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4.34 AVERAGE
4.34 AVERAGE
challenging
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
This novel is mythology, history, gender politics, identity politics, poetry, religion, and so much more. Anzaldúa works with multiple mediums and styles, weaving them together as effortlessly as she weaves together the different languages used in her writing. I appreciated the looks at the harsh truths Anzaldúa explored and her insight.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Anzaldua covers a lot of ground with this book. Her embodiment of the mestiza consciousness and her Borderlands theory both offer an important complication to our more singular understandings of multiculturalism and intersectionality. This was the first Xicanx collection I ever read, and I was happily reminded of other Indigenous texts--Why Indigenous Literatures Matter by Daniel Heath Justice for one. Between Anzaldua's use of feminist, queer, Indigenous and Borderlands theory, it was an incredibly enlightening, if not challenging, read. Her narrative structure of poetry and prose make the text far more dynamic than your average essay collection. While I did frequently reference a Spanish-English dictionary, the work proved worthwhile in the end.
Anzaldúa’s most famous work, a collection of essays and poetry is a refreshing and important book. I read this for my Chicana literature course and it is by far the touchstone of Chicana studies. Anzaldúa writes very personal but powerful essays on what it means to be Chicana and what it’s like living in a country in which she is seen as a second or third class citizen. Her poetry is political but highly readable and perfectly complements the essays in this collection. I highly recommend this work, even if you have no interest in Chicano studies, it’s required reading.
I'm going to lose my Chicano, feminist status, but this book wasn't all that great.
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Exhausting. A lot of it resonated with me so much that I found myself rereading certain passages immediately, which frankly is more work than I usually put into my leisure reading. That's also probably why it took me 5 months to finish!
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced