Autoethnography Between Pratt And Anzaldua

Autoethnography Between Pratt and Anzaldua Mary Louise Pratt introduced many terms including dominant discourse, the Other, ethnography and autoethnography. According to Pratt, autoethnographic text is that “in which people undertake to describe themselves in ways that engage with representations others have made of them.” (319) An ethnographic text is one that reflects other’s experience engaging with representations other have made of them. While Pratt introduced all of the terms to the readers, her text is an example of an ethnography because she is a white woman and, thus, an example of the dominant discourse. Gloria Anzaldua’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” is an example of autoethnography because she is Chicana and becomes the Other. The comparison between the two writers and their work is a similar comparison to one between the different sides of privilege.

“Chicano Spanish is a border tongue which developed naturally. Being Chicana, herself, and growing up in Texas, Anzaldua was forced to learn English. Because their heritage and the language is a mixture of many, Chicanos are susceptible to judgement by people of other ethnicities and other Chicanos. In order to fit in with the rest of the school population, chicano students were forced to take speech classes to rid them of their accents.(26) Without speaking Spanish, some people viewed them as less Chicano, like they were not being true to themselves. The dilemma Anzaldua was faced with was that she was being made the other by two competing groups. Chicanos and the dominant discourse were up against each other. Chicanos were not viewed as real citizens unless they spoke English and assimilated into society. In addition to this, other Chicanos were coming down on English-speaking Chicanos because they were deserting their native, Spanish