Latinx Aesthetics ~ Becoming a Mexican American in the U.S. South: Autobiographical Narrative of Liberation

• In Event: Creative Insubordination Research: Pushing Methodological Boundaries — Performing Dissertation Research — Liberating Academic Writing

Abstract

Drawing upon a wide array of works on experience of immigrants (e.g., Carger 1996; Gonzales, 2016; He 2003; Igoa, 1995; Urrea, 1996; Valdés, 1996, 2001; Valenzuela, 1999), the presenter explores issues of language (e.g., Igoa, 1995; Soto, 1997; Vazquez, 1994), culture (e.g., Au, 2014; Soto, 1997; Phillion, He & Connelly, 2005), power (e.g., Freire, 1970/1992; Soto,1997; Moraga, 1984), and identity (e.g., Anzaldúa, 1987, 1990; Gonzales, 2016; He, 2013; Perez, 2009). The presenter explores her experience of being smuggled into the United States from Mexico a few times before she reached the age of six while her parents illegally immigrated into the U. S. in order to provide her with a better future. She incorporates Spanish words into her writing to capture bilingual quality of her life experience. She incorporates artwork, personal paintings, and poems into her dissertation. Artwork is a powerful mode of expression that helps express feelings and thoughts that are hard to express with words. She collects daily talks and conversations with her family members, relatives, and any others who contribute to her life in Mexico and the United States to verify the accuracy of her re-memoring (Morrison, 1990).

Methodologically drawing upon autobiographical writings of women of color such as This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color (Moraga, & Anzaldua, 1984), The Gloria Anzaldúa Reader (Anzaldua & Keating, 2009) and Making Face, Making Soul: Creative and Critical Perspectives By Women Of Color (Anzaldua, 1990), Borderlands: La Frontera (Anzuldua, 1987), Of Borders and Dreams: Mexican-American Experience of Urban Education (Carger, 1996), and A River Forever Flowing: Cross-Cultural Lives and Identities in the Multicultural Landscape (He, 2003), she explores her childhood experience in Mexico, her involuntary immigration, and her life in the United States. Through her dissertation, the presenter hopes to liberate herself and other minorities who are fighting similar battles. She hopes to challenge the reader’s ways of thinking, promote cultural diversity, and create equal opportunities for all to thrive in education and life!

Author

• Claudia Martinez, Tattnall County School System
  Presenting Author