MANIFESTAÇÕES ARTÍSTICAS DE LATINOS NOS ESTADOS UNIDOS: Formas para Cruzar Fronteiras

Abstract

Frontier matters have become an important issue in contemporary world, since globalization has blurred the notion of cultural and economic boundaries. Immigrants have always had to deal with the problem of border crossing, which had has led them to face questions related to identity issues. In The United States, the works produced by Latino immigrants and by American writers of Latino origin have shown the anxieties and uneasiness they are confronted with when the debate is on breaking up with the traditions of their ancestors and getting used to a different way of life. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how texts by Gloria Anzaldúa, Guillermo Goméz-Peña, and Gustavo Pérez-Firmat reveal the division between the system of values inherited by latinos and the one they have to follow in America. The usage of two languages, English and Spanish, reinforce a lifestyle marked by a mixture of customs, ideals, and cultures, and the troubled union between two complex realities. This paper addresses the importance of the literature produced by Latinos in the U.S., since their writings point out the contributions of Latino immigration to American cultural life and society.