Back on March 4th I recommended an article on Thivai’s Blog not knowing that Thivai wrote the piece himself. The original article can be found here.

Here are some excerpts and my thoughts:

“All that changed once we entered the doors of the theater … The first thing we were presented with was a sign that stated:

The ex-US of A has fragmented into myriad micro-republics loosely controlled by a multiracial junta, and governed by a Chicano prime minister named Gran Vato. The Tortilla Curtain no longer exists. Spanglish is now the official language. Panicked by the New Borders, Anglo militias are desperately trying to recapture the Old Order. Our border heroes, El Mexterminator, CyberVato, and La Cultural Transvestite have deserted from the newly formed government to join a strange hybrid militia opposing the reverse authoritarianism and radical essentialism of the ruling party. The new government of Aztlan Liberado sponsors interactive ethnographic exhibits to teach the perplexed citizenry how things were before and during the 2nd US/Mexico war. This performance/installation is one example of these official projects.

Sounds like a dramatic description of what Huntington forewarned - a white nationalist revolt of militia’s not wanting to give up “White America.”

Adding to the emotional charge of this initial experience was the sense of anxiety initiated by wondering what was going to happen and being unsure of what I should do next. This initiated a liminal state, this is a temporal state which is described by the anthropologist Victor Turner as a period initiated through ritual in which the initiated is in a state of stasis between two borders. Turner further states that:

“During the liminal period, neophytes are alternately encouraged to think about their society, their cosmos, and the powers that generate and sustain them. Liminality may be partly described as a stage of reflection. (1967, 105)”

I like Turner’s description of “a period initiated through ritual in which the initiated is in a state of stasis between two borders.” It perfectly describes how I feel (and I think she does too) in my relationship with Laura. We are always walking hand in hand in a state of stasis. A stasis of loyalty to our upbringings, stasis of acceptance, of belonging. Staying with her family in Torreon I time and time again experienced this liminal period where some small act (someone telling me to “walk with god my child”) would throw me into a whirlwind reflection of myself, my culture, my society, my stereotypes.

I don’t think this “liminal period” necessarily is temporal however - at least not in the short term. I think it can encompass entire regions like the Southern San Diego and Tijuana border region where just about everyone, regardless of ethnicity, lives in a stasis of what is categorized as Mexican, Chicano, and White. And all three of these “groups” (I’m hesitant to call them groups because they are such fluid titles and so many consider themselves all three) live in an anxious stasis of not knowing how to behave to one another, not wanting to be rude, nor ridiculed. So some become cold and defensive. Others isolated. Others grab on to only one part of their identity and refuse to acknowledge their other parts/influences. Still others claim to be color-blind and live in denial that different upbringings and cultures produce different types of people. There are a million coping strategies but at the bottom of them all is fear and anxiety.

Last night Laura and I stopped by Chicano Perk Cafe which advertises itself as a bilingual cafe. It was my second time in there. The first time there was a young guy from Rosarito working - mi tocayo - and after a “liminal moment” of a white guy coming into a cafe filled exclusively with Chicanos, we spoke in Spanish and easily fell into conversation. Last night on the other hand, Laura and I walked in together to the same exclusively Chicano clientele but this time a woman in her early 30’s, full of confidence, greeted us NPR-like flawless English. We ordered our drinks in English, but then while I wandered off to look at the local papers, Laura tried to start a conversation in Spanish. The woman clearly understood her but answered back in English every time. Laura, just as stubborn, maintained her Spanish and after a while a strange anxiety entered the air.

We left and on the way to the car I asked her if it bothered her when Chican@s spoke to her in English. It did. We had just finished having dinner with some friends of mine and she felt frustrated that her English held her back in the conversation. Now she felt like someone was trying to “put her in her place, make her feel uncomfortable” for not being able to speak English perfectly. In Mexico she also had to put up with her friends, acquaintances, and strangers and their looks of disapproval for “selling out” and living with an American. Here is an example how one person can feel marginalized by Mexicans, Americans, and Chicanos alike. (of course, my friends did absolutely nothing to marginalize her - just the opposite - but she still felt a self-inflicted sense of being an outsider)

As Malanchista says on the menu bar of her website:

malinchista is the term used to refer derogatorily to mexicanas or chicanas who are perceived to have ’sold out’ their race. the term is often used to silence or restrain women who are acting or thinking outside the perceived ‘common interests’ of chicanos and/or mexicanos. gloria anzaldua writes of being called a malinchista for daring to criticize male privilege in mexicano cultures; cherrie moraga was considered a malinchista for suggesting that she could be both lesbian and chicana. i was witness in the mid-90s to a group of amazing young women at stanford who were labeled malinchistas for their efforts to bring the student group, mecha, into coalition with the gay/les/bi student group, as well as other progressive groups. the original malinchista, of course, was dona marina, the woman whose family sold her to cortes; she served him as interpreter and mistress, and bore several children by him. she was later passed to his men.

i am by no means claiming parity with any of these amazing women, but only seeking to circulate and reclaim the idea of malinchistas as thoughtful, active, hopefully self-critical chicanas.

elenamary adds that:

Sometimes, Mexican or Chicana women who date or marry outside of Latino are referred to as Malinchistas. I like this in that it gives me something I can grab a hold of reconstruct and return to the world. Go ahead, I want to be a MALINCHISTA! I am hija de una chingada. But I will not be a chingada nor will I be a virgin, nor am I Eve your temptress. I am smart and quick tongued, and all the goodness and sexuality of the womb.

La Malinche is a tempting and probably overused metaphor (let us not forget about the historical person), but also a useful one. To me she represents exactly what Victor Turner called “a state of stasis between two borders.” Someone held to and ridiculed by two or more contradictory set of cultural expectations. For Laura this could be her friends and family back home expecting her to know what is happening on some telenovela while I poke fun at her for watching such “filth.” Or my astonishment that she could like something by Alejandro Saenz, but not The Cure.

For me, La Malinche is in all of us - that feeling of wanting to be accepted, of not wanting to sell out, of struggling against society(s) that define(s) our identity.

There are efforts at making this happen. Sub-cultures trying to create identities that are not based on the norms of identity (race, religion, class, education, area). Thivai has had an ongoing muse on sub-culture for the past few days on his blog and I encourage all to check out his resources.

Special thanks to Yonder Lies It for having such a great collection of resources. Gracias carnal.