Miguel Méndez
Encyclopedia
Miguel Méndez is the pen name for Miguel Méndez Morales, a Mexican American
author best known for his novel
Peregrinos de Aztlán (Pilgrims in Aztlán).
on 15 June 1930. His father, Francisco Méndez Cárdenas, was from a town called Bacoachi
, in the state of Sonora, Mexico; his mother, María Morales Siqueiros, was from Arizpe
, Sonora. During the nineteen thirties, the United States government urged Mexicans and Mexican-Americans to leave the United States and go to Mexico, even if they were American citizens, largely due to the Great Depression
. As a result of this policy, Méndez' parents moved to El Claro, Sonora, where he grew up.
Méndez attended elementary school in el Claro and Arizpe, but left school after the fifth grade in order to work in his father's small corn and cotton plot. Even though El Claro was a small, isolated town, his parents had boxes full of books and newspapers, and it was during those early years that he developed his love of literature.
. He has asserted that one of the reasons that pushed him to move to the U.S. was the desperation he felt when, in 1939, two of his younger sisters died of pneumonia. This was due in part to the isolation of El Claro, which had no hospital or clinic.
Once in Tucson, regardless of his young age, Méndez found a job in construction. During those years, he continued to read, mostly at night. He used to buy books in a bookstore called "Librería Hermanos Pulido" that carried books and magazines in Spanish.
Throughout the years, Méndez had developed a relationship with teachers and professors at the University of Arizona and Pima Community College. In 1970, he was subjected to an examination by a group of university professors, and was awarded a teaching position in Pima Community College
. In 1974, he started teaching at the University of Arizona
, and was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters
degree in 1984. His most famous novel, Peregrinos de Azltán, was published in 1974. In 2000 he retired as a Full Professor
. Currently he is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Arizona
. A Festschrift
in his honor was published in 1995, Miguel Mendez in Aztlan: Two Decades of Literary Production.
Méndez has been described as “one of the principal voices of socially committed Chicano fiction” by the editors of Chicano Literature: A Reference Guide and as "one of [Chicano literature's] finest and most sensitive writers" in The Dictionary of Literary Biography’s Chicano Writers First Series. His papers are now archived at the California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives
at UC Santa Barbara.
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
author best known for his novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Peregrinos de Aztlán (Pilgrims in Aztlán).
Early life
Méndez was born in the border town of Bisbee, ArizonaBisbee, Arizona
Bisbee is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, 82 miles southeast of Tucson. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 6,177...
on 15 June 1930. His father, Francisco Méndez Cárdenas, was from a town called Bacoachi
Bacoachi
Bacoachi is a small town in Bacoachi Municipality in the north of the Mexican state of Sonora. The area of the municipality is 487 square miles and the population was 1,456 in 2005, with 924 inhabitants residing in the municipal seat...
, in the state of Sonora, Mexico; his mother, María Morales Siqueiros, was from Arizpe
Arizpe
Arizpe is a small town in Arizpe Municipality in the north of the Mexican state of Sonora. It is located at 30°20'"N 110°09'"W. The area of the municipality is 2,806.78 sq.km. The population in 2005 was 2,959 of which 1,743 lived in the municipal seat as of the 2000 census.-History and origin...
, Sonora. During the nineteen thirties, the United States government urged Mexicans and Mexican-Americans to leave the United States and go to Mexico, even if they were American citizens, largely due to the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. As a result of this policy, Méndez' parents moved to El Claro, Sonora, where he grew up.
Méndez attended elementary school in el Claro and Arizpe, but left school after the fifth grade in order to work in his father's small corn and cotton plot. Even though El Claro was a small, isolated town, his parents had boxes full of books and newspapers, and it was during those early years that he developed his love of literature.
Return to the U.S.
In 1944, Méndez moved to Tucson, ArizonaTucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
. He has asserted that one of the reasons that pushed him to move to the U.S. was the desperation he felt when, in 1939, two of his younger sisters died of pneumonia. This was due in part to the isolation of El Claro, which had no hospital or clinic.
Once in Tucson, regardless of his young age, Méndez found a job in construction. During those years, he continued to read, mostly at night. He used to buy books in a bookstore called "Librería Hermanos Pulido" that carried books and magazines in Spanish.
Life as a Writer and Professor
In the 1960s, Méndez was still working in construction, but had not stopped reading. By this time he had started to write more seriously. "Tata Casehua", his first short story, appeared in 1968.Throughout the years, Méndez had developed a relationship with teachers and professors at the University of Arizona and Pima Community College. In 1970, he was subjected to an examination by a group of university professors, and was awarded a teaching position in Pima Community College
Pima Community College
Pima Community College is an American two-year institution of higher education in Pima County, Arizona serving the Tucson metropolitan area. The community college district consists of six campuses, four education centers, and several adult education learning centers. It provides traditional and...
. In 1974, he started teaching at the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
, and was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters
Doctor of Humane Letters
The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters is always conferred as an honorary degree, usually to those who have distinguished themselves in areas other than science, government, literature or religion, which are awarded degrees of Doctor of Science, Doctor of Laws, Doctor of Letters, or Doctor of...
degree in 1984. His most famous novel, Peregrinos de Azltán, was published in 1974. In 2000 he retired as a Full Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
. Currently he is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
. A Festschrift
Festschrift
In academia, a Festschrift , is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during his or her lifetime. The term, borrowed from German, could be translated as celebration publication or celebratory writing...
in his honor was published in 1995, Miguel Mendez in Aztlan: Two Decades of Literary Production.
Méndez has been described as “one of the principal voices of socially committed Chicano fiction” by the editors of Chicano Literature: A Reference Guide and as "one of [Chicano literature's] finest and most sensitive writers" in The Dictionary of Literary Biography’s Chicano Writers First Series. His papers are now archived at the California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives
California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives
California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives is an archival institution that houses collections of primary source documents from the history of minority ethnic groups in California...
at UC Santa Barbara.
Published works
- "Tata Casehua" and "Taller de Imagenes" (short storiesShort StoriesShort Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...
), published in El Espejo/The Mirror (1969) - Los criaderos humanos: épica de los desamparados y Sahuaros (poems; 1975)
- Cuento para niños precoces (1980)
- The Dream of Santa Maria de las Piedras (1989)
- Pilgrims in Aztlán (1992)
- Entre Letras y Ladrillos (1996), trans. as From Labor to Letters : A Novel Autobiography (1997)
Further reading
- Alarcón, Justo S. "Lo esperpéntico en Peregrinos de Aztlán y Criaderos humanos, de Miguel Méndez," Relaciones Literarias entre España e Iberoamérica (1988), pp. 785–795. available online at Biblioteca Virtual Miguel D. Cervantes (accessed March 2008)
- ---. "Estructuras narrativas en Tata Casehua de Miguel Méndez," Confluencia Vol. 1, n.º 2 (1986) 48-54, available online at Biblioteca Virtual Miguel D. Cervantes (accessed March 2008)
- ---."La aventura del héroe como estructura mítica en Tata Casehua de Miguel Méndez," Explicación de textos literarios Vol. XV, n.º 2 (1987) 77-91. available online at Biblioteca Virtual Miguel D. Cervantes (accessed March 2008)
- Alurista. "Myth, Identity and Struggle in Three Chicano Novels: Aztlán ... AnayaRudolfo AnayaRudolfo 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 :...
, Méndez and AcostaOscar Zeta AcostaOscar Zeta Acosta was an American attorney, politician, minor novelist and Chicano Movement activist, perhaps best known for his friendship with the American author Hunter S. Thompson, who characterized him as his Samoan Attorney, Dr...
." Aztlán: Essays on the Chicano Homeland. Ed. Rudolfo A. Anaya, and Francisco A. Lomeli. Albuquerque: Academia/El Norte; 1989. pp. 219–229 - Bruce-Novoa, Juan D. "Righting the Oral Tradition." Denver Quarterly 16.3 (1981): 78-86.
- Cárdenas, Guadalupe. "El arquetipo de la madre terrible en Peregrinos de Aztlán de Miguel Méndez M." México, Alta Pimeria Pro Arte y Cultura, 1990. available online at Biblioteca Virtual Miguel D. Cervantes (accessed March 2008)
- Ekstrom, Margaret V. "Wanderers from an Aztec Land: Chicano Naming Devices Used by Miguel Méndez." Literary Onomastics Studies 12 (1985): 85-92.
- Somoza, Oscar U. "The Mexican Element in the Fiction of Miguel Méndez." Denver Quarterly 17.1 (1982): 68-77.
- Villalobos, José Pablo. "Border Real, Border Metaphor: Altering Boundaries in Miguel Méndez and Alejandro MoralesAlejandro MoralesAlejandro Morales is currently professor of at the University of California, Irvine, and has published seven novels and three novellas. Morales received the 2007 Luis Leal Award for Distinction in Chicano/Latino Literature...
." Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies 4 (2000): 131-40.