Sandra Cisneros, author of the social borders-crossing book The House on Mango Street visited Houston Wednesday as part of her national tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its publishing in 1984, by Arte Publico Press, a UH imprint. ‘
The book, written in a series of vignettes, describes life in a Chicago Chicano barrio through the eyes of a twelve-year old girl named Esperanza.’
The House on Mango Street, through simple stories written in both narrative style and, at times, in short poems, raises awareness of human rights issues for women, such as rape, domestic and sexual violence and gender double standards that cross gender, racial and age boundaries. It also introduced the patriarchal nature prevalent in Hispanic cultures.’
Juli’aacute;n Olivares, professor at of Hispanic Studies at UH, considers the book a pioneer in its genre.
‘It has a young girl as a narrator; it’s appealing to young readers as well as to older mature readers. It has levels of meanings for each age,’ Olivares said. ‘Her book was different’hellip; She was writing for women. It says it in the dedication of the book ‘A Las Mujeres.”’
The House on Mango Street also revealed aspects of Latino culture that changed long-standing negative images and misrepresentations of Chicanos and Latinos.
‘At this time, we have plenty of images of Latinos in mainstream culture, but things have changed drastically in the last twenty years. At one time, the representations of Latinos were scarce and those that did exist were negative stereotypes of lazy Mexicans, gangsters (and) drug dealers,’ Christina Sisk, assistant professor of Hispanic Studies at UH said. ‘The House on Mango Street provided an alternative point of view about the barrio. The negative images are still prevalent, but we have more representations from Latinos that can counter the stereotypes.”
The House on Mango Street also explores identity conflicts.’ Esperanza as a Chicana is caught between two cultures:’ Mexican and American. In the book this conflict is highlighted when Esperanza expresses her desire to change her name because she does not like the way people at her school pronounce it. ‘
Ironically, Esperanza translated to English means ‘hope’ and, although the book contains stories of characters traversing difficulties and prejudices, it also focuses on Esperanza’s transformation from feeling frustrated with living in the barrio in a house she hates, to accepting who she is and where she comes from.’
‘This (book) is (set in) an urban setting in Chicago and they move from one barrio to another and finally the parents buy a house and (Esperanza) doesn’t like the house.’
She wants to get another house and she finds out that the house that she really wants is really a piece of paper on which she writes her stories. So, the book ends where it begins,’ Olivares said.
At the end of the book, Esperanza understands there is hope for her through her writing and that once she attains her goal of succeeding outside Mango Street, she will be a source of hope for others.
With The House on Mango Street, Cisneros too found her voice and became the voice for the powerless, a writer with a social message who has inspired other writers to join her cause through the Macondo Foundation. Established in 1998, the Macondo Foundation is an organization of writers that work for social change.
Cisneros came to Houston Wednesday to read and sign the new paperback edition of The House on Mango Street at Rice University as part of a tour celebrating the anniversary of the book’s publication. The edition contains a new introduction where Cisneros explains how she wrote the book. ‘
The House on Mango Street won the Before Columbus Foundation’s American Book Award in 1985.’ The book is required reading in schools and universities across the United States and has been translated in various languages worldwide.
Other books by Cisneros include Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories, Loose Woman Poems, and My Wicked, Wicked Ways.’
