Editor’s Note: "Borderless" is a
column that focuses on immigration literature in the
United States, featuring reviews of well-known, under-known, and new
texts. Get to know its author, Monet Moutrie, here.
By Monet Moutrie
Media Intern
Sandra Cisneros is an author of formidable stature. Her works, published in twelve languages, include two full-length poetry books, a collection of short stories, a children’s book and two novels -- many of which have won numerous awards. As a pioneer in the Chicana literary field, Cisneros was one of the first female Mexican-American writers to have her work published by a mainstream publisher; she brought to the forefront what once rested on the outskirts of mainstream literature. Like the other authors featured in this column, Cisneros offers her readers a unique literary expression of American life; she infuses her texts with cultural references to the Mexican-American experience and addresses issues like gender inequality and the marginalization of minorities in a dominant society.
While Cisneros’ biography could easily fill the paragraphs of this column, I chose to focus on one of her lesser-known works, a collection of poetry entitled Loose Woman, winner of the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers’ Award. Published in 1994, this slim collection of poetry is infused with sexuality, passion and a celebration of Mexican-American culture.
From the opening poem, the reader is drawn into a dizzying world of flesh and spirit. Both the body and the soul are celebrated in prose that tickles the tongue with playful and sensual imagery. Phrases like the “fleshy undertongue of sorrows” and “the mouth of my heart” are only two examples of Cisneros’ skilled combination of the physical body with the spiritual world. Her poems fuse together these often-separated spheres, causing the reader to question many of the dividing lines that we attempt to draw.
Of equal if not greater importance is the dissolution of the two realms of Cisneros’ cultural identity. The author is not Mexican or American, but instead Mexican-American, a Chicana with a unique cultural background. Her poems are infused with Spanish phrases and Tex-Mexican slang. For those unfamiliar with Spanish, a few poems might require some translation, but the discovery of meaning is a rewarding endeavor on its own. Cisneros' experience is not one in which a solid line can be drawn between her American life and her Mexican background; like most immigrants, her experience is a melding of two cultures, two identities, two ideals.
An additional focus throughout this collection is the role of passion and love in a woman’s life. We are introduced to a wide array of lovers, many of whom fail to provide that constant companion that has been mythologized in narratives of human love. Instead, we find men that come and leave, men that ignite the author’s passion but never stay for long. In a poem entitled “A Man in My Bed Like Cracker-Crumbs,” we watch the narrator tidy up after her lover leaves. She strips the sheets, airs out the bedroom and pours herself a cup of tea. But there is no sadness in the narrator’s domestic tasks, no mourning over a lover now gone; instead the poem ends with an acknowledgment of her solitary state and a solid, “Amen.' She has her teacup in hand, her typewriter at her side, and she appears more than content.
A rebellion against gender norms also pervades this work. For many Mexican-American women, a strong emphasis on marriage and childbearing exists from infancy throughout adulthood. Life is not complete without these two events. And yet Cisneros challenges this societal expectation with her array of lovers and her refusal to settle down. In her poem, “Old Maids,” she explains how she and her cousins refused to marry after watching the struggles some of her older female relatives faced as young brides. She writes, “But we’ve studied/ marriage too long—/…lessons that served us well." Instead of following in the footsteps of her predecessors, Cisneros strikes out. She becomes a fulfilled woman, a writer, a lover, and while she never swears off motherhood, she celebrates the birth of other children, never her own.
For anyone who wants to spend an afternoon absorbed in a collection of poetry that will make you laugh and celebrate the passion that can exist between two people, Loose Woman is for you. For anyone who wants to examine a fusion of two different cultures into a dizzying and thrilling poetic voice, these poems will serve you well. And for anyone who cares to question the norms in his or her own culture, you will find inspiration to strike out and follow your own path.
About the Image: Cisneros by the San Antonio River. © Copyright 2010 Melanie Mendoza
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