Norton Anthology Of Latino Literature (NALL)

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Gruesz reviews the new Norton Anthology of Latino Literature (NALL). She notes that as Kenneth Warren's argument and the recent history of African American tradition building it refers to can help people appreciate the Latino literature. She states that Norton is “hobbled by the lack of any prior powerful literary-historical narrative with which to contend”(Gruesz). She argues, however, that the NALL “would raise a skeptical eyebrow at the repeated characterizations of NALL as a “treasure” and a “celebration” of the ethnoracial groups whose genius they index”(Gruesz). She argues that the Latino literature is viewed as an instrumental tool into the management into culture, shows a sign of times, and is is accommodating. Gruesz argues that the …show more content…

I both agree and disagree with this argument. I agree with this because the idea of giving perspective to make social change has been something that has been proven over time. On the contrary, historical context is something that has been imperative in helping people understand different cultures.I think this important because the texts illustrate the unusual demands of categorizing the past into discrete ethnic …show more content…

Gruesz writes “these translations represent a necessary accommodation to the English- language American literature classroom, to which the NALL is clearly being marketed: the first paragraph of the preface characterizes Latino literature as an “insufficiently studied, and perhaps underappreciated, component of the nation’s literature” (Gruesz). This is arguing that translating takes away from the text’s meaning. She also writes “the Spanish language itself often disappears in translation (one- quarter of the material was originally written in Spanish) or gets relegated to the extensive footnotes.”(Gruesz) I agree with this observation that making accommodations within the text takes away from the meaning of the text. This is important in noting in the development of Latino literature because in order to truly make social change, it is important to not neglect Latin American