Analysis Of Anzaldúa

Superior Essays
In early 1846, tensions between Mexico and the United States were high due to the United States annexation of Texas. These tensions reached a critical stage after "a skirmish broke out between Mexican and U.S. troops, both nations declared war" (King 65). The war between Mexico and the United States raged on for two years until it finally "ended in 1848 when the Mexican army surrendered at Chapultepec Castle and the U.S. army occupied Mexico City" (King 66). Due to its loss of the war, Mexico was forced to sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which turned over half of Mexico’s current territory to the United States in exchange for “15 million dollars” (King 66). This territory, created by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, became a complex area …show more content…
However, over time, the language barrier would change and become more complex as transculturation forces members of the “borderlands” to compromise with one another (“The Homeland” 3). Such compromise came informally by the formation of different dialects and combinations of both English and Spanish in which words would be slightly changed or mixed together to form a new dialect (“How to Tame a Wild Tongue” 55). Anzaldúa reflects upon her experience in dealing with the creation of the different dialects of both English and Spanish that can be found in use in the “borderlands” in her article “How to Tame Wild Tongues” (“The Homeland” 3). In total, her article states that she has the ability to speak eight different languages that have formed in the “borderlands” because of the intense clash of culture between English and Spanish speaking people (“How to Tame a Wild Tongue” 55; “The Homeland” 3). Anzaldúa highlights the intensity of the clash by stating, “Pocho, cultural traitor, you’re speaking the oppressor’s language by speaking English, you’re ruining the Spanish language” (“How to Tame a Wild Tongue” 55). Due to such high tension between the English and Spanish-speaking people of the "borderlands" and the creation of different dialects of their languages to attempt to create a new …show more content…
In her articles, “The Homeland, Aztlan” and “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, explains how she was witness to the intense clash of culture, language, etc. From both articles, Anzaldúa shows her understanding of the language barrier and the political corruption by recalling firsthand accounts of their occurrence. Using her understanding, it is easy to classify the “borderlands” as a “contact zone” (“The Homeland” 3; Pratt 34). However, the argument can be made that though the “borderlands” hit some of the base level identifiers of a “contact zone”, it does not meet the end state of a “contact zone” as defined by Pratt (“The Homeland” 3; Pratt 34). Pratt defines the outcome of a “contact zone” is to have an educated community who is respectful to the struggles faced by any entities within the community (Pratt 34). However, it is evident throughout both of the articles written by Anzaldúa that this is not the case. She and many others within the “borderlands” still struggle day to day living in an area that is split between two different worlds (“The Homeland” 3). Even with the creation of new languages and delicts, the area is still plagued by a lack of an overall

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