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Leisure Reads: Hispanic American Heritage Month

September 15-October 15 is Hispanic American Heritage Month, which recognizes the diverse contributions of Americans whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. The list below is mainly comprised of nonfiction works on Hispanic American literature, but also included are collections of folklore and poetry. All of these works are available in electronic format either through the MSJ Library FOCUS catalog, or through the EBSCO eBook Collection. In addition to these listings of electronic books, there is a Hispanic American Heritage Month-themed display in the Library Lobby—feel free to make an appointment to check it out!

MSJ Library FOCUS Catalog

Contemporary U.S. Latinx Literature in Spanish: Straddling Identities by Amrita Das, Kathryn Quinn-Sánchez, & Michele Shaul
Call Number: OhioLINK Ebook Center
In this anthology, essays cover the development of Latinx literature in the United States from 1960 to present. This includes literature in English as well as Spanish, giving readers the opportunity to explore new texts in the Spanish language. This work starts a much-needed critical discourse in relation to publishing in Spanish in the United States, and challenges and enhances the modern-day understanding of the term “Americas.”
The Poetry of the Americas: From Good Neighbors to Countercultures by Harris Feinsod
Call Number: OhioLINK Ebook Center
When the United States launched into its post-World War II “Good Neighbor” policy with Latin America, a “poetry of the Americas” was born. Through the support of state-sponsored institutions and countercultural networks, this unique period of poetry was sustained through the 1960s, leading to a rich interplay between American and Latin American poets. Feinsod explores this era by connecting the works of such prominent poets as Elizabeth Bishop, Jorge Luis Borges, Julia de Burgos, Allen Ginsberg, Langston Hughes, Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz, Wallace Stevens, and William Carlos Williams.
Forms of Dictatorship: Power, Narrative, and Authoritarianism in the Latina/o Novel by Jennifer Harford Vargas
Call Number: Oxford University Press
Examining novels by such prominent authors as Junot Díaz, Héctor Tobar, Cristina García, Salvador Plascencia, and Francisco Goldman, this work focuses on dictatorship as a literary trope in Latinx fiction. Such novels tend to not only indict Latin American dictatorships, but also United States imperialism and American structural discrimination. As Hartford Vargas demonstrates, these works have the essential power to resist the repressive power structures that affect the lives of so many Latinx people.
Performances of Suffering in Latin American Migration: Heroes, Martyrs and Saints by Ana Elena Puga & Víctor M. Espinosa
Call Number: OhioLINK Ebook Center
The stories of Latinx immigrants who have risked everything to migrate to the United States has had a profound influence on Latinx cultural production. However, Puga and Espinosa question whether the melodramatic archetypes which preside in this sort of work—virtuous migrants at the mercy of villainous immigration authorities—are truly useful for depicting the modern-day realities of the Latinx immigrant struggle. The authors explore ways in which this richly diverse cultural group has managed to twist, parody, resist, or reject migrant melodrama as it has been written in the past.

EBSCO eBook Collection

Familia : Migration and Adaptation in Baja and Alta California, 1800-1975 by Robert R. Alvarez, Jr.
Call Number: EBSCO eBook Collection
Beginning in the nineteenth-century, immigrants from Mexico began to migrate northward into California, eventually founding the towns of Baja and Alta. Writing as an anthropologist, the author takes a particular look at the common values and memories shared between the Mexican American residents of these towns. Alvarez, Jr. posits that this migration actually led to cultural stability rather than fragmentation or disintegration, and ultimately offered a rich contribution to this country, a legacy which continues into the modern day.
El Coro: A Chorus of Latino and Latina Poetry by Martín Espada
Call Number: EBSCO eBook Collection
From this chorus of Latinx poetry emerges several distinct perspectives from farm workers, former gang members, a doctor, professional chefs, and a Vietnam War veteran. All take different approaches to telling their stories through the lenses of anger, grief, humor, protest, dignity, and, above all, survival. Through the collective song that results from this anthology, dehumanization is countered with an overwhelming sense of humanity. Notable contributors include Marjorie Agosín, Julia Alvarez, Sandra Cisneros, Martín Espada, Juan Felipe Herrera, and Gary Soto.
Sexual Textualities: Essays on Queer/ing Latin American Writing by David William Foster
Call Number: EBSCO Ebook Collection
Though the LGBTQ+ community has always struggled to find a place in the Latinx community, it has for some time found expression in Latin American writing. Of particular note to Hispanic American culture is the chapter by Ford on homoerotic writing and expression in Chicano literature beginning in the 1960s and 70s. Notable LGBTQ+ authors discussed include Cherríe Moraga, Gloria Anzaldúa, John Rechy, and Francisco X. Alarcón.
Memories of Cíbola: Stories from New Mexico Villages by Abe M. Peña
Call Number: EBSCO Ebook Collection
Memories of Cíbola features a fascinating sampling of folk history from the traditional Hispanic culture of west-central New Mexico, specifically in Cíbola County. The author himself was raised on the wit and wisdom of this area, which until now was little-known due to the isolated nature of Cíbola. The vibrant tales told here are both humorous and passionate, tragic and triumphant, and ultimately preserve the quiet truths of these paisanos, who are mostly lost to history.
Twenty-First Century Latin American Narrative and Postmodern Feminism by Gina Ponce de León
One thing noticeably lacking from Second Wave Feminism in the late twentieth-century was a focus on diversity. In reaction to this, the Latin American post-feminism of the twenty-first-century has embraced a radical inclusivity, advocating for more significant cultural resistance. The perspectives included in this volume detail the new narrative forms that are representing women in literature, and the attempt of these authors to address the complex female situation of the new millennium.
The Corn Woman: Stories and Legends of the Hispanic Southwest by Angel Vigil
Call Number: EBSCO Ebook Collection
These 45 cuentos (tales)—15 of which are in Spanish—span the culture of the Hispanic Southwest from the ancient creation myths of the Aztecs to the work of modern Latinx storytellers. Many of the stories are religious in tone, but there are also legends surrounding magic, transformation, and wisdom. The cultural richness of this collection is greatly enhanced by original paintings and sculpture from contemporary Latinx artists.