Ilan Stavans Library of Latino Civilization – serie

Immigration is a topic on the minds of a large portion of Americans. In 2006, a series of large marches and political debates shook the nation to the core. With the 2008 presidential campaign under way, the controversy is alive and well. However, it is essential to approach it in an informed, balanced fashion, and the material presented in this volume is designed to accomplish the task. To what extent are immigrants from Mexico and Central America different from their predecessors from say Italy, Poland, and Finland? Is the process of assimilation expected to be as successful today as it was a century ago? Has globalization changed the perspective of newcomers, making them remain loyal for a longer period of time to the place once called home? In what way is the Spanish language helping or impeding that assimilation?This volume features the most significant articles including peer-review essays, interviews, and reviews to bring together the best scholarship on the topic. Ten signed articles, essays, and interviews are included in the volume. Also featured is an introduction by Ilan Stavans, one of the foremost authorities on Latino culture, to provide historical background and cultural context; and suggestions for further reading to aid students in their research.

Spanglish-a hybrid of Spanish and English-is intricately interwoven with the history and culture of Latinos, the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the United States. With deep roots that trace back to the U.S. annexation of Mexican territories in the early to mid-19th century, Spanglish can today be heard in as far-flung places as urban cities and rural communities, on playgrounds and in classrooms around the country. This volume features the most significant articles including peer-review essays, interviews, and reviews to bring together the best scholarship on the topic. Learn about the historical and cultural contexts of the slang as well as its permeation into the pop culture vernacular. Ten signed articles, essays, and interviews are included in the volume.Spanglish-a hybrid of Spanish and English-is intricately interwoven with the history and culture of Latinos, the largest and fastest-growing minority group in the United States. With deep roots that trace back to the U.S. annexation of Mexican territories in the early to mid-19th century, Spanglish can today be heard in as far-flung places as urban cities and rural communities, on playgrounds and in classrooms around the country. This volume features the most significant articles including peer-review essays, interviews, and reviews to bring together the best scholarship on the topic. Learn about the historical and cultural contexts of the slang as well as its permeation into the pop culture vernacular. Over 10 signed articles, essays, and interviews are included in the volume.Also featured is an introduction by Ilan Stavans, one of the foremost authorities on Latino culture, to provide historical background and cultural context; a chronology of events; and suggestions for further reading to aid students in their research.

Latina literature is one of the fastest growing areas of American literature today, and the impact Latina writers have had on the literary scene is undeniable. This volume features the most significant articles including peer-review essays, interviews, and reviews to bring together the best scholarship on Latina writers ever compiled. Learn about these authors' lives and extraordinary careers, as well as the social and political issues their works address.10 signed articles, essays, and interviews are included in the volume, which encourage readers to examine Latina writers from a wide variety of theoretical perspectives, including feminism, postmodernism, postcolonialism, gender, border, linguistic, and pan-American studies. Also featured is an introduction by Ilan Stavans, one of the foremost authorities on Latino culture, to provide historical background and cultural context and suggestions for further reading to aid students in their research.

The border between the United States and Mexico, despite attempts at containment, remains a vast and uniquely malleable yet indefinable region. With Border Culture, Ilan Stavans has collected essays representative of the tangled experiences and issues central to life between cultures.Divided into two sections, Border Culture covers topics essential to better understanding this often misunderstood region and state-of-mind. The first section, "Considerations," culls essays covering socio-economic and political topics illustrating the hyper reality of life and living on La Frontera. Section two, "Testimonios," takes careful consideration of lives affected by the border, either as a finite place, alternate universe, or the framework of the border as a state-of-mind, through various historic and literary accounts of La Frontera. This enlightening and comprehensive collection will no doubt help readers better understand border culture.

Providing food for the brain as well as the body, this wonderful collection of essays explores the boundaries between Mexican and Mexican-American foods, promotes philosophical understandings of Mexican-American cuisine, and shares recipes from both past and present.Defining Mexican-American food is difficult due to its incredibly diverse roots and traditions. This unique style of cuisine varies significantly from Mexican and Latin American cuisines, fusing Native American and Hispanic influences stemming from three centuries of first Spanish and later Mexican rule. In Mexican-American Cuisine, renowned authority in Latino culture Ilan Stavans and 10 other experts in southwestern cuisine explore the food itself and associated traditions.The book presents nine scholarly essays that examine philosophical understandings of Mexican-American cuisine. Covering both platillos principales (main dishes) and postres (desserts), the authors serve up a sideboard of anthropological, ethnographic, sociological, and culinary observations. Essay topics include the boundaries between Mexican and Mexican-American food, the history and uses of the chile, and the derivations of Mexican cuisine. Readers are also treated to recipes and recommendations by 19th-century California chef Encarnación Pinedo who explores "The Art of Cooking."

This volume compiled by Ilan Stavans examines the importance of ritual and celebration and the quinceañera celebration's growing social importance to in the Latino community, particularly in the United States. The essays explore the quinceañera and the coming-of-age ritual from various angles. Prior to 2007, the quinceañera received no formal ritual through the Catholic Church, which has since issued one. As such, the role of religion and the Catholic Church in the quinceañera celebration is given extensive consideration. Gender, family status, class, race, as well as the aspects of performance are all discussed as central themes of the celebration. Delving through myriad perspectives, Quinceañeras illuminates the festivities' form and function in creating social and personal identity within the family and the larger Latino community.

Labor leader, social justice advocate, Chicano leader, and humanitarian are only some of the multifaceted renderings of César Chávez. Ilan Stavans has compiled essays and first-person narratives that capture the multiple dimensions of this storied figure. To that end, Stavans's collection of timely articles separates fact from fiction, or as he puts it the "objective is the opposite of hagiography."Broken into two sections, César Chávez explores a variety of topics central to understanding the actual person instead of a shadowy apparition. The first part, "Considerations" offers critical assessments of Chávez's life that utilize different approaches to understanding his life, including cultural studies critiques, historical narrative that provide invaluable context, and even eulogies following his untimely death. The second section, "Voices" includes personal reflections on Chávez's life that explore his religiosity, his role as an "everyman," and the decline of the United Farm Workers union. The title is certain to assist readers in better comprehending this groundbreaking labor leader.

Ilan Stavans has amassed a collection of cutting-edge articles that inform readers about how Latinos navigate both the mainstream medical arena and culturally specific healing traditions.This work highlights the myriad problems Latinos face in becoming fully acculturated consumers of health care. Its series of chapters by expert contributors bridges the communication gap between mainstream medical professionals who need to understand the Latino worldview and Latinos that need to adapt to the puzzling complexity of providers and insurers that make up the American health care system.Backed by research using quantitative methods and other techniques, Health Care’s seven chapters cover topics ranging from infant care to teenage dating and sexual mores to prescription medication use by older adults. Much of the coverage focuses on problems of access and the ways in which Latinos move between mainstream health care, and the world of traditional remedies provided by botánicas (shops specializing in herbs and other healing items) and curanderos (folk healers).Includes seven chapters on the major issues concerning Latino access to quality health care in the United States18 contributors—noted scholars providing their insights under the editorial direction of Ilan Stavans

Drama! Excess! Men in bee suits! Often erroneously compared to soap operas of the United States, outside of the necessary and sometimes fantastical dramatic story arc, however, the telenovela differs greatly from U.S. soap operas and have regional and cultural distinctions throughout Latin America. In Telenovelas, Ilan Stavans has gathered over two-dozen essays covering the telenovela for readers to better understand the phenomenon and its myriad layers.Branching off from radionovelas, the telenovela was exported from pre-Castro Cuba during the 1950s. The essays found in Telenovelas covers a broad view of the genre, television's impact in Latino culture, as well as more in-depth discussions of specific telenovelas throughout the Spanish-speaking television audience in the North America. Also explored is how telenovelas depict stereotypes, respond to gender and class roles, and examines the differences in topic and thematic choices as well as production values unique to each country.

This insightful collection documents Latinos in baseball from an interdisciplinary perspective.From the late, great Roberto Clemente, to Giants legend Juan Marichal to Pedro Martinez, Manny Ramirez, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, the Alou brothers, and many, many more, Latinos continue to make their mark on baseball. Béisbol takes an interdisciplinary look at this phenomenon, examining the impact of Latino players on the game and all that surrounds it, as well as baseball's impact on Latino players and fans.Under the expert guidance of Ilan Stavans, the book collects essays and literary pieces that offer a wide-range of assessments, from the personal to the academic, exploring the sport from historical, sociological, athletic, religious, and gender-building perspectives. Combining scholarly and literary views, Béisbol promotes a comprehensive understanding of the game as both an athletic activity and an entertainment form among Latinos in the Spanish-speaking world and the United States.