Norma E. Cantú

Cantu

Chronicles the coming of age of a Chicana in the U.S.-Mexico border towns of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo in the fifties and sixties.

Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera

Canícula

Olga Nájera-Ramírez

The first anthology to focus specifically on the topic of Chicana expressive culture, Chicana Traditions features the work of native scholars: Chicanas engaged in careers as professors and students, performing artists and folklorists, archivists and museum coordinators, and community activists. Blending narratives of personal experience with more formal, scholarly discussions, Chicana Traditions tells the insider story of a professional woman mariachi performer and traces the creation and evolution of the escaramuza charra (all-female precision riding team) within the male-dominated charreada, or Mexican rodeo. Other essays cover the ranchera (country or rural) music of the transnational performer Lydia Mendoza, the complex crossover of Selena's Tejano music, and the bottle cap and jar lid art of Goldie Garcia. Framed by the Chicana feminist concept of the borderlands, a formative space where cultures and identities converge, Chicana Traditions offers a lively commentary on how women continue to invent, reshape, and transcend their traditional culture.

Continuity and Change

Chicana Traditions

Brenda M. Romero

One of the first anthologies to focus on Mexican dance practices on both sides of the border

Danzas Y Bailes Mexicanos

Dancing Across Borders

In Paths to Discovery a group of extraordinary Chicanas trace how their interest in math and science at a young age developed into a passion fed by talent and determination. Today they are teaching at major universities, setting public and institutional policy, and pursuing groundbreaking research. These testimonios (personal stories) will encourage young Chicanas to enter the fields of mathematics, science, and engineering and to create futures in classrooms, boardrooms, and laboratories across the nation. Norma E. Cantu is professor of English and U.S. Latina/o literatures at the University of Texas, San Antonio. The contributors include Elma Gonzalez, Aida Hurtado, Diana Marinez, Cleopatria Mart'nez, Lupita D. Montoya, Elvia Elisa Niebla, Elizabeth Rodriguez-Johnson, Elsa Cantu Ruiz, Deborah Santiago, Lydia Villa-Komaroff, Maria Elena Zavala, and Martha Cecilia Zuniga. "This remarkable collection allows us to follow the career paths of a group of trailblazing Chicanas. Their personal stories become even more important when we consider the need for greater participation of Chicanas in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics." -Sarita E. Brown, Excelencia in Education

Autobiographies from Chicanas with Careers in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering

Paths to Discovery

Aída Hurtado

Collecting the perspectives of scholars who reflect on their own relationships to particular garments, analyze the politics of dress, and examine the role of consumerism and entrepreneurialism in the production of creating and selling a style, meXicana Fashions examines and searches for meaning in these visible, performative aspects of identity. Focusing primarily on Chicanas but also considering trends connected to other Latin American communities, the authors highlight specific constituencies that are defined by region (“Tejana style,” “L.A. style”), age group (“homie,” “chola”), and social class (marked by haute couture labels such as Carolina Herrera and Oscar de la Renta). The essays acknowledge the complex layers of these styles, which are not mutually exclusive but instead reflect a range of intersections in occupation, origin, personality, sexuality, and fads. Other elements include urban indigenous fashion shows, the shifting quinceañera market, “walking altars” on the Days of the Dead, plus-size clothing, huipiles in the workplace, and dressing in drag. Together, these chapters illuminate the full array of messages woven into a vibrant social fabric.

Politics, Self-Adornment, and Identity Construction

meXicana Fashions

Rita Urquijo-Ruiz

Norma Alarcón

Christina L. Gutiérrez

A collection of essays about the work of Gloria Anzaldua.

Norma E. Cantú

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