Genoveva T. Palmieri
During the sixties and seventies in the United States it was almost impossible to find a Latin-American section in a bookstore. You could only find a few of the best Latin-American authors in college bookstores. This was due to the fact that was required reading for Spanish majors, and most of the literature offered was the established and very traditional writers, the great majority from Spain. Writers from the New World (The Americas) were disregarded in Spanish Literature courses. Not until Garcia Marquez became a major literary figure by winning the Nobel Prize for literature in the sixties, did Latin American authors become important as important literary figures.
Translation of major works was non-existent, because United States publishers did not consider this genre popular enough; thus it was almost to get great works of literature translated into English. There were no Latino writers to be found in the mainstream of literary writers among the shelves of your popular bookstore, or for that matter in your local library.
As a result of the civil rights movement, the consciousness of minority writers emerged. The cultural and literary landscape changed for the better. A body of literature has now been created on the experience and writings of Latino writers. This "phenomenon" if we were to call it that, begins in the late seventies and gathers strength in the eighties. Although the voices of these immigrant writers even today are still considered fringe literature in the United States literary world.
After reading the recent literature of Latino writers who have been published by major publishers, and have been noticed by academics, it is important to recognize how important for most of these writers is the process of acculturation that is embedded in their writings. Whether autobiographical in many ways, or observatory in others, the process is nevertheless crucial for the artist to emerge. The interest in literary circles of these new writers has certainly been a welcome change.
Great debate has surfaced about the language learning process. The issue of bilingual education rages on, for and against its merits. But this is the first time that there is such a debate in the United States culture and education as to the merits or disadvantages of using two languages.
The most drastic and severe debate is in California. Which is one of the original areas of the United States where the Spanish language was native. Even its name so indicates it. Although there has been bilingual education in California for the past twenty-five years, the movement is to extinguish bilingualism.
The writers we are going to read and study had as their first language Spanish. English was not their primary language and they had a major obstacle to overcome. Language is an important part of their acculturation experience. Language skills were introduced at different stages. For all of them it is a metamorphosis in their language experience.
The process of acculturation, I believe, is very important for students to become part of their new environment and culture. It is of special importance for the learning process, whether it is the culture of school and learning, or whether it is the larger society in which students live.
Artists must step apart from their culture and look at it with a special interest. It is important for the artist to recognize many things about the environment in which he lives, in order to create a new and different scenery of that reality.
By reading these authors, discussing their views recognizing the ability to laugh at many of their experiences, the process of learning a new language. Students will gain an understanding of how these artists were able to find a voice to speak about their struggles. Their voices give us a new and different outlook on the Latino culture in the United States.
With this debate in mind, the first author we will study will be Richard Rodriguez, the son of Mexican parents, who lived in California, He does not speak English by the time he enters grade school. He attends a private Catholic school. His parents are expected to talk to him in English at home even though their English is very minimal. Imagine that translation experience! It must have been one of the children who had to serve as translators when the nuns came over to his house. The results are that he understands that giving up Spanish is also giving up his intimate feelings about his family. He totally abandons his "familial language," and gives it up completely. He then makes it his life to excel in English. In the process he becomes an introvert. He even becomes the expert opponent of bilingual education. In his autobiographical book,
Hunger of Memory
, he reviews and acknowledges his experiences in learning English as a second language and how it has affected his whole life.
