Three Existentialist Readings of Gloria Anzaldua's Borderlands/La Frontera

Authors

Mariana Alessandri, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2020

Abstract

This essay provides three new and related philosophical readings of Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/la Frontera: 1) in the lineage of canonical European Existentialists like Jean Paul Sartre, who provides an analysis of shame; 2) in the lineage of Mexican Existentialists like Samuel Ramos and Octavio Paz, who attribute a relative of shame to Mexicans; and 3) in dialogue with Africana Existentialists like Franz Fanon, who describe the bodily shame of nonwhites in racist societies. Anzaldúa’s concept of “linguistic terrorism,” which existentially translates into la vergüenza linguística, extends the scope of European, Africana, and Mexican Existentialisms while putting all three in dialogue for the first time, and serves as a first attempt at formulating a Chicana Existentialism.

Recommended Citation

Alessandri, M. (2020). Three Existentialist Readings of Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands/La Frontera. Cuadernos de ALDEEU, 34, 117–135.

First Page

117

Last Page

135

Publication Title

Cuadernos de ALDEEU