Luis Leal (writer)
Encyclopedia
Luis Leal was a Mexican-American writer and literary critic.
, Leal lived in the United States beginning in 1927, studying at Northwestern University
. There, in 1936, he met his future wife Gladys Clemens, with whom he would have two sons, Antonio and Luis Alfonso. In 1939 he was naturalized as an American citizen. After serving in the Philippines
during the Second World War, he resumed his literary studies at the University of Chicago
, where in 1950 he acquired a doctorate in Spanish and Italian literature.
Leal was a pioneer in the field of Latin-American and Chicano literature
. He taught briefly at the University of Mississippi
, but uncomfortable with racial segregation
transferred to Emory University
and later to the University of Illinois before finally accepting a post at the University of California, Santa Barbara
in 1976. There he directed the Center for Chicano Studies from 1994 to 1996. He lectured as a guest professor at various universities and continued his academic career until well into his nineties. He published articles in Cuadernos Americanos and Historia Mexicana, and edited Ventana Abierta: Revista Latina de Literatura, Arte y Cultura. He was especially interested in Mexican storytelling, particularly the work of Mariano Azuela
and Juan Rulfo
, contributing substantially to the Encyclopedia of Latino Folklore. He authored some 45 books and more than four hundred articles. Among his students were the hispanists Merlin Foster, Sara Poot-Herrera, Francisco Lomelí, and María Herrera-Sobek.
Leal was one of the first professors to incorporate the writers of the Latin American Boom
(i.e. Gabriel García Márquez
, Carlos Fuentes
, and Julio Cortázar
) into his curriculum. He also introduced American scholarship to the works of Amado Nervo
, Mariano Azuela
, Rafael Muñoz, and Martín Luis Guzmán
. With respect to Chicano literature, he promoted the study of Tomás Rivera
, Rolando Hinojosa
, Sandra Cisneros
, Alurista
, and Rudolfo Anaya
.
A member of the Modern Language Association of America, Leal received the National Humanities Medal and was honored by the National Association for Chicano Studies in 1988. In 1991 he received the Order of the Aztec Eagle
.
Biography
Born into a family that had participated in the Mexican RevolutionMexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
, Leal lived in the United States beginning in 1927, studying at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. There, in 1936, he met his future wife Gladys Clemens, with whom he would have two sons, Antonio and Luis Alfonso. In 1939 he was naturalized as an American citizen. After serving in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
during the Second World War, he resumed his literary studies at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, where in 1950 he acquired a doctorate in Spanish and Italian literature.
Leal was a pioneer in the field of Latin-American and Chicano literature
Chicano literature
Chicano literature is the literature written by Mexican Americans in the United States. Although its origins can be traced back to the sixteenth century, the bulk of Chicano literature dates from after 1848, when the USA annexed large parts of what had been Mexico in the wake of the...
. He taught briefly at the University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
, but uncomfortable with racial segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
transferred to Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
and later to the University of Illinois before finally accepting a post at the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
in 1976. There he directed the Center for Chicano Studies from 1994 to 1996. He lectured as a guest professor at various universities and continued his academic career until well into his nineties. He published articles in Cuadernos Americanos and Historia Mexicana, and edited Ventana Abierta: Revista Latina de Literatura, Arte y Cultura. He was especially interested in Mexican storytelling, particularly the work of Mariano Azuela
Mariano Azuela
Mariano Azuela González was a Mexican author and physician, best known for his fictional stories of the Mexican Revolution of 1910...
and Juan Rulfo
Juan Rulfo
Juan Rulfo was a Mexican author and photographer. One of Latin America's most esteemed authors, Rulfo's reputation rests on two slim books, the novel Pedro Páramo , and El Llano en llamas...
, contributing substantially to the Encyclopedia of Latino Folklore. He authored some 45 books and more than four hundred articles. Among his students were the hispanists Merlin Foster, Sara Poot-Herrera, Francisco Lomelí, and María Herrera-Sobek.
Leal was one of the first professors to incorporate the writers of the Latin American Boom
Latin American Boom
The Latin American Boom was a literary movement of the 1960s and 1970s when the work of a group of relatively young Latin American novelists became widely circulated in Europe and throughout the world...
(i.e. Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
, Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes Macías is a Mexican writer and one of the best-known living novelists and essayists in the Spanish-speaking world. He has influenced contemporary Latin American literature, and his works have been widely translated into English and other languages.-Biography:Fuentes was born in...
, and Julio Cortázar
Julio Cortázar
Julio Cortázar, born Jules Florencio Cortázar, was an Argentine writer. Cortázar, known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, influenced an entire generation of Spanish speaking readers and writers in the Americas and Europe.-Early life:Cortázar's parents, Julio José Cortázar and...
) into his curriculum. He also introduced American scholarship to the works of Amado Nervo
Amado Nervo
Amado Nervo also known as Juan Crisóstomo Ruiz de Nervo was the Mexican Ambassador to Argentina and Uruguay, journalist, poet, and educator. His poetry was known for its use of metaphor and reference to mysticism, presenting both love and religion, as well as Christianity and Hinduism...
, Mariano Azuela
Mariano Azuela
Mariano Azuela González was a Mexican author and physician, best known for his fictional stories of the Mexican Revolution of 1910...
, Rafael Muñoz, and Martín Luis Guzmán
Martín Luis Guzmán
Martín Luis Guzmán Franco was a Mexican novelist and journalist.-Life:Guzmán was born in Chihuahua, Chihuahua. Along with Mariano Azuela, he is considered a pioneer of the revolutionary novel, a genre inspired by the experiences of the Mexican Revolution of 1910...
. With respect to Chicano literature, he promoted the study of Tomás Rivera
Tomás Rivera
Tomás Rivera was a Chicano author, poet, and educator. He was born in Texas to migrant farm workers, and worked in the fields as a young boy...
, Rolando Hinojosa
Rolando Hinojosa
Rolando Hinojosa is a novelist, essayist, poet and the Ellen Clayton Garwood professor in the English Department at the University of Texas at Austin.-Life and career:...
, Sandra Cisneros
Sandra Cisneros
Sandra Cisneros is an American writer best known for her acclaimed first novel The House on Mango Street and her subsequent short story collection Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories...
, Alurista
Alurista
Alurista is the nom de plume of Alberto Baltazar Urista Heredia , a Chicano poet and activist.-Youth and education:...
, and Rudolfo Anaya
Rudolfo Anaya
Rudolfo Anaya is an Mexican-American author. Best known for his 1972 novel Bless Me, Ultima, Anaya is considered one of the founders of the canon of contemporary Chicano literature.- Biography :...
.
A member of the Modern Language Association of America, Leal received the National Humanities Medal and was honored by the National Association for Chicano Studies in 1988. In 1991 he received the Order of the Aztec Eagle
Order of the Aztec Eagle
The Order of the Aztec Eagle is a Mexican order and is the highest decoration awarded to foreigners in the country.It was created by decree on December 29, 1933 by President Abelardo L. Rodríguez as a reward to services given to Mexico or humankind by foreigners...
.
Works
- With Carlos Castillo, Anthology of Mexican Literature, 1944.
- Editor of Cuentecitos: Retold and Adapted from the Spanish of Vicente Riva Palacio, 1944.
- El Periquillo Sarmiento, 1946.
- México: civilizaciones y culturas, 1955, rev. 1971.
- Breve historia del cuento mexicano, 1957, 1990.
- Edición de Antología del cuento mexicano, 1957.
- Bibliografía del cuento mexicano, 1958.
- Mariano Azuela, vida y obra, 1961.
- Panorama de la literature mexicana actual, 1968.
- Breve historia de la literature hispanoamericana, 1971.
- Mariano Azuela, 1971.
- Corridos y canciones de Aztlán, 1980, 1986.
- Juan Rulfo, 1983.
- Aztlán y México: Perfiles literarios e históricos, 1985.
- No Longer Voiceless, 1995.
- With Victor Fuentes: Don Luis Leal: Una vida y dos culturas. Conversaciones con Victor Fuentes, 1998.
- With Mario T. García: Luis Leal: An Auto/Biography, 2000.