Recently in Chicano Studies Category

One early film we'll be discussing is the Spanish language version of "Dracula." Hollywood Director, George Melford filmed two versions:  an English language version during the day and a Spanish language version at night (graveyard shift--no pun intended).  Lupita Tovar, Mexican American actress of the 1930s whose starring role in "Santa" made her famous on both sides of the border, played the Mina character in the Spanish version. In this film, her name is Eva and unlike the Mina from the English-language version, Eva is much more expressive and dominant and this is interesting considering the era.  Don't be misled by the picture above.  The character of Eva negotiates power in this film differently from the English version.  

The shots are also slower and deepen the tension. In an interview, Lupita Tovar discusses how at 7p.m., they would begin shooting and leave at 7a.m. the next day.  Bela Lugosi would arrive on the set much after Lupita had gone home.  She never was able to meet him.  Many critics have noted that this Spanish language version is a much better film than the one with Lugosi playing Dracula.  

"Santa," "Dracula," "Salt of the Earth" and on to films like "Real Women Have Curves"--we're just going to have lots of fun including the chance to learn to write a screenplay.  More on this soon--as we escape the cold to enter the world of film!

On the way to California State University at Sonoma!

--audience members at Bird & Beckett Bookstore

Thank you to Eric, owner of Bird & Beckett Bookstore!  There

were so many wonderful people interested in learning about

Ruiz de Burton tonight.  Some were there because they had read

about the reading in the SF newspaper, others saw it on the

B&B website.  Most said they were there to find out about

the first Mexican American novelist--amazed that Latina

literary heritage dates back to the mid-nineteenth century.  

And then there was my "tocaya" (translation: "namesake"), 

Amelia Vigil who was there with her mother.  Here is a picture 

of Amelia Vigil and me:

Amelia Vigil attends Mills College and is soon to graduate.  

She's a creative writer and is interested in how writers consider

blogging and facebook.  Is blogging a creative enterprise,

similar to, say, fiction writing?  I say "no" and so does my

"tocaya."  Blogging can be a flash thought, a posting of

an event (like this one), quick discussions.  

I look forward to more conversations about this with Amelia 

Vigil.  It was quite a pleasure to meet her and her mother.

I too, like Amelia's mother, am a first generation Latina/Chicana

and like my "tocaya," I am the first in my family to receive

a B.A. (which then I went on to the M.A. and Ph.D).  I see

Amelia Vigil doing the same if she so desires it.  

What a thrill to meet everyone at the reading.  Thank you for

your interest in Ruiz de Burton but most of all, thank you for

your love and commitment to literature!  

Gracias!

What a warm and loving homecoming at Loyola Marymount University this past week (Thursday, October 1).  Thanks to Professor Karen Mary Davalos who organized this talk with LMU's William H. Hannon Library which is their brand new library on the bluff overlooking the ocean.  LMU librarians ROCK!

Years ago (circa 1970s) I stood there on the bluff (no buildings then!) after classes, looking out at the city, the ocean---  

I loved meeting and talking to so many Chicanas and Chicanos who reminded me of myself.  They asked me really important questions about how they should structure their time at Loyola, what would I think about this or that path in life--how to live?  I wanted to sit with them for much longer, to get to know them, to learn from them too.  How is it now as a student at Loyola?  The opportunities for them are endless.  

At my lecture I also had "six degrees of separation" moments meaning that the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) is everywhere!  Mary Ellen Cassman and her husband showed up at my talk and were quite enthusiastic about Ruiz de Burton.  It turns out that they are the parents of Professor Kenneth Cassman, past Chair and Professor of Agronomy and Agriculture at UNL. Then, Professor Robin Miskolcze, from Loyola's English Dept., talked to me at length about teaching nineteenth-century women writers. And who knew?  Robin received her PhD at University of Nebraska-Lincoln!  Lovely connections.  

What I love most (as I've said before) about these talks is meeting the people and hearing their stories--especially the students.  I find them passionate, committed to the word, in search of literary truths, humorous, generous, kind.

So thank you to all at LMU.  I am proud to say I am an LMU alumna!  

And thanks for the gifts too!  The lovely LMU wool scarf and cap will certainly keep me warm as we near the winter in The Great Plains!  

In this picture:  Dean of LMU University Library, Kristine Brancolini,

myself, Professor Mary Karen Davalos, Chair of LMU Chicano/a Studies