The Life of Gloria Anzaldua(1942-2004)
Awards-Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award (1986)
-Lambda Lesbian Small Book Press Award (1991) -Lesbian Rights Award (1991) -Sappho Award of Distinction (1992) -National Endowment for the Arts Fiction Award (1991) -American Studies Association Lifetime Achievement Award (2001) -LGBT 31 History Icons (2012) Works-This Bridge Called My Back:Writings by Radical Women of Color (1981)
-Borderland/La Frontera (1987) -Making Face, Making Soul/Haciendo Caras (1990) -This Bridge We Call Home (2002) Children's Books-Prieta Has a Friend (1991)
-Friends from the Other Side/Amigos del Otro Lado(1995) -Prieta y La Llorona (1996) -La Fea (1958) |
Early LifeGloria Evangelina Anzaldua was born in Rio Grande Valley in south Texas on September 26, 1942 as the oldest of four children. Growing up her family moved to various ranches working as migrant farmers. Anzaldua gained all of her knowledge about the Southern Texas and Chicano discrimination while working on the farm and ranches to help with expenses. Anzaldua suffered from an endocrine condition which caused her to menstruate at only 3 months old and stop growing at age 12. This caused her to even reflect on the illness saying "I was born a queer." By age eleven her family moved to Hargill, Texas, which is on the border of Mexico and the United States, for the chance of a better education for the children. At age fourteen her father was killed in a car accident. Although she was faced with discrimination and hardships for being Hispanic and a female she remained strong and focused on her education. Anzaldua died from diabetes related complications on May 15, 2004.
Education and CareerGloria Anzaldua received her Bachelors degree in English at the University of Texas-Pan American. She taught preschool and special education before moving to California in 1977. While in California she supported herself through her writing, lectures and teachings about feminism, Chicano studies, and discrimination. In 1974, Anzaldua moved back to Texas to continue her graduate and doctoral studies at the University of Texas at Austin. While at UTA, she taught a course called "La Mujer Chicana" and this is where she began to notice the lack of material written for or about Chicana women. She is most famous for her work co-editing the anthology This Bridge Called My Back: Writings By Radical Women of Color. Anzaldua also wrote various children's books and poetic works. However, her main focus was the border created by language and even writes in a bilingual manner in order to highlight the distinct troubles with language. By using the two variations of English and the six different variations of Spanish in Borderlands/ La Frontera, Anzaldua puts the reader right in her mind and exposes the way she thinks. Anzaldua mainly exhibits her own life and the treatment she received for her way of speaking. Her book also examines the borders for women in Chicano and Latino culture, lesbians in the straight world, and Chicanos in white American society. Borderlands/La Frontera is dedicated to being proud of one's self, heritage, and the recognition of all cultures.
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