Overview

An expansive volume on Tejana identity and Tejanidad told through personal narratives, poetry, and essays. Being Tejanx is different than just being from Texas. Being Tejanx means you are a border subject. Being Tejanx means living in and from a certain history of oppression, possibility, activism, and cultural-linguistic hybridity arising within the US-Mexico borderland that is home. And being Tejanx means something in particular if you are a woman. In ¡Somos Tejanas!, editors Norma E. CantÚ and Jody A. MarÍn assemble contemporary Tejanx writers who provide firsthand accounts of their experience of identity, enriching the field of Tejanx studies through an encounter with gender and sexuality. The contributions, including personal and scholarly essays, poems, criticism, and artworks, explore the heterogeneity of Tejana identity and the sociopolitical movements, stories, dances, music, and athletic feats that mark Tejanidad. Authors contemplate the history and memory of segregation in Texas, the struggles of surviving the unnatural disaster and blackouts of 2021 amid the global pandemic of COVID-19, and the drug-war violence and ever-tightening immigration restrictions that strangle a transborder way of life shared by millions. An unrepentant act of expression from women under attack by state policymakers, this collection dispels the silence imposed by colonial erasure.

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9781477330616

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¡Somos Tejanas!, edited by Jody MarÍn and Norma CantÚ, constructs a complex characterization of the Tejana. The works in this collection offer some common denominators, including Spanish language, immigration or migration, home and homeland, religion, freedom, family, food, song and dance, and other cultural components. The conclusion here is that there is no one way or right way to be Tejana, but together these ways comprise a beautiful composite. - Myrriah Gómez, University of New Mexico, author of Nuclear Nuevo México: Colonialism and the Effects of the Nuclear Industrial Complex on Nuevomexicanos “¿QuiÉnes somos?” To answer this question, MarÍn and CantÚ have curated a multidisciplinary, multi-genre, and multisensory collection of contemporary writings that trace the historical, political, and spiritual contours of a Tejana/e ethos. As a Texas transplant living in California, reading these essays felt like slipping on my favorite pair of weathered cowboy boots, evoking both the comfort of home and family and the discomfort of our colonial history. ¡Somos Tejanas! is an important contribution to the emerging field of Tejane Studies and to the bookshelf of Tejana transplants who need a slice of home. - Larissa M. Mercado-López, California State University, coeditor of (Re)Mapping the Latina/o Literary Landscape: New Works and New Directions This book is more than an anthology – it is a manifesto of resilience and cultural preservation. By weaving together essays, testimonios, poetry, and art, the collection asserts the vitality and presence of Tejana identity in the face of systemic erasure. It is an essential text for understanding the complexities of borderland existence, offering a rich tapestry of narratives that challenge dominant histories and celebrate the power of storytelling. Through its genre-spanning approach, ¡Somos Tejanas! stands as a testament to the strength of a community that refuses to be silenced. (Southern Review of Books)

¡Somos Tejanas!, edited by Jody Marín and Norma Cantú, constructs a complex characterization of the Tejana. The works in this collection offer some common denominators, including Spanish language, immigration or migration, home and homeland, religion, freedom, family, food, song and dance, and other cultural components. The conclusion here is that there is no one way or right way to be Tejana, but together these ways comprise a beautiful composite. -- Myrriah Gómez, University of New Mexico, author of Nuclear Nuevo México: Colonialism and the Effects of the Nuclear Industrial Complex on Nuevomexicanos “¿Quiénes somos?” To answer this question, Marín and Cantú have curated a multidisciplinary, multi-genre, and multisensory collection of contemporary writings that trace the historical, political, and spiritual contours of a Tejana/e ethos. As a Texas transplant living in California, reading these essays felt like slipping on my favorite pair of weathered cowboy boots, evoking both the comfort of home and family and the discomfort of our colonial history. ¡Somos Tejanas! is an important contribution to the emerging field of Tejane Studies and to the bookshelf of Tejana transplants who need a slice of home. -- Larissa M. Mercado-López, California State University, coeditor of (Re)Mapping the Latina/o Literary Landscape: New Works and New Directions

Author Information

Jody A. Marín is a full professor of English at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, where she also serves as the interim Writing Center Director. Norma E. Cantú is the Norine R. and T. Frank Murchison Distinguished Professor in Humanities at Trinity University. She has authored or edited multiple books, including co-editing Entre Guadalupe y Malinche: Tejanas in Literature and Art.

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