TO
LIVE IN THE BORDERLANDS
To
live in the borderlands means you
are
neither hispana india negra espanola
ni
gabacha, eres mestiza, mulata, half-breed
caught
in the crossfire between camps
while
carrying all five races on your back
not
knowing which side to turn to, run from;
To
live in the Borderlands means knowing
that
the india in you, betrayed for 500 years,
is
no longer speaking to you,
the
mexicanas call you rajetas, that denying the Anglo
inside you
is
as bad as having denied the Indian or Black;
Cuando
vives en la frontera
people
walk through you, the wind steals your voice,
you’re
a burra, buey, scapegoat,
forerunner
of a new race,
half
and half-both woman and man, neither-a new gender;
To
live in the Borderlands means to
put
chile in the borscht,
eat
whole wheat tortillas,
speak
Tex-Mex with a Brooklyn accent;
be
stopped by la migra at the border checkpoints;
Living
in the Borderlands means you fight hard to
resist
the gold elixir beckoning from the bottle,
the
pull of the gun barrel,
the
rope crushing the hollow of your throat;
In
the Borderlands
you
are the battleground
where
enemies are kin to each other;
you
are at home, a stranger,
the
border disputes have been settled
the
volley of shots have scattered the truce
you
are wounded, lost in action
dead,
fighting back;
To
live in the Borderlands means
the
mill with the razor white teeth wants to shred off
your
olive-red skin, crush out the kernel, your heart
pound
you pinch you roll you out
smelling
like white bread but dead;
To
survive the Borderlands
you
must live sin fronteras
be
a crossroads.
VIVIR EN LA FRONTERA
Vivir
en la Frontera significa que tú
no
eres ni hispana india negra española
ni
gabacha, eres mestiza, mulata, híbrida
atrapada
en el fuego cruzado entre los bandos
mientras
llevas las cinco razas sobre tu espalda
sin
saber para qué lado volverte, de cuál correr;
Vivir
en la Frontera significa saber
que
la india en ti, traicionada por 500 años,
ya
no te está hablando,
que
las mexicanas te llaman rajetas,
que
negar a la Anglo dentro tuyo
es
tan malo como haber negado a la India o a la Negra;
Cuando
vives en la frontera
la
gente camina a través tuyo, el viento roba tu voz,
eres
una burra, buey, un chivo expiatorio,
anunciadora
de una nueva raza,
mitad
y mitad –tanto mujer como hombre, ninguno–
un
nuevo género;
Vivir
en la Frontera significa
poner
chile en el borscht,
comer
tortillas de maíz integral,
hablar
Tex-Mex con acento de Brooklyn ;
ser
detenida por la migra en los puntos de control fronterizos;
Vivir
en la Frontera significa que luchas duramente para
resistir
el elixir de oro que te llama desde la botella,
el
tirón del cañón de la pistola,
la
soga aplastando el hueco de tu garganta;
En
la Frontera
tú
eres el campo de batalla
donde
los enemigos están emparentados entre sí;
tú
estás en casa, una extraña,
las
disputas de límites han sido dirimidas
el
estampido de los disparos ha hecho trizas la tregua
estás
herida, perdida en acción
muerta,
resistiendo;
Vivir
en la Frontera significa
el
molino con los blancos dientes de navaja quiere arrancar en tiras
tu
piel rojo-oliva, exprimir la pulpa, tu corazón
pulverizarte
apretarte alisarte
oliendo
como pan blanco pero muerta;
Para
sobrevivir en la Frontera
debes
vivir sin fronteras
ser
un cruce de caminos.
Traducción: María Luisa Peralta
Gloria
Anzaldúa (Valle del Río
Grande, Texas; 1942 - Santa Cruz, California; 2004). She was a
scholar of Chicana cultural theory, feminist theory, and queer
theory, writer, poet and activist. Her work is fundamentally
concerned with articulating what she calls a "new mestiza
consciousness," an identity characterized by hybridity,
flexibility, and plurality and focused on the experiences of Chicanas
(Mexican American women) and particularly mestizas. Writing fiction,
poetry, memoirs, and literary and cultural criticism (sometimes all
within the same text), Anzaldúa has helped define and lend authority
to women of color as well as gays and lesbians, whom she identifies
as empowered by the inclusiveness and expansiveness of
mestizaidentity.
Anzaldúa
was born on a ranch in south Texas, near the border of Mexico. In her
youth, she and her family labored as migrant agricultural workers.
Although she felt stifled by the confines of a traditional Chicano
home life in which gender roles tended to be rigid and rather
limiting, Anzaldúa early found what she calls "an entry into a
different way of being" through reading. Defying everyone's
expectations, she went to college and earned a B.A. from Pan American
University, an M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, and did
graduate work at the University of California at Santa Cruz. She has
taught high-school English, been involved in education programs for
the children of migrant workers, and taught creative writing and
literature at a number of universities. A prolific writer, Anzaldúa
has published stories, poems, critical theory, children's books, and
a novel (La Prieta). Her work appears in both mainstream publications
and alternative presses and journals. Anzaldúa's complex identity as
a woman, a Chicana, a mestiza, and a lesbian is reflected in her
pioneering contributions to gender studies, Chicano studies, queer
theory, and creative writing. Her 1987 book, Borderlands/La Frontera:
The New Mestiza, stands as a manifesto of her ideas about culture and
identity construction.
