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Religion and spirituality have long held a prominent position in Mexican American literature. The complex interplay of indigenous practices and colonial Catholicism, which developed after the Spanish conquest, also deeply affects Latino cultures in the United States. This study proposes that religion is not only a significant aspect of Mexican American literature but that it needs to be understood as a discourse that underlies other discourses on race, gender, and class and therefore structures Mexican American culture and literature in a way that is subversive and powerful. In this book, an interdisciplinary approach to inter-American studies, discourse analysis, theories on religion and spirituality, as well as Mexican American culture and literature reveals the interconnectedness of the borderlands and religion. Of Virgins, Curanderas, and Wrestler Saints provides close-readings of works by Ana Castillo, Carmen Tafolla, Luis Alberto Urrea, Richard Rodriguez, Salvador Plascencia, and others to illustrate the notion of "un/doing religion."

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Contents


Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. i

1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 1

2. Spiritual Borderlands ...................................................................................... 10
2.1 Border and Inter-American Studies ....................................................... 10
2.2 A Brief History of the Spiritual Borderlands ......................................... 26
2.3 Creating a Cultural and Literary Aztlán ................................................. 46
2.4 Doing Religion: Politics and Discourses ............................................... 58

3. Spirituality and Gender .................................................................................. 75
3.1 Ana Castillo´s Feminist Vision in The Guardians ................................. 83
3.2 Of Weeping Women and Curanderas:
Graciela Limón´s The River Flows North .............................................. 95
3.3 Of Wrestlers and Saints:
María Ampara Escandón´s Esperanza´s Box of Saints .......................... 110

4. Spirituality, Homeland, and Ancestry ............................................................ 129
4.1 An American Saint:
Luis Alberto Urrea´s The Hummingbird s Daughter .............................. 129
4.2 Of Gothic Tales and Spiritual Ancestry: Carmen Tafolla´s "Tia ......... 147

5. Post-Spirituality and Undoing Religion ......................................................... 156
5.1 Richard Rodriguez´s Darling: A Post-Spiritual Autobiography? .......... 159
5.2 A Cosmos of Its Own: Salvador Plascencia´s The People of Paper ...... 170

6. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 186

7. Works Cited ................................................................................................... 190

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