La panza: Un acto de Rebeldia para los atravesados y los que siguen despues / the panza: An Act of Rebellion for the Inbetweeners and Those Who Follow After

Author

• Abigail Guadalupe Cantu, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Date of Award

5-1-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

English

First Advisor

Cathryn Merla-Watson

Second Advisor

Cynthia Paccacerqua

Third Advisor

Erika Rendon-Ramirez

Abstract

Our ancestors, family members, and ourselves that live in the borderlands have embodied knowledge, and/or an innate intuition that comes from the pit of our soul, particularly from our “panza”; hence, the creation of a panza consciousness as the focus for my thesis. I’m trying to “rediscover” the embodied knowledge that has been taken from us and how we can learn to harness these forms of knowledge into a societal shift ( i.e. how we interact with others, how we see our bodies, how see the creation of knowledge, and how we see the world). Although, Eurocentric ideals sought to destroy indigenous knowledge, our bodies are living proof of its survival. The body holds a sacred knowledge that still exists deep within us, and through what I have coined as the panza consciousness, the body can teach us how to reconnect with others to enact radical self-healing and community building.

Comments

Copyright 2026 Abigail Guadalupe Cantu. All Rights Reserved. https://proquest.com/docview/3371103976

Recommended Citation

Cantu, A. (2026). La panza: Un acto de Rebeldia para los atravesados y los que siguen despues / the panza: An Act of Rebellion for the Inbetweeners and Those Who Follow After [Master's thesis, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley]. ScholarWorks @ UTRGV. https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/etd/1951