In Confessions of a Berlitz-Tape Chicana, celebrated author Demetria Martinez gives voice to her own "tongue-tied generation" by sharing her deeply personal views of the world. In a series of essays, Martinez brings her trademark blend of humor and irony to bear on a variety of topics. Demonstrating her passion for searching out the truth rather than passively accepting the official story, Martinez explores issues of religion and culture, including the nature of Catholicism, life in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, and the Spanish language. On a more personal level, she also describes her political and social activism, the creative act of writing poetry, and her own journey with bipolar disorder.

“We’re everywhere, and it’s time to come out of the closet: I speak of the tongue-tied generation, buyers of books with titles like Master Spanish in Ten Minutes a Day while You Nap. . . . We grew up listening to the language—usually in the kitchens of extended family—but we answered back mostly in English.” Demetria Martínez wields her trademark blend of humor and irony to give voice to her own “tongue-tied generation” in this notable series of essays, revealing her deeply personal views of the world. Martínez breaks down the barriers between prayer and action, between the border denizen and the citizen of the world, and between patriarchal religion and the Divine Mother. She explores her identity as a woman who has within her the “blood of the conquered and the conqueror,” and who must daily contend with yet a third world—white America.

Interviews with major Chicana/o authors are the basis for this examination of the commonality of issues in the work of each of them.

This innovative collection pairs portraits with critical biographies of twelve key Chicana writers, offering an engaging look at their work, contributions to the field, and major achievements. Artist Raquel Valle-Sentíes’s portraits bring visual dimension, while essays delve deeply into the authors’ lives for details that inform their literary, artistic, feminist, and political trajectories and sensibilities. The collection brilliantly intersects artistic visual and literary cultural productions, allowing complex themes to emerge, such as the fragility of life, sexism and misogyny, Chicana agency and forging one’s own path, the struggles of becoming a writer and battling self-doubt, economic instability, and political engagement and activism. Arranged chronologically by birth order of the authors, the book can be read cover to cover for a genealogical overview, or scholars and general readers can easily jump in at any point and read about an individual author, regardless of the chronology. Biographies included in this work include Raquel Valle-Sentíes, Angela de Hoyos, Montserrat Fontes, Gloria E. Anzaldúa, Norma E. Cantú, Denise Elia Chávez, Carmen Tafolla, Cherríe Moraga, Ana Castillo, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Sandra Cisneros, and Demetria Martínez. Contributors Cordelia E. Barrera Mary Pat Brady Norma E. Cantú María Jesus Castro Dopacio Carlos Nicolás Flores Myrriah Gómez Maria Magdalena Guerra de Charur Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs Georgina Guzmán Cristina Herrera María Esther Quintana Eliza Rodríguez y Gibson Meagan Solomon Lourdes Torres Raquel Valle-Sentíes Jen Yáñez-Alaniz

U.S. Latino Literature is defined as Latino literature within the United States that embraces the heterogeneous inter-groupings of Latinos. For too long U.S. Latino literature has not been thought of as an integral part of the overall shared American literary landscape, but that is slowly changing. This dictionary aims to rectify some of those misconceptions by proving that Latinos do fundamentally express American issues, concerns and perspectives with a flair in linguistic cadences, familial themes, distinct world views, and cross-cultural voices. The Historical Dictionary of U.S. Latino Literature contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has cross-referenced entries on U.S. Latino/a authors, and terms relevant to the nature of U.S. Latino literature in order to illustrate and corroborate its foundational bearings within the overall American literary experience. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about this subject.

Latinos are the fastest growing population in America today. This two-volume encyclopedia traces the history of Latinos in the United States from colonial times to the present, focusing on their impact on the nation in its historical development and current culture. "Latino History and Culture" covers the myriad ethnic groups that make up the Latino population. It explores issues such as labor, legal and illegal immigration, traditional and immigrant culture, health, education, political activism, art, literature, and family, as well as historical events and developments. A-Z entries cover eras, individuals, organizations and institutions, critical events in U.S. history and the impact of the Latino population, communities and ethnic groups, and key cities and regions. Each entry includes cross references and bibliographic citations, and a comprehensive index and illustrations augment the text.

Spirituality has consistently been present in the political and cultural counternarratives of Chicanx literature. Calling the Soul Back focuses on the embodied aspects of a spirituality integrating body, mind, and soul. Centering the relationship between embodiment and literary narrative, Christina Garcia Lopez shows narrative as healing work through which writers and readers ritually call back the soul—one’s unique immaterial essence—into union with the body, counteracting the wounding fragmentation that emerged out of colonization and imperialism. These readings feature both underanalyzed and more popular works by pivotal writers such as Gloria Anzaldúa, Sandra Cisneros, and Rudolfo Anaya, in addition to works by less commonly acknowledged authors. Calling the Soul Back explores the spiritual and ancestral knowledge offered in narratives of bodies in trauma, bodies engaged in ritual, grieving bodies, bodies immersed in and becoming part of nature, and dreaming bodies. Reading across narrative nonfiction, performative monologue, short fiction, fables, illustrated children’s books, and a novel, Garcia Lopez asks how these narratives draw on the embodied intersections of ways of knowing and being to shift readers’ consciousness regarding relationships to space, time, and natural environments. Using an interdisciplinary approach, Calling the Soul Back draws on literary and Chicanx studies scholars as well as those in religious studies, feminist studies, sociology, environmental studies, philosophy, and Indigenous studies, to reveal narrative’s healing potential to bring the soul into balance with the body and mind.