- Many readers find Rodriguez problematic: Do you agree? How do you think other academics might respond to Rodriguez's stance in relation to cultural heritage and language? If you're familiar with Gloria Anzaldua's work, how do you think she would respond to Rodriguez's perspectives on culture, education, and assimilation?
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Rodriguez: Hunger for memory
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In “Hunger of Memory,” Rodriguez refers to himself as “The scholarship boy.” He grew up in a lower income, immigrant family and was raised to respect his Mexican culture and to appreciate and value family. Rodriguez was enthusiastic and wanted to do well in school and learn all that his teachers had to offer, and that he did. “The scholarship boy” label is used to illustrate a clash between the two worlds Rodriguez operated in. He was rapidly changing and growing as a result of his education and his parents were an ever-present reminder of his old life, a life that he believes failed to conform to the academic world.
ReplyDeleteI think Rodriguez has many good, compelling points, an interesting story and some persuasive evidence to defend his arguments, but the idea that he can generalize the “scholarship” theory and his experience to all successful, lower income/working class students may be problematic. I think his experience is largely shaped by his family’s culture and the morals and values they live by. So, in another low-income family that operates with a different value system and different set of beliefs is there going to be the same conflict between school and home? Will the same “clash” exist? Do they respond to the academic and cultural expectations in the same way?
I have learned a little about the limitations and shortage of bilingual education in the U.S. and it appeared to me that other academics might fear exactly what Rodriguez experienced in that Spanish took a backseat to English because the school made no effort to promote the use of his culture’s language, which contributed to Rodriguez’s disinterest in speaking Spanish at all.
I believe people have different ways of coming into consciousness and even though I can see why Chicano scholars would find Rodriguez's perception of his Mexican identity problematic, I also value his narrative. I think this is crucial in understanding the Mexican-American experience. I believe Rodriguez's ethno autobiography is true in the sense that it pertains to his particular experience as a Mexican-American in what I think is an interesting analysis of Latinos in the educational system. At the same time, I believe that an analysis of the intergenerational relationships described throughout the narrative, are important to understand the ways in which Rodriguez’s perception of his identity and the idea of Mexicanness are influenced.
ReplyDeleteRodriguez also plays with the idea of the body- and in this case, the Mexican body- as a marker of ethnicity, and of his body as the carrier of his ethnicity/ indigenous identity. This in association with his mother’s tongue and the fact that he does not feel comfortable speaking Spanish I believe is perhaps something Gloria Anzaldua's would disagree with as she sees the ability to speak two languages (and all the other ones in between) as a survival mechanism and way of encoding. On the note of assimilation, I think it is again important to consider Rodriguez’s unique experiences and upbringing and his particular experience as a bilingual student in a school where the use of Spanish was not encouraged.
Is it possible to successfully balance between multicultural identities in America and be accepted by American Society? If so what does that look like? If not, why?
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