Description
Book SynopsisArticulates a fresh understanding of how the Chicano movement contributed to the social and political currents of postwar America, and how the movement remains meaningful today.
Trade Review[]In the Spirit of a New Peoplesucceeds in its argument for recuperating elements of Chicana/o cultural nationalism from the 1960s and the 1970s as it was and continues to be embedded in Chicana/o art as a framework and impetus for contemporary Chicana/o political action in the present. * MELUS *
Elegantly demonstrates the Chicano movement's irrefutable influenceona politically astute and enduring legacy of expressive culture. Randy J.Ontiverospersuasively argues thatmovimiento-inspired art and literature offer a crucial dose of historical consciousness required for sustaining struggles for social justice. A game-changing intervention in Chicano/a and American studies,Ontiveross book moves us beyond reductionist claims and rehashed debates to reinvigorate Chicano movement scholarship. -- Richard T. Rodriguez,author of Next of Kin: The Family in Chicano/a Cultural Politics
The books strengths lie in its reading of cultural texts, especially the visual work of Barraza; performances of El Teatro Campesino; and the writing of Cisneros, Rodolfo & Corky Gonzales, Enriqueta Vasquez, and others. Analyses of these varied works offer compelling support for Ontiveross larger argument that at least culturally the Chicano movement & didnt die at all. Contextualized in a broader history that dates to the Mexican Revolution of 1910, these examples provide persuasive evidence for the movements legacy beyond just demographic and electoral politics. * The Journal of American History *
In the Spirit of a New People provides a thoughtful analysis of how the Chicano movementand social justice struggles more generallycan influence politics and culture. * The Journal of American History *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: The Art and History of the Chicano Movement 1 Antennas and Mimeograph Machines: Postwar Mass Media and the Chicano/a Street Press 2 Green Aztlan: Environmentalism and the Chicano/a Visual Arts 3 Immigrant Actos: Citizenship and Performance in El Teatro Campesino 4 After Words: Sandra Cisneros's Caramelo and the Evolution of Chicano/a Cultural Politics Notes IndexAbout the Author
