Anzaldúa is quite irreverent in her writing. What does the word “irreverent” mean? In what ways is Anzaldúa irreverent in her writing? Does Anzaldúa’s style appeal to you or not? Why? Your response should be at least five sentences long.
27 thoughts on “Blog Post #4: Commenting on Anzaldúa’s Writing”
Comments are closed.
Irreverent is defined as “Showing a lack of respect for people or things that are generally taken seriously”. I don’t believe Anzaldúa’s writing is irreverent at all. I actually don’t understand why someone would think her writing was irreverent in the first place. Maybe it’s because I don’t speak Spanish so I don’t see why what she’s writing about could be disrespectful. But at the very least I found her description of Chicano Spanish fascinating and never before thought of it that way.
Thanks for sharing, Elijah. I agree that her description of Chicano Spanish was interesting.
“Irreverent” I had never heard of that word before, I searched for it and according to google, I don’t really know if the definition is correct but I found that, Irreverent is “Critical of what is generally accepted or respected”. This is a new word in my vocabulary.” -YourDiccionary.com
If the meaning of the word “Irreverent” is correct I can conclude that Anzaldúa created a writing in which she explains what means to be Chicano (A secret language created in the desperation of not belonging to one language or the other).
She considers it incorrect for Latino people to think that her Spanish is not good enough to be considered Mexican, but she is also afraid to speak English because people consider that she has already forgotten her mother tongue. Something that also bothers her is that in her culture, good women don’t give their opinions. Not questions. Don’t speak. Like her, in my country there is also gender inequality because unlike us, men can express themselves however they want.
I am glad to hear that “irreverent” is a new word in your vocabulary, Daniela. I would have liked to have seen you share your opinion on how you feel Anzaldúa’s writing is irreverent (or isn’t), but I found what you said in the last few lines of your response to be quite interesting.
The word irreverent means to show disrespect to things and people who are to be taken seriously. Anzaldua is disrespectful according to the writing when she says that her mouth is a motherload. As Anzaldua spoke back to her mother which is something not to do, the girls were to ,”bien creidas”, not to talk back to their mother or father. Anzaldua’s writing does appeal to me as she uses all these sayings in Spanish to connect her culture and the American culture. Some of these sayings, I can even relate to and I am pretty sure other Hispanic people can too.
Yes, Anzaldúa references ways in which she is irreverent, even to her mother, in the narrative, but how is her writing irreverent in and of itself was the question. That being said, I am glad to hear that the writing appealed to you!
I thought it was very irrelevant it made no sense to me.I feel like ok we all speak back to our parents once in a while but like some of the things she say makes my head pound because I’m spanish and I barely understood.This to me is very irrelevant and I think needs more facts or something to make it better.
I don’t know why I wrote this I meant to say irrelevant means when something doesn’t really make sense or is not the point of that thing that they talking about. I think her writing is irrelevant not as much but low-key.Yes her style tells you that she was trying to get her word across. She was like a real Latina expressing or screaming her feelings out.
I think the last point you made was quite a strong one, Clariliz. I agree that there is something raw about the writing, that it seems like she is screaming and trying to get her feelings across.
According to Google, irreverent means “lacking proper respect or seriousness.” Anzaldúa confesses that she used to talk back to her mother, which is considered disrespectful in most cultures. But I do not think her writing was irreverent, and I can say that Anzaldúa’s style appeals to me. For example, I can relate to the Chicano style when she mentions that they “leave out certain consonants when they appear between vowels: lado/lao, mojado/mojao.” In my country, we also use those words.
I am glad to hear that Anzaldúa’s writing appeals to you, Erika. I appreciate the fact that you referenced and related to such a specific detail at the end of your response. The fact that you could relate to this speaks to the authenticity of Anzaldúa’s writing.
According to some synonyms found while searching, “Irreverent” means being “disrespectful”. I think Anzaldua is somewhat irreverent in her writing, but it is something that I personally think keeps her writing alive. The way she expressed herself in her piece made feel proud of being who I am. She made me scream “Yo soy Dominicana, and this is the language I speak”. I also felt that when she was writing her piece, she was screaming at her readers. It felt as if she was talking from her heart. It felt as if she really wanted to tell us her ideas, and how she was feeling at the moment. I also thought that it was something that she was keeping to herself, and she wanted to let it out at last. On the other hand, I can say that Anzaldua’s writing style appeals to me due to how I could relate to her when it comes to language. It was fascinating the way she included Spanish in her writing, and how she was explaining her ideas to us in both languages, English and Spanish. This woman motivates me to keep including my language in my writing. I enjoyed the reading!
Laura, I liked how you said that Anzaldúa is irreverent in her writing, yet it is this irreverence that “keeps her writing alive”. I hope you didn’t wake your neighbors up when you started screaming (I am just kidding). I am glad to hear that you related to her work on this sort of visceral level.
Irreverent means to show not respect a person or object that is normally respected. Anzaldua shows aspects of irreverent by talking back to her mother, which is a title people normally respect. I enjoyed Anzaldua’s writing style because of critical she was with how women are supposed to act in Latino culture. Quiet and submissive. Not only that but I loved how she added different Spanish sayings as well.
Yes, Giovanny, Anzaldúa references how she has been irreverent in her life, but how is she irreverent in the way in which she approaches her writing? Also, I agree that Anzaldúa breaks from how Latina women are supposed to act.
Irreverent is defined as “Showing a lack of respect for people or things that are generally taken seriously”. She may appeared irreverent when she mentioned she spoke back to her mom which usually is unacceptable for many cultures and countries. She also have mentioned how she does not want to be American without her native accent, which for many American teachers and people can be irreverent. She mentioned that chicano people speak poor Spanish – illegitimate and bastard language for many people it is offensive and disrespectful. She also may count ireverent by how openly she has expressed her opinion with no fear. I am not Spanish speaker so Ido not know what she wrote in Spanish parts, but she greatly explained she does not want to get rid of accent and the easiest you can attack her is go against her language. I would say it appeals by how openly and goodly she expresses her point.
Lidiia, I agree that her willingness to speak openly and seemingly without fear is a sign of irreverence in her writing. I would also argue that the fact that she didn’t translate many of those Spanish parts of the writing is another sign of irreverence.
Irreverent means being disrespectful to people. I think in Anzaldua’s writing shows irreverent when she spoke back to her mother. In my country, children are taught to respect their elders since they were young. We even have a word for people who are older than you. I can understand Spanish, so I feel very interesting while I read her writing because she include Spanish in it. She didn’t want to get rid of her accent which I think is great because accent shows the difference between people, which make each of them special.
Yes, Jia, Anzaldúa discusses how she has been irreverent in her life when she spoke back to her mother, but I wanted to know how you felt Anzaldúa is irreverent in her approach to writing. With that said, I appreciate the points that you made your comment and I agree that accents are to be celebrated, as opposed to something to be ashamed of.
Irreverent is when you show lack of respect towards someone, something or just not taking seriously one matter. As for Anzaldua’s writing, I could see some examples of how “mal criada” she was such as talking or raising her voice to elders, her mother. But I got a sense that the things she did were not as irreverent as her tone in her writing. She became very well spoken about her identity and ancestry as if the reader did not really matter. She stated facts and these facts helped her to be imponent as a writer. Anzaldua’s story was very soulful, even though I did not clearly understand the many differences within Mexican, Tex-Mex, so on. Her story was very relatable to me as being part of the Latin Culture and its infinity beliefs, dialects, and arguments between nations that at last just make us unite and unique.
Chelsie, you said that “the things she did were not as irreverent as her tone in her writing” but you didn’t actually comment on her tone in her writing. What makes her tone irreverent?
“Irrelevant” to me is something that does not relate to the subject at hand. Anzaldua expresses in her writing her thoughts and experiences when it comes to a new language and a new environment. In the reading she mentions talking back to her mother and barely speaking, this shows Anzaldua giving her experiences and how it speaks about her identity. She speaks about the hardships of knowing more than one language, how the confusion and loneliness when one of the languages you speak has many contrasts. She needed to learn how to differentiate her culture from the culture of America, which is challenging. Furthermore, I do not believe that Anzaldua’s writing is irrelevant since she experienced something most of us in America did; change.
You make a number of good points here, Naioby, but I wanted to know how Anzaldúa is irreverent in her approach to writing, not in her life. With that said, I appreciate the point you made about how it can be difficult to differentiate between her native culture and her American identity. I’d be curious to hear you expand on the last point that you made.
Irreverent is defined as showing lack of regard for the present situation. The Author Anzaldua is that state several times. When faced with the task to “fix” her “broken” English, Anzaldua refuses to make such changes. For instance, she spoke back to her teacher because she tried to get her name pronounced with an accent. She believes that her accent and way of speaking are part of her cultural identity. Another example, is with the relationship with her mom. The authors mom was “mortified” that she still had an accent. While Anzaldua believes that losing her accent is unconstitutional. Anzalduas writing style consists of her writing in English, and also including Spanish quips and dialogue.
Alex, judging simply by the aesthetics of the writing itself, how does Anzaldúa indicate that she is unwilling to make such changes? In other words, how does the way she approached her writing in this piece reflect her attitude?
Irreverent means showing “lack of respect or seriousness.” Anzaldúa is irreverent in her writing because she has a lot of Spanish phrases in her writing which she decides not to translate. She seems to be careless about whether or not the reader understands her writing. I think the purpose of her writing style is to also make native English speakers realized the struggle non-native English speakers face when introduced to a new language such as English. Anzaldúa’s style does appeal to me because her irreverent tone expresses her careless attitude and gives readers a first hand experience of how she felt switching between English and Spanish.
Yes, Sadika, Anzaldúa’s irreverence is showcased by the fact that she chooses not to translate parts of her writing from Spanish to English. I appreciated your sharing this thought in class, as well.