This Bridge We Call Communication: Anzalduan Approaches to Theory, Method, and Praxis explores contemporary communication research studies, performative writing, poetry, Latina/o studies, and gender studies through the lens of Gloria Anzaldua's theories, methods, and concepts. Utilizing different methodologies and approaches-testimonio, performative writing, and interpretive, rhetorical, and critical methodologies-the contributors provide original research on contexts including healing and pain, woundedness, identity, Chicana and black feminisms, and experiences in academia.
Leandra H. Hernandez is independent scholar and teaches communication courses at National University, Trident University International, and the University of Houston. Robert Gutierrez-Perez is assistant professor of culture and communication in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Part I: Healing the Wounds: (Re)imagining Borderlands Theory Chapter 1: "Using Testimonios to Untame Our Silent Tongues: Exploring our Experiences of Child Sexual Abuse Through an Anzalduan Perspective," Nivea Castaneda Chapter 2: "Testimonio as a Queer Puente for Healing," Manuel Alejandro Perez "Make America Great Again," Robert Gutierrez-Perez Chapter 3: "Fronteras Toxicas: Toward a Borderland Ecological Consciousness," Carlos Tarin "Dolores," Masha Sukovic Part II: The Coyolxauhqui Imperative: Health Communication, Disability Studies, Pain, and Healing Chapter 4: "Facing Tlahtlacolli (Microaggressions) with Nepantla and Conocimiento: A Xicana Epistemological Approach," Sarah Amira de la Garza Chapter 5: "A Letter to My Hija: Anzaldua's Coyolxauhqui Imperative, Your Bisabuela's Withering Body, and the Life-Affirming Possibilities of Woundedness," Luis Manuel Andrade Chapter 6: "I take something from both worlds": An Anzalduan Analysis of Mexican-American Women's Conceptualizations of Ethnic Identity," Leandra Hinojosa Hernandez Part III: Theorizing Nepantla: Creative Ethnographies on the Path of Conocimiento Chapter 7: "Communicating Nepantla: An Anzalduan Theory of Identity," Sarah De Los Santos Upton Chapter 8: "Between Worlds: A Personal Journey of Self-reflection While on the Path of Conocimiento," Edmundo M. Aguilar Chapter 9: "Remembering Gloria Anzaldua Globally Through A Documentary Altar: ALTAR Cruzando Fronteras, Building Bridges," Diana I. Bowen Part IV: Critical/Cultural Rhetorics of Ambiguity and Hybridity Chapter 10: "Sweetening the Pot: Culinary Adventures in Hybridity," Stephanie L. Gomez "La Duena de la Casa," Masha Sukovic Chapter 11: "A Tolerance for Ambiguity or the American Dream: Using Anzaldua to Disrupt and Reclaim Latina Lives from Multicultural Feminism," Sara Baugh-Harris and Bernadette Marie Calafell Part V: Women of Color and Radical Coalition Building "Whispers in the Dark: A Collection of Poems," Shantel Martinez Chapter 12: "Black Women and Girls Trending: A New(er) Autohistoria-Teoria," Tara L. Conley Chapter 13: "Rasquache Cyborgs and Borderlands Aesthetics in Alex Rivera's Sleep Dealer," Alexandrina Agloro Chapter 14: "Gloria Anzaldua, Audre Lorde, & Topographies of Anger," Rachel Alicia Griffin Part VI: Anzalduan Approaches to Critical (Communication) Pedagogy "I Get It from My Mother," Robert Gutierrez-Perez Chapter 15: "Building Community, Decolonizing Spirituality, and Women of Color Feminism: Applying Gloria Anzaldua in and out of the Classroom for Healing and Empowerment," Xamuel Banales Chapter 16: "Carrying Gloria on My Back: A Pedagogic and Research Journal," Luis Gabriel Sanchez Rose Chapter 17: "A Crack to Speak Out From: Performing Coalitional Politics Through Dialogue, Listening, and Reflexivity," Robert Gutierrez-Perez and Bedilia Ramirez Chapter 18: "Becoming a Bridge in/through Critical Communication Scholarship: Meditations on the Affective Afterlife of Cultural Normativities," Gust A. Yep
Such beautiful, powerful, moving words! I love the multiplicity of Anzalduan theories, methods, perspectives, and praxes found within this book. Risking the personal, editors and contributors bring forward new insights to support and sustain us during these trying times. They demonstrate the versatility of Anzalduan theories and perspectives, opening new directions in communication studies and other fields. La Gloria lives on, building bridges changing lives, and assisting us as we work to transform the world. -- AnaLouise Keating, Professor and Director of the Multicultural Women's and Gender Studies Doctoral Program, Texas Woman's University Editors Leandra Hinojosa Hernandez and Robert Gutierrez-Perez have crafted an innovative and necessary intervention in the field of Communication Studies that insists on the epistemological possibilities of those who live in the physical and psychological borderlands. Speaking through a mestizaje of genres and modes of storytelling, and passionately grounded in the theories of Chicana feminist scholar Gloria E. Anzaldua, the pieces in this collection show readers that it is through speaking and writing the viscera-- the flesh--that possibilities for healing and transformation emerge. A necessary book for scholars in Communication Studies, Chicanx Studies, Women's and Gender Studies, and more. -- Larissa Mercado-Lopez, California State University, Fresno This important collection of essays brings much needed perspectives to the communication discipline through art, praxis, and theory of Anzalduan ideas and philosophies. The artistry, writings, and illustrations in this book feature important Anzalduan concepts like borderlands, nepantla, testimonios, conocimiento, ambiguities, intersectionalities, and critical pedagogies. -- Stacey Sowards, University of Texas at Austin With remarkable breadth, stunning vulnerability, and incisive analyses, this collection animates the continued force and malleability of Gloria Anzaldua's writings. The commitment to praxis and art, activism and intellect across the book is a testament both to Anzaldua and the authors, as it is also an exemplar for the contemporary practice of coalitional and transformative scholarship. -- Lisa A. Flores, University of Colorado
