Faculty member Dr. Randy Conner explores ways that Mexicans and Mexican Americans/Chicana/os have interwoven Abrahamic, primarily Catholic, beliefs and practices with ancient, Indigenous ones, with this mixing or hybridity often referred to as “spiritual mestizaje.” Examples of this mixture include the reverence of the Virgin of Guadalupe alongside the ancient goddess Tonantzin and practice of the healing art of curanderismo. 20th- and 21st-century writers, painters, musicians, filmmakers, and other artists, together with historians and theorists, including Francisco Alarcón, Juana Alicia, Rudolfo Anaya, Gloria Anzaldúa, David Carrasco, Ana Castillo, Sandra Cisneros, Lila Downs, Jorge R. Gutiérrez, Ester Hernández, Frida Kahlo, Amalia Mesa-Bains, Cherríe Moraga, Laura E. Pérez, Chavela Vargas, and others have imbued their works with spiritual mestizaje. This even is part of the One Book program and the Celebrating Latino Americans program.
Transgressing Borders: Spiritual Mestizaje in Mexican and Chicana/o/Arts
The audio of this discussion is available below: