Et Tu ... Raza (English and Spanish Edition) - Softcover

Alurista

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0927534487 ISBN 13: 9780927534482

Publisher: Bilingual Press, 1995

Synopsis

Poetry. A poet with a strong commitment to social problems, Alurista continues to explore racism and other forms of bigotry in ET TU.RAZA?, his newest collection of poetry. These poems are angry and full of energy; they call us to action. Like the poems of e.e. cummings, Alurista's work is at once simple and highly complex. He often begins a poem with a playful tone but then expands it to shed light on some of the most important issues of our time.

About this title

Review:

Et Tú... Raza? serves as a Spanish-English retrospective of a generation of activists' powerful emotions. Although possessing a unique voice, the Chicano poet Alurista often speaks as a chorus of masks, with very musical movement from persona to persona. The book's value, like that of recent works by Adrienne Rich and Carolyn Forche, lies in its modulation of earlier statements, metering youthful political idealism with a tone of mature disappointment. Alurista has never been exclusively a political poet, and he continues to personalize his concept of a Chicano political movement in poems such as "southwest trek in four-part harmony," in which he writes, "it wasn't hard to find my spot / a small clearing surrounded by piñon trees glowed with / my colors ... when in / search for epiphany in aztlan, / make sure u leave some stones / unturned." This poem, concerning itself with the U.S. government's radioactive legacy in the Zuni region, also issues a weary admission of the poet's limitations in changing the system. Nonetheless, the zest of aligning oneself against power informs the next poem, "lastango news," a prophetic wolf in the sheep's clothing of a press briefing from the secretary of Agriculture. Alurista commands a high sense of comedy and drama, the energies of which infuse his political instincts with a razor's sharpness. One wants, at first, to read Alurista like a Chicano e.e. cummings (in fact the poet's book jackets urge this direction). In the end, however, his rhetoric pulls at one's conscience and sense of outrage in a classical way, building from a minor, humorous observation to a cresting wave of condemnation in much the same way as a Jonathan Swift satire. The wit of these poems might at first be overlooked, or one might find the wit and overlook the real political content: either way, Et Tu... Raza? provides a jolting experience at the hands of a skilled artist and activist. --Edward Skoog

Language Notes:

Text: English, Spanish

About this edition

• Publisher: Bilingual Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0927534487
• ISBN 13: 9780927534482
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 72