Description |
xiv, 372 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
Contents |
Introduction: The Talking Serpent -- Coraje / Rage -- The Mother in the Daughter -- The Cross of the White Wedding Dress -- The Rage of a Woman -- The Daughter in the Mother -- Con el perdon suyo, comadre, no vaya a ser que el diablo tenga cuernos: "With Your Pardon, Comadre, Doesn't the Devil Have Horns?" -- Mi hija, amarrate las faldas: "My Daughter, Tie Up Your Skirts" -- Esperanza / Redemption -- The Pig in the Stream -- The Stolen Eggs -- Angelitos--Little Angels -- Una vieja orgullosa--A Proud Woman -- ¡Viva General Francisco Villa! -- Literary Wetback -- Gringa Sings the Blues -- Ya sabe que estamos vendidos a sus personas: "Now You Know That We've Been Sold to You" -- Reflejos / Reflections -- Translated Woman -- In the Labyrinth of the General and His History -- The Biography in the Shadow |
Summary |
"Before meeting Esperanza, a Mexican street peddler living in a small town five hundred miles south of the U.S. border, anthropologist Ruth Behar knew only what the other women in town had said: Esperanza was thought to be a witch and a cruel mother; she had put a spell on her former husband for abusing her and caused him to go suddenly and completely blind." "In this brilliant and magical work, Ruth Behar delves well beyond the myths of the Mexican woman as long-suffering wife and vindictive witch as she records Esperanza's story in her own words." "The story begins with rage. Esperanza witnesses her father's brutal treatment of her mother as a child. As a young woman she loses several of her children; she believes her rage at her own violent husband poisoned them through her breastmilk. But there is more to her story than abuse and suffering. With wit and insight, Esperanza describes her eventual sexual and financial freedom, her relationship with her grown daughters, and her spiritual redemption through the cult of Pancho Villa." "Translated Woman also records the subtle ironies and difficulties inherent in any encounter between two people from different cultures and classes. Behar eventually abandons the traditional roles of interviewer and subject as Esperanza's story leads her to reflect on her own life as a Cuban immigrant in the United States. In a moving final chapter, Behar explores her uncomfortable position as a Latina scholar who has achieved success in the American academy"--Jacket |
Analysis |
Ethnology Mexico Mexquitic |
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Hernández, Esperanza |
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Mexquitic (Mexico) Rural conditions |
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Rural women Case studies Social conditions Mexico Mexquitic |
Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 345-369) |
Subject |
Hernández, Esperanza.
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Ethnology -- Mexico Mexquitic (Mexico) -- Rural conditions
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Ethnology -- Mexico -- Mexquitic.
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Rural women -- Mexico -- Mexquitic -- Social conditions -- Case studies.
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SUBJECT |
Mexquitic (Mexico) http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n92026440 -- Rural conditions.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh00007670
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Genre/Form |
Case studies.
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LC no. |
92005588 |
ISBN |
0807046477 |
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0807070521 cloth |
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080707053X |
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9780807046470 |
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9780807070529 cloth |
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9780807070536 |
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