September 20, 2006
Now THIS is my kind of work
For this seminar paper I have chosen to evaluate the writings and theories of Victor Villanueva. Villanueva’s career began in 1986 and he is currently teaching at Washington State University. Villanueva is recognized one of the few (if not only) Latino rhetoricians in the field, and theorizes about the origins of Latino rhetoric and its connection to the Ancient Greek tradition, as well as issues concerning rhetoric and racism. I am uncertain if he is part of the current canon; but if we consider the reformulating of the canon, then he will certainly garner a position within it.
Villanueva’s work is interesting to me from two perspectives. First, as a future historian/ activist, his scholarship provides me with an entry point into the ancient tradition and a means by which to influence the canon in the hopes of gaining inclusion for under-represented scholars whose theories are (still) viewed as ancillary. Secondly, through his writing I am able to evaluate my own internal rhetoric and the rhetoric of other Latino/as, and examine how and why Latino/as have acquired a particular form of expression beyond cultural affiliation and issues of citizenship. In my dissertation, I hope to address these issues of identity and its effects on the construction of social identity of Puerto Ricans. Although Dr. Villanueva has written extensively about issues concerning both composition and rhetoric, I have chosen the writings that deal specifically with the marginalization of persons of color. Primary sources for this project will include:
· Holdstein Deborah and David Bleich (eds.). “Cuentos de mi Historia: An Art of Memory,” Personal Effects: The Social Character of Scholarly Writing, Provo: Utah UP, 2001, 267-76.
· Hollins, Etta R. and Eileen I. Oliver (eds.). “The Student of Color and Contrastive Rhetoric,” Finding Pathways to Success In School: Culturally Responsive Teaching. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1999, 107-123.
· Hecht ,Michael (ed.). “Scenes from an Individual of Color: On Individuals and Individualism,” The Communication of Prejudice, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1997, 235-45.
· Eddy, Robert (ed.) “Literacy, Culture, and the Colonial Legacy,” The Politics of Multiculturalis,. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press, 1996, 79-99.
· Purves, Alan C. (ed.). “Hispanic/Latino Writing: Rhetorical Differences.” Encyclopedia of English Studies and Language Arts, 2 Vols. New York: Scholastic, 1994, 1220-34.
· Villanueva, Victor. Bootstraps: From an American Academic of Color, Urbana: NCTE, 1993.
· ________ The Rhetorics of the New Racism or the Master’s Four Tropes, FYHC: An Online Journal, October 2005.
· ________ Memoria is a Friend of Ours: On the Discourse of Color, College English, September 2004, 1-10.
· On The Rhetoric and Precedents of Racism, College Composition and Communication, Summer 1999, 89-105.
· ________The Voice of Voices in the Writer of Color, English Journal, December 1995, 68-69.
· ________Hegemony: From an Organically Grown Intellectual, PRE/TEXT: A Journal of Rhetorical Theory, Spring/Summer 1992, 18-34.
· ________Reading Rhetoric Outside and In: Theory, Pedagogy, and Politics in Race, Rhetoric, and Composition, JAC: A Journal of Composition Theory, Winter 2000, 195-204.
· ________On Colonies, Canons, and Ellis Cose’s The Rage of A Privileged Class, JAC: A Journal of Composition Theory, Winter 1996, 159-69.
Ultimately, my hope is that this project will expand my understanding of the current conversations occurring in the field with regard to alternative rhetorics, so that I can knowledgeably contribute to the aforementioned conversations in the future.
Posted by dvaldesd at 11:11 AM | Comments (0)
September 13, 2006
The Habitual Writings Of...
The Habitual Writings Of …
When I reflect upon my identity as an author, I imagine myself as a scholar that writes from the perspective of a historian/activist that focuses on issues of language, bilingualism, and Latino/a rhetoric.
Throughout my academic career, I have always been interested in linguistics and the ways in which language both authorizes and dehumanizes persons that hail from marginalized cultures.
As a graduate student of linguistics, many of my papers focused on Spanish and English bilingualism issues, concentrating on dialect differences among Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, and other Latinos. What I have always found particularly interesting is the use of and the hysteria surrounding Spanglish. Many language purists view Spanglish not as the evidence of cultural amalgamation, but instead as the bastardization of two languages. I view the growth and expansion of Spanglish as the natural promiscuity of a language that seeks to incorporate the linguistic details of American assimilation in the most obvious way-by collapsing morphemes, phonemes, and grammatical details in an attempt to be larger and more efficient. My role as an author during my tenure as a student in the linguistics department was to shed light on the history of Spanglish and advocate for its usage in all settings. The difficulty was finding enough information about it beyond the two volumes that I had read. To date, the scholarship concerning this language (I refuse to diminish it by naming it a dialect) remains limited, as Spanglish continues to be treated as a linguistic anomaly.
As I completed my masters’ degree I decided that in order to effect any real change, I would have to pursue my interest in language and culture in a more focused program. Having taken classes with Professor Amardo Rodriguez while obtaining my masters, and knowing that he shared my interest in Spanglish and other forms of intercultural communication, I asked him for his advice. He told me that the program I wanted to apply to was CCR, because “they were constantly doing new things with rhetoric and composition”. In preparing my application to the program, it seemed natural to me to submit a paper I had written on Spanglish, since my plan was to continue my study of these semi-new language phenomena.
Upon acceptance to the program, I began to realize that it was not just Spanglish that I needed to focus on, but the rhetoric of Latino/as as well. Knowing the importance that language has on the construction of social identity, other questions concerning the importance of rhetorical practices began to formulate in my mind.
The first class I took was with Becky Howard, in which one of our tasks was to write a proposal to CCCC’s in the hope of being accepted (invited) to attend. The title of my abstract was “The Erasure of Spanglish within Composition Studies”. Much to my surprise, I was invited to present! While writing this paper I discovered that my desire to defend Spanglish needed to be rooted in more than a socio-linguistic history. This is when I realized how important it would be for my work to focus on the recovery of Latino/a rhetoric and make the case for inclusion of it in our field.
I have had several classes since then, all of which have familiarized me with our field, the most prominent and well-known scholars, and the most current conversations. Unfortunately, many of those conversations do not center upon the rhetoric(s) of different cultures, save the “special edition” issues that surface once a year, if that frequently. For me, that means that when I want to write a paper about Latino/a rhetoric, I immediately go to Victor Villanueva’s writings. His writing resonates with me; it makes me feel at home.
In evaluating the writing I have done during my tenure as a graduate student I see that language was the singular most important issue for me. I wanted Spanglish speakers to be comfortable within their lexicon, but now I also want them to have validation for it. I want those of us that are bilingual to know that we too can claim a tradition that is worthwhile and valid. But most importantly, I want to see Latino/a rhetoric addressed more than just once a year, or when it is fashionable. I want to see Latino/a rhetoric be included in more tables of contents, more anthologies, and by authors/scholars that are not Latino-just as we non-Greeks write about, discuss, include and refer to classical rhetoric in all of our current textbooks. I hope that my authorial identity will develop into one that will combine history, activism, and egalitarianism, and give the gatekeepers of the canon reason to broaden their horizons. Utopic indeed.
Posted by dvaldesd at 12:25 AM | Comments (0)
May 03, 2006
Something old, something new...
At last there will be something new that ALL children should watch with there parents-the national spelling bee. My reaction to the recent film Akeelah and the Bee was enthusiastic, and I am pretty excited to see that the complexities surrounding this annual competition is going to get it's 5 minutes of fame. Once again I would like to suggest a visit to Scripps website, just so that you can be on top of your game before the fun begins. It bears repeating...this competition is not kid stuff!
Posted by dvaldesd at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)
April 26, 2006
Balanced Literacy?
A is for Apple, B is for Brawl, is an article that you might want to take a look at. While many of us are not located in the New York City school districts, literacy is a problem that effects all of us, since the students we teach arrive from many different locations. The basic premise is the same: whole language ideology vs. phonics. What I continually do not understand is why they have to be pitted against each other. As an ESL teacher, I don’t need the studies done at Yale to validate my teaching philosophy regarding language. The best approach is to utilize both ideologies in a way that gives pre-literate students the tools to understand how we string letters together in English, as well as what words actually mean in various contexts. In fact, the real problem lies in myopic pedagogies. And, of course, there are other problems as well. What kinds of books are available to these children? Are they just those that the dominant society has decided children need to read, or do they have a few selections that are culturally specific (not to mention DIVERSE)? Do they have their copy of Afrotina and the Three Bears? This book is definitely important; it places young African American students in the center of the American fairytale. What about Uncle Nachos Hat? Not only is this book relative to Latino/a children, but it is a bilingual text that does double duty: it gives students whose first language is Spanish an opportunity to be exposed to words in English in a non-threatening, non-assimilative way. Do they have any selections written in non-standard varieties of English? And what about this ECLAS test, that will *determine* which children need “special services”. Dare we hazard a guess as to which children (aka African American and Latino/as) will qualify for these “services”? It seems to me that the one lesson this country needs above all others is one that teaches mutual respect and cooperation. Maybe then we can achieve real balance.
Curious about ECLAS? Check out this blog ...
Posted by dvaldesd at 09:58 AM | Comments (0)
December 09, 2005
No Hablo English?
Some things will never change. When people ask me why I am so sensitive about language issues and why it is that I want to pursue a career in cultural rhetoric, I often explain that I there is a huge gap in the knowledge perataining to my culture and language. That while we may all speak what appears to be the same language, our rhetoric does indeed vary, and is socially constructed in unique ways. I am usually an optimist, and certainly protective of my cultural rhetoric, specifically because of this ignorance. I have this idea that if enough of us (Latino/as) become scholars of language, perhaps the xenophobia that runs rampant in our society (with regard to Latino/as) will diminish. The problem lies in that there are more (pseudo) scholars that perpetuate the racism than there are Latino/as scholars. Case and point: a young man is suspended from school because he was caught speaking Spanish in the hallway. WHAT? But that's not the good part. The good part is that the jackass principal (the pseudo-scholar) actually confirmed this and added that she has asked the Spanish speaking students before not to communicate in their native tongue. So, because her hegemonic, racist rule is not being followed, she suspended the boy. Where did this happen? Kansas City-where a colleague of mine is from. D has told me some horror stories of living there and the lack of tolerance for people of color-but this is something that I would have never expected. In private, acts of racism are certainly not surprising; it's to be expected wherever racism is the rule and not the exception, however,in a public school setting-absolutely not! And what's worse is the fact that the students’ father has to go to court to fight this-because freedom of speech certainly doesn't apply to personas de habla Hispano. It's the same story. Justification, rationalization, hateration...So when you see me and I am ranting about race, culture and the like, you'll know why. When you think of me as a Latina that is obsessed with her Latinadad, you'll know why. And when you hear people speaking another language, don't hate on them by accusing them of being rude because you can't understand what their saying. Instead, ACCEPT the fact that white (monolingualism) is not always right, nor do you have the right to be included in a conversation that was created for ears other than your own. Or better yet, stop subscribing to the myth that monolingualism is the key to your (or anyone else's) happiness. Besides, none of us Latinos believe the hype; we know America does not really love us-even as it proclaims to do so.
Or in the words of MC Lyte...
When you say you love me, it doesn't matter.
It goes to my head as just chit chatter
You may think it's egostistical or just worry free
But what you say I take none of it seriously
And even if I did I wouldn't tell you so
I'd let you pretend to read me
and then you'd know.
Cause I hate when one attempts to analyze.
In fact I despize those who even try
to look into my eyes to see what I am thinking.
That dream is over you gotta sink it.
I tell all of you like I told all of them
what you say to me is just paper thin, word
Buen dicho!
Posted by dvaldesd at 06:25 PM | Comments (0)
December 05, 2005
For Class, For Me, and For V.V.
The Science of el Ritmo and other Amalgamations
History. The retelling of an important event for posterity, for preservation; for future reference. Identity. The social construction of who we become racially, culturally, ethnically, and publicly. The science of el ritmo. The rhythm. The way we use history, theory, and other bits of information to generate the beats we follow as we formulate who we are and who we want to be. This is the theory of identity.
Paul Miller’s work discusses each of these things, but amazingly allows for the free interpretation of this information, of history, and of amalgamation. The freedom to interpret, that I would argue, we do not have when we discuss other theorists that many feel must be taken up in a certain way; not in a way that would necessarily allow us to remix it, but instead only as a fixed tune and an prescribed dance. Not free, but fixed. I’m not saying that this type of dance is not valuable or even necessary. What I am saying is that if we all do the same dance isn’t that perpetuating hegemony? I know-you will say that there are many theories, not just one. But who creates them? Upon whose work are they predicated? At the end of the dance (the essay, the book, the article), who are the members of the band (who is in the works cited list)? And, more importantly, where do I fit in? Where do I go to dance when they are playing the (tried and true, never to change) Waltz while I stand with my nose pressed against the glass wondering if they will ever play an eclectic, come as you are Mambo? Where is my theory? This is where identity comes in.
Paul Miller’s theory is my Mambo. It is my identity. It is where I can use the history I learn and generate the identity I want to forge. It is an amalgamation of ideas that speak to me because it does not take up (“T”) theory in the expected way; it is not the same old song. For me, Miller allows the discovery of what was and what can be, and who Denise is now, and who I am going to be. The point being that I want to choose-not have some theorist that has no idea of how I construct my identity choose for me (simply because the gatekeepers of the discipline say dead white males are qualified to do so). I want to be the remix-the scholar, the Mom, the student, and one day the professor. Don’t tell me what dance to do, for I know how to do many; all of which demonstrate who I am. Victor Villanueva stated this beautifully at the NCTE convention when he said “we all carry many identities, and we assert one over another based on the contexts in which we find ourselves. When I’m among a bunch of folks in my business, I identify as one of them—a compositionist, say—and apart from them—a Latino. If I’m among a bunch of Latinos, I’m more likely to be a Puerto Rican. Among Puerto Ricans, a Nuyorican. Or maybe a Professor. Abuelito. Dad. We choose.(NCTE, 2005)” Miller’s take on theory allows me to choose. He is not preoccupied with what was as much as what can be, and perhaps more importantly, how we want it to be at any given moment-not how others say it should be. A remix.
The social construction of who I am and want to be racially, culturally, ethnically, and publicly is still a work in progress; and I hope that will always be the case. My identity is eclectic, so the theory that speaks to me must also be thus. And while the history and (traditional) theory we learn will certainly contribute to this growth and expansion, for me it will never be the total description. Theories should never be conclusive or closed; they should be instructive-flexible enough to withstand the remix, the growth process, and whatever changes those situations and different identities may bring. Science alone has very little flexibility, but the science of rhythm, that’s something else.
The science of el ritmo. Miller would not object to this appropriation of his title. He might wonder if I have the beats down, if I know how to jam in a way that will produce a melodic creation, but he would step aside and let me do it. And the science part; synechodoche. Not all inclusive, but a small part-my part. A small piece of the scholarship I have learned and want to learn; a small piece of myself that I choose to share-a sample. And only a sample.
For me, theory is rhythm. That is how I need to understand it if I am going to discover my scholarly self (within it); it is not the arbitrary way in which we are told we must take it up, but guidelines to the dance. Therefore, theory must be told en mi ritmo, my Mambo. And according to Miller, that’s okay. So yes, for me Miller is capital “T” and lower case “t” theory; my kind of theory. It is the kind of theory that can be worked by all of us, not just the gatekeepers of the DJ booth. It is a theory that allows me to find my way in, and, when necessary, my way out. And while I might have to learn to play my instrument in a prescribed way so that I may gain admittance to the band, I do so with the knowledge that one day I will be not only a member of the band, but a bandleader. And within my scholarship I will be able to create my own beats using “T” and “t” theory. Like this non-traditional writing. A remix.
________________________________________________________________________
Villanueva, Victor. “Blind Racism”. Pittsburgh Convention Center, Pittsburgh. 17 November. 2005.
Posted by dvaldesd at 03:17 PM | Comments (0)
November 03, 2005
association
Media is a mystery to me; I don't watch a lot of television because I spend most of my time reading. Computers both fascinate and scare me because of my lack of knowledge. Music is a media I definitely understand because I feel a sort of kinship with the beats as they remind of certain embedded memories that only surface when provoked by sound. History. Now defined as "his-story. Why not her-story? This is the question that is going to broaden my horizons in the semester to come. Again, fear, trepidation of the unknown, and of course the desire to do the best that I can. The personal? Not nearly as melodious as the media aspect of my life, but certainly her-story. My story. My story? Where is the history that I have been looking for? I feel like I am coming closer to it as time goes on, but how close can I come to his-story without drowning her-story; what is the beat of my story, and how long will my story be a MY-stery?
Posted by dvaldesd at 02:58 PM | Comments (0)
November 01, 2005
On Rhetoric
In discussing my career goals with CGB today, I was expressing the difficulties in acquiring theoretical readings in Latino/a Rhetoric. As we discussed the ways in which I might enrich my research, we ran straight into the million dollar question: what, indeed, is the definition of rhetoric? And, with a plethora of definitions before me, how do I determine which definition is appropriate for my research? Well, this is the question isn't it? As expected, that question begs another, and another. What does Latino/a Rhetoric look like? How can it be articulated in a way that fairly (because I am apprehensive about using the word "appropriately") depicts the people of the Caribbean-more than that-the island of my heart? Then of course, there is the dilemma of naming. In his essay titled "Memoria", Villanueva gives a brief history of Puerto Ricans and explains that since our discovery from other people we have been bearing the names that have been imposed on us, and not any of our own social construction. He asserts that we came from the lower Antilles and were named Arawak/Taino by the Caribs, only to be renamed once Columbus arrived and decided that the rich port that he had landed upon should be called just that. The acquiring of this information tells me that my academic journey lies not only in the acquisition of knowledge in rhetoric, but in history as well. The history that I hope will lead to me forge a way into a conversation that as of yet has not been undertaken. My other career goal is to create a journal that will be for all of us that are underrepresented in our field; those of us that want to be included in the scholarship we love; those of us that want to tell our stories, our pidgins, and the events that have always been in our memoria.
Posted by dvaldesd at 06:51 PM | Comments (0)
September 22, 2005
research, writing, and diversity?
In trying to find journals that reflect Latino/a rhetoric, what I found is that there are none! There were 2, but they are no longer in circulation. My reaction resembled the grief process; first I was angry, then sad..ultimately accepting the event that invoked my sorrow that I nonetheless cannot change. Then I started thinking about why. Why is there no journal that can enrich my scholarship and help me acquire the knowledge I crave? Why can't I walk into the library, search for *keyword* Latino/a journals and books, and get 50+ hits? I was asking Colin about this and he told me that it is not only a question of interest among scholars, but also a budget issue. Whose budget? The journal's budget; the library's budget; the fact that if the scholars that submit work to this journal are not employed by the university, chances are that said journal will be absent from that (university’s) library's catalog. Okay. Now what? Well, in discussing what I want to be when I grow up with my friend (and fellow burgeoning scholar) Tamika, I realized that I want a journal to call my own. I want it! If composition and cultural rhetoric is meant to contribute to society and do service, then this is a service I want to perform. I want students like myself, Latino/a students, to be represented in the discourse of our discipline. I want the same students to be able to go to their university library and find at least one professional artifact that speaks to our identity and our contributions to the field of CCR. Now the question is how, exactly do I do that? I am confident that the day will come when I will find a way...just as I found a way to make as far as I have. But that's another story.
Posted by dvaldesd at 10:25 AM | Comments (0)
June 25, 2005
genre and language
So while I whine about not being able to read text that have not been assigned; and my summer course is coming to a close; and my final papers are all but done, guess what I am looking forward to doing? Using c-map to begin charting my next paper that I hope to complete at the end of the fall semester! What is amazing is that I am finally starting to feel like I have something worthwhile to say. And, (although this is kind of cheating) I get to be the smart kid in the class next semester because I have taken a few classes more in CCR
then my new colleagues, and have some idea of what is going on. At any rate, I am looking forward to finding an essay that will ground me (in my program) and getting my hands on the texts that promise to make me feel right at home. Currently, Senor Victor Villanueva is my idol, and I am hoping to someday have the pleasure of meeting him in person. At any rate, I have gone from wishing the semester would end so I could do nothing, to wishing the semester would end so I can plan my next project. So this is what it's like to be a burgeoning scholar... Methinks I like it!
Posted by dvaldesd at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)
April 01, 2005
Nietzsche on Truth
What then is truth? A mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, and anthropomorphisms -- in short, a sum of human relations, which have been enhanced, transposed, and embellished poetically and rhetorically, and which after long use seem firm, canonical, and obligatory to a people: truths are illusions about which one has forgotten that is what they are; metaphors which are worn out and without sensuous power; coins which have lost their pictures and now matter only as metal, no longer as coins.
We still do not know where the urge for truth comes from; for as yet we have heard only of the obligation imposed by society that it should exist: to be truthful means using the customary metaphors - in moral terms, the obligation to lie according to fixed convention, to lie herd-like in a style obligatory for all...
'On truth and lie in an extra-moral sense,' The Viking Portable Nietzsche
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