In this assignment you are going to be introduced to Border Studies through the analysis of English-Spanish code-switching. You will learn about Border studies, a field of study that is concerned with borders between people, such as the Mexican-American border for example. You will listen to the author reading his poem, which is mainly in English but also uses some Spanish. That is called code-switching. You will analyse the poem on the significance of code-switching and you will encounter Mexican-American immigrant culture around the Mexican-American border. At the end you will reflect on how code-switching influences identity and you will connect this to Border Studies.
This assignment will take about 60-90 minutes.
to align with Mexican-American immigrant culture through the analysis of the poem In Colorado My Father Scoured and Stacked Dishes
to identify the use and importance of code-switching between English and Spanish
have a basic understanding of Border Studies
About the author
Eduardo C. Corral is a Mexican-American poet and teacher of creative writing. He was born in Casa Grande, Arizona. He is known for blending English and Spanish in his poetry.
For teachers who want to adapt this assignment into the classroom, a small set of instructions can be found here.
Border Studies is an interdisciplinary field of study that includes literature, anthropology, sociology, political science, economics, history and cultural studies. As said in the introduction, it focuses on boundaries between people. You can look at this from two sides, which also overlap: geographically and from the perspective of society (culturally, politically, economically etc.). Both of these help us understand transformations in society and how these societies around borders express their differences (class, race, ethnic, etc.) (Donzelli 2013)
The key concepts that you need to know about to analyse the poem are
- Borderlands
- Border culture
Borderlands literally refers to places and their cultures where a border can be found. The concept behind it means the social boundaries on geopolitical borders and how behaviour there involves contradictions, conflict and shifting identities.
• Literally: refers to places (and their cultures) where a border is a feature of the political, social, economic and cultural make-up of the area
• Conceptual: refers to “the social boundaries on the geopolitical border and…on all behaviour in general that involves contradictions, conflict, and the shifting of identity” (Alvarez 1995, p. 449)
Border culture is the actual life on and across borders and is a way of thinking about how people live there and how that creates, enforces and maintains the existence of borders and that there are people who resist or ignore them
Actual life on and across borders, that goes beyond the usual geopolitical understanding of a border, and a way of thinking about the lived experience of practices that create, enforce and maintain borders as well as those which resist or ignore them.
Now that you know a bit more about Border Studies, let’s have a look at a poem written by Eduardo C. Corral, called In Colorado My Father Scoured and Stacked Dishes. This poem is about a father who is an illegal immigrant from Mexico in the United States. The speaker is his son, describing his father’s story. Eduardo C. Corral is an American poet from Arizona.
1) First, listen to Eduardo C. Corral reading his poem.
2) Second, listen one more time and read along.
3) Look up the meaning of any of the Spanish words for yourself if necessary.
Answer the questions below and provide explanations.
1. Before he starts, Corral says that he code-switches between English and Spanish in his work. He remarks: “The Spanish is never italicized, put in context, there’s no glossary. You know, if language is one way of viewing the world, I refuse to privilege one way of viewing over another”.
a. How could this be representative of Border culture around the Mexican-American border?
b. How do you think the poem would come across if the Spanish was italicized, put into context or in a glossary in the back?
i. What message would this give about the legitimacy of Spanish?
ii. What dimensions does the Spanish add to the poem? Consider what it would be like if the poem was only in English.
2. Consider the title and the first stanza. How are they ironic?
3. Consider the 6th stanza. The speaker says He is an illegal. / I’m an Illegal-American.
a. Why did you think the speaker chooses these terms over Mexican, Mexican-American, or Latino?
b. The narrator is a second generation immigrant. Why has he not been able to put down roots? Provide examples from the poem.
4. In stanza 8 and 9 the narrator explains how his father learned English: In God We Trust. The Fifth: / Percolate (preparing coffee). In this case English reflects American culture. Think of three other areas around the world were English is spoken. What English words would you then choose to reflect those areas?
5. In stanza 11 the speaker mentions his father singing corridos.
a. Look up corridos. How is this different from a song?
b. Why does the difference matter?
6. In stanza 14 it reads: His favorite / belt buckle: an águila perched on a nopal. Look up the coat of arms of Mexico. What does this say about the father’s identity? Provide other examples from the poem as well.
7. Bugs Bunny wants to deport him, stanza 15 reads. Bugs Bunny is an iconic symbol representing the United States. César Chávez wants to deport him as well. César Chávez was an American labor leader and civil rights activist.
a. Research César Chávez. Why would he want to deport the father?
b. Describe the paradox of promoting the (civil) rights of Latino citizens versus helping out brothers (but illegal immigrants) from across the border who are suffering to get ahead in the U.S. Why can this be contradictory?
8. The poem ends with The snake hisses. The snake is torn. Considering that hissing is a defensive tactic against predators, and that snakes can be torn by eagles, what do you make of this ending?
Reflect on code-switching. How do you think this influences someone’s identity? What can someone who is code-switching establish what others cannot? If possible, relate to your own experiences with code-switching. Also include references to the poem and to Border Studies. Write between 150-250 words.