Under the Feet of Jesus

Helena María Viramontes

b. East Los Angeles, California, 1954.

MA Graciela Obert - MA Miriam Germani

Helena María ViramontesPUBLICATIONS

NovelsUnder the Feet of Jesus. New York, Dutton, 1995.Their Dogs Came with Them. New York, Dutton, 2000.

Short StoriesThe Moths and Other Stories. Houston, Texas, Arte Publico Press, 1985.Paris Rats in E.L.A. N.p. 1993.

Helena María ViramontesOther

Chicana Creativity and Criticism: Charting New Frontiers in American Literature, 1988.Chicana Writers: On Word and Film, 1995.(both Co-authored with Maria Herra Sobek)

Contributor:- Short Stories by Latinas, 1983.- Woman of Her Word, 1984.- Breaking Boundaries: Latina Writings and Critical Readings, 1989.- New Chicana/Chicano Writing, 1992.

Under the Feet of Jesus… describes the harsh reality of the daily

existence of a Chicano family of farmworkers in

California, and their relationship with other

migrant families.

Central characters: Mexican-American migrant

farm workers:Petra and her five childrenPerfecto Flores

EstrellaAlejo

Under the Feet of Jesus … written in English, interspersed with Spanish words, phrases and sentences.

Purpose: to analyze uses of code

switching, and other forms of

language alternation in the prose of

the novel and the speech of migrant

workers, to show the intercultural

dynamics of the Chicano communities

living in border areas.

Under the Feet of Jesus

code-switching

“the juxtaposition within the same speech exchange of passages of speech belonging to two different grammatical systems or subsystems” (Gumperz 1982, p. 59.)

Under the Feet of JesusCode-switching: “... is a more widely used device for conveying the sense of cultural distinctiveness. It acts to signify the difference between cultures and illustrates the importance of discourse in interpreting cultural concepts.” (Ashcroft, Griffiths & Tiffin, 1989: 63)

Code-switching (López Morales , 1985:173): * tag-switching or one-word switch* intersentential switching - outside the sentence or the clause level* intra-sentential switching - within a sentence or a clause

Code-switching: tag-switching 1. “-She wants to know if he’s related to us. -I think we should say Yes. -Claro, replied the mother. Tell her he’s

my nephew.” (Viramontes, 1995:138) (‘Claro’ is syntactically disconnected)2. “-Just a few more trees before the dark

hits, okay ‘mano?” (opus cit.:1)(‘mano’ is a vocative)Novel: 11 tag-switches, most are vocatives:

“’mano”, “mi’ja”, “mi’jo”, “Amá”.

Code-switching: intersentential switching “The twins began kicking each other over

space and the fighting upset the mother more. Te voy a dar un nalgazo con la correa.”

“-How you feeling today, mama? -Ya no hay ajo. And this was all she needed

to say.” (opus cit.:61)(sentences in Spanish in the text in English)

Novel: about 70 cases, mostly (around 50) are part

of exchanges between characters.

Code-switching: intra-sentential switching

1. “Tell them que tienes una madre aquí.” (opus cit.:63)

2. “Ya cállate, before you spook the kids.” (opus cit.:61)

(both languages share the same sentence; the

syntax of both is obeyed)

Novel: 114 cases- the most numerous.

Intra-sentential switching: prose “Estrella danced like a loca around the room”

(opus cit.:19)“As she stood on the porch, the gray morning ...

reminded her of papel picado.” (opus cit.:118)

“The trabajadores like Señora Josefina who might be thinking about what to make for dinner” (opus cit.:54) Users code-switch when they are each fluent in both languages in a manner consistent with the syntax and phonology of each one.

Types of switching combined1. “Keep your manitas outta my eyeballs,

gordita” (opus cit.:104)(‘little hands’ = ‘manitas’; vocative

‘gordita’)

2. “PRONTO! Or you’ll get a chanclaso!” (opus cit.:106)

(Petra orders the children to cross the road. Pronto! one-word sentence; intra-sentential switching (chanclaso)

Mixed language = linguistic fusion* “Watcha las niñas” (Spanish prep. a added to

Eng. verb watch)* “Púshale” ( S pronoun le follows E verb push,

word is stressed following stressing rules of Sp language)

* “¡Qué racketa!” (exclamative sentence for “¡Qué estafa!” E word racket followed by vocal a makes word sound Spanish)A mixed language is a language that arises through the fusion of two source languages, normally in situations of thorough bilingualism. (Wikipedia)Novel: 3 examples.

1. “–Get back this minute, huercos fregados, who do you think you are, corriendo sin zapatos? ¡Te van a comer los niños de la tierra! Without so much as putting on your shoes, huerquitos fregados!” (Viramontes 1995:9)

2. “... he came from a long line of intelligent people, not like his cabeza de burro father, God rest his stupid soul;” (opus cit.:54)

3. “-¿Qué dices? What?” (opus cit.:61)

Phrases or full sentences in Spanish, somehow translated into English.

Theoretical considerationsThe technique of leaving “untranslated words is asignifier of the fact that the language which actually informs the novel is an/Other language” (Ashcroft etal 1989:64)“Untranslated words not only register a sense of cultural distinctiveness but force the reader into

an active engagement with the horizons of the culture in which these terms have meaning. What is significant about the use of untranslated words is that they constitute a specific sign of a post-colonial discourse”

(opus cit.:64).

Theoretical considerations

* “... then return to the pisca again...” (Viramontes, 1995:50)

“ The piscadores heard the bells of the railroad ...” (opus cit.:54)

pisca / piscadores: reinforce idea that most farm workers in California are of Mexican descent.

Theoretical considerationsTherefore, untranslated terms refer to …* Typical Mexican food: burritos, tortilla* Plants: ajos, jalapeños, nopales* Kitchen utensils: comal, molcajete* Feelings: Petra, to reprimand or warn her

children:* “-Don’t go near ese perro loco! Petra

yelled.” (Viramontes, 1995:107)

Petra, in songs while doing the housework:

* “Te vengo a decir adiós, No quiero verte llorando. Petra whispered the lyrics ... Estoy viendo tus ojitos que de agua se están llenando.” (opus cit.:40)

Perfecto Flores, when he is angry: * “Think. Think. Think, Perfecto, you

cabeza de burro chingado.” (opus cit.:163)

* Religion:• Petra: devout follower of the Virgin of

Guadalupe and of Jesus Christ.

* “–Gracias a Diós, she answered, and Perfecto cranked the parking brake.” (opus cit.:6)

* “Three crates in the corner would be a good place to set up Petra’s altar with Jesucristo, La Virgen María y José.” (opus cit.:8)

* Customs and traditions:1. “ Petra … flipped the dough, sprinkled flour, turned to remove the tortilla already baking on the comal, returned to roll from east to west until the tortilla was …, then place it on the comal, get more dough, sprinkled flour, turned to remove the baked tortilla from the comal and stack it on top of the others. Spoon the potatoes in the flour tortilla so nothing would spill. Fold the bottom of the tortilla, then the top, then the sides so that the burrito was a perfect envelope, then rewrap the burritos in foil for the lunches.” (opus cit.:119-120)

2. “Today was Alejo’s turn to bring the lunch. He had packed burritos made of fried potato and French’s mustard wrapped in flour tortillas, with fresh jalapeños crunchy like apples, ...” (opus cit.:51)

3. “Petra went back to cleaning nopales.” (opus cit.:124)

* Mexican names of songs and bands:1. “One of them whistled a long, mournful ballad

while another tried remembering the lyrics of Dos pasajes or Me voy pa’l norte.” (opus cit.:68)

2. “Someone turned the portable volume to ten and Los Panchos sang out a sweet bolero loudly.” (opus cit.:85)

3. “A woman had called in and requested the D.J. play Las Mañanitas for her husband.” (opus cit.:83)

* Superstitions and healing (in relation with Petra):

1. “–He’s sick, Petra. Sicker than any yerba, ...could cure.” (opus cit.:96)

2. She would pray tonight, burn incense made of mustard seeds and corn and cachana.” (opus cit.:124)

3. “Is that what you want, the mother yelled, a child born sin labios? Without a mouth?” (opus cit.:69)

* Chicanos talking with other Chicanos: the context influences the choice of the language (Bruce-Novoa, 1980:29) Example:

1. -“¿Y tu primo? asked one of the piscadores.–Taking a leak, replied Gumecindo.-¿Cómo? He seemed not to understand.- A poco no sabes ai take a leak?-Qué es eso, take un leak?- ¿En serio? Gumecindo mused.-Regaron las plantas, replied a man ...-¿De dónde eres?-Del Valle del Río Grande.-¿Es un estado en México?-Texas ya es parte de los Estados Unidos.

2. -Sí lo sé, said another. Muy bonito. Muchas chicharras.-¡Como música de maracas!” (opus cit.:64)

Under the Feet of JesusEl Correo de la Unesco (1998:32): “94 % of Mexican Americans born in the US speak English correctly.” But, “only 51 % of those born abroad speak English well.”

Petra and P. Flores (English daily with one another, difficulty when talking to a native )Estrella and Alejo (English between themselves and with Americans; Spanish with adult Chicanos.

Under the Feet of Jesuscode-switching and untranslated words: “common ways of installing cultural distinctiveness in the writing” (Ashcroft et al. 1989:72)

Viramontes includes words, phrases or sentences in Spanish to reaffirm the presence of the Mexican culture in a hostile environment, and “as ways of installing cultural distinctiveness in the writing” (72)

Only one and a half percent (about 600) of the more than 39,000 words are Spanish words.

ConclusionsIn border spaces a cultural fusion is produced, which is overtly manifested in the everyday language of the Chicanos, in the form of a bilingual style. English and Spanish: a unique hybrid in the discourse of the Chicanos. English: language of ethnic dominant group Spanish: language of the Third World, of the poor (Arteaga 1997:69-71)

ConclusionsThe Spanish language -used in relation to certain aspects of the Mexican culture-, serves to keep the Chicano culture alive in an environment marked by continued discrimination.Spanish: everyday dialogues, names and surnames, names of places and food, songs, prayers, etc.

Conclusions“In the post-colonial text the absence of

translation has a particular kind of interpretative

function. Cultural difference ... is inserted by such

strategies. The post-colonial text, by developing

specific ways of constituting cultural difference

and bridging it, indicates that it is the ‘gap’ rather

than the experience which is created by language.

The absence of explanation is, therefore, first a

sign of distinctiveness ...” (Ashcroft et al., 65)

Works CitedARTEAGA, Alfred. Chicano Poetics. Heterotexts and

Hybridities. USA:Cambridge University Press, 1997. ASHCROFT Bill, GRIFFITHS Gareth & TIFFIN

Helen. The Empire Writes Back. Theory and Practice in Post-colonial Literatures. London & New York: Routledge, 1989.

 EL CORREO DE LA UNESCO, Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura. París: Francia, Noviembre 1998.

GUMPERZ J.J., Disourse Strategies, C.U.P., Cambridge, 1982.

 LOPEZ MORALES, Humberto. Sociolingüística. Madrid: Editorial Gredos S.A., 1985.