily". She felt her culture taught that it was wrong for her to improve herself but despite the setbacks, she continued on her journey.
Anzaldúa challenged all norms in her life; she questioned aspects such as religion, culture, homosexuality, and femininity. All presented barriers that forced her to be someone she was not comfortable being. She did not meet these demands because her identity is grounded in Indian women's history of resistance. Instead of moving forward, she feels as if the ideas presented in those circles are regressive and hinder people's growth and happiness. Rebellious actions are a means to disband certain ideologies and show people that some cultural traditions betray their people.
Chapter 3: Entering Into The Serpent
Sueño con serpientes, con serpientes del mar; con cierto mar, ay de serpientes sueño yo. Largas, transparentes, en sus barrigas llevan lo que puedan arebatarle [sic] al amor. Oh, oh, oh, la mató [sic] y aparece una mayor. Oh, con much más infierno en digestión.I dream of serpents, serpents of the sea, oh, of serpents I dream. Long, transparent, in their bellies they carry all that they can snatch away from love. Oh, oh, oh, I kill one and a larger one appears. Oh, with more hellfire burning inside!One of the main symbols of Mexican religious and mythological culture is that of the snake, la víbora. Anzaldúa, in this chapter, thoroughly outlines the different aspects [both negative and positive] of la víbora and how these different characteristics have affected her life as a Chicana. She continues the chapter by identifying the Virgen de Guadalupe, one of Catholicism’s famous pagan entities, through her Indian names Coatlalopeuh and Coatlicue, which translate into “serpent” and “she who wears a serpent skirt,” respectively. In the Aztec-Mexica society, after the trek from Aztlán, women were able to possess property, were gwalees and priestesses, and royal blood ran through the female line. By taking away her Coatlalopeuh, Guadalupe was deleted and no longer had the serpent/sexuality aspect in her personality. Her story was remade by a male-dominated Aztec-Mexican culture that drove female entities underground by placing male entities in their place.
Regardless of the stance she remained after her desexing and the masculinization of religion, she became the largest symbol in Mexican religion, politics, and culture today, surpassing the importance of Jesus and God the Father in the lives of the Mexican population, both in Mexico and in the United States. Chicana culture, according to Anzaldúa, no longer identifies with the Spanish father but with the Indian mother. Continuing with the symbol of the serpent, Anzaldúa claims that the Serpent’s mouth is associated with womanhood, which was guarded by rows of dangerous teeth. She also states that it is a symbol of the dark, sexual drive, the chthonic, the feminine, the serpentine movement of sexuality, of creativity, and the basis of all energy and life. She ends the chapter by identifying and thoroughly describing la facultad or the capacity to see in surface phenomena the meaning of deeper realities.
Chapter 4: La Herencia de Coatlicue/ the Coatlicue State "The act of being seen, held immobilized by a glance, and 'seeing through' an experience are symbolized by the underground aspects of Coatlicue, Cihuacoatl, and Tlazolteotl which cluster in what I call the Coatlicue state."In this chapter, Anzaldúa begins by describing the importance of the mirror and what it can symbolize in different cultures. To her, the mirror is a "door through which the soul may ‘pass’ to the other side and [her mother] didn’t want [her children] to accidentally follow [their] father to the place where the souls of the dead live." Through this personal anecdote, which becomes relevant to the rest of her chapter, she then transitions into the idea of the Coatlicue state and what being a part of that state entails. She describes the Coatlicue state as having duality in life, a synthesis of duality, and a third perspective, something more than mere duality or a synthesis of duality. She concludes this short chapter by describing the moment in which she allowed the Coatlicue state to take control after years of attempting to rule herself. She states that she is never alone and that she is no longer afraid after this moment, when she finally feels complete.
Chapter 5: How to Tame a Wild Tongue "And I think, how do you tame a wild tongue, train it to be quiet, how do you bridle and saddle it? How do you make it lie down?"This chapter focuses on language, primarily the different aspects of Spanish and English as people of Mexican descent in the United States speak each. She brings up the struggle of learning a second language as a young girl in school when the educators are attempting to suppress a large part of her culture. She goes as far as saying that the “attack on one’s form of expression with the intent to censor [is] a violation of the First Amendment” and that “wild tongues can’t be tamed, they can only be cut out.”
Anzaldúa also lists eight different varieties of languages spoken by Chicanas/os including:
Standard English Working class and slang English Standard Spanish Standard Mexican Spanish North Mexican Spanish dialect Chicano Spanish (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California have regional variations) Tex-Mex Pachuco (called caló)
She reserves a section to talk about Pocho’s, or Anglicized Mexican or Americans of Mexican origin who speak Spanish with an accent characteristic of North Americans and who distort and reconstruct the language according to the influence of English. This person is someone who has betrayed their culture by not properly speaking the language of their homeland. However, Anzaldúa argues that being Mexican is a state of soul, not one of mind, nor one of citizenship. Neither eagle nor serpent, but both.