A Process Metaphysics and Lived Experience Analysis of Chicanxs, Spanglish, Mexicans and Mexicanidad
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Abstract
In the conclusion to “A World of Pure Experience” (1904), William James writes, “experience grows by its edges.” I explore what this may mean vis-à-vis Chicanx culture and Spanglish to argue that Chicanxs are neither a bastardization of Anglo or Mexican people and culture, nor is Spanglish a bastardization of English or Español, and that in some ways Chicanxs feel their Mexicanidad more palpably than Mexicans who live in the interior of Mexico, where one’s Mexicanidad is not a predominant identifier. I first explain the process metaphysics that James espouses as well as his view of the lived experience. I build on these two Jamesian concepts and work with the chapter “The Pachuco and Other Extremes” from Octavio Paz’s The Labyrinth of Solitude (1950), as well as Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La Frontera (1987) to explore the experience of being a Chicana and speaking Spanglish on the U.S-Mexico border.
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