Andres Angel-Portilla

English 1A
Professor Rivas-Gomez
7 April 2014

Journal #6: Anzaldua Chapter 5 (Option 1)
Anzaldua elaborate in chapter 5 of her book the various different elements one can take
into consideration, particularly if you are of Mexican descent. She writes about being hit for
speaking spanish when she was younger and being punished for talking back when she was
merely trying to explain to teachers how to pronounce her name properly. She explains that
Mexicans often experience criticism for speaking Spanish by the surrounding Anglo-Americans,
but are also shunned when speaking English by other Mexicans. Not only do they experience
this strange dynamic in linguistics, but also in entertainment like movies or music. Anzaldua
explains that in the 50s and 60s well educated or agringado Mexicans would not be caught
dead listening to Mexican music. Because of this they sometime faced identity confusion. On
the brightside, however, because of this confusion Mexican-Americans created their own
variation of language: Chicano Spanish; a formation of both english and spanish words. Many
more variations developed due to things like the collapsing of consonants, the shortening of
words and the contribution of individual style to create slang. Language variations are created to
help individuals better associate with their own specific discourse group.
I found it fascinating how many different alterations there are for the same language. As
I was reading I wondered why it was such a big deal to label oneself, but then I remembered
people like to define themselves by ethnic background rather than interest or personality
sometimes. Of course I find it important to know where you are from but I dont think it should
define you or categorize you as Chicanos often feel pressured to do. It is important to hold on to
your heritage because one can bring in assets and skills found in the pertaining culture. I
dwelled on the thought a little longer and realized it is a difficult place for Mexican-Americans to
fit in because they are constantly receiving criticisms for being one way or the other. My
perspective on it however is to not care, however Im sure that during the era Anzaldua grew up
and the experiences she faced make that nearly impossible to do. I find it quite intelligent and
practical to create Chicano-Spanish the way Mexicans who didnt fit into either Mexican or
English dominant culture did. It was their way of saying hey if we dont blend in either culture we
can just merge the two. This is wonderful because it expresses Americas valuable association
of having various abilities from different cultures. One should not throw away their origins, they
should merge them with their newly adopted culture.
Have you ever experienced the inability to fit in? How did you cope with it?
What would you identify yourself as (Ethnicity your parents trace back to, ethnicity
your family trace back to/American)? Why?