Castillo Book Titled Lover Interview With Ana Cas
Gabriela Marquez
Interview with Ana Castillo
In my opinion, Ana Castillo wants the audience to see or understand her background in a personal way. She wants them to get an understanding of how she came to write these novels and stories. Though she is from a minority group she is very successful and wants other Chicana women and Mexican American women to know that they are capable of the same thing regardless of their background. She talks about a few things she experienced growing up and how she did not plan her future to be what it is now, but she pursued what she felt good doing. She did tons of research on who the Chicana woman is and what does it mean to be apart of that group but there are so many different backgrounds and they have all been told that “your identity is a negative thing” (pg. 25), but one of her goals was to “reinstate self-esteem” (pg. 24) within this community.
When it comes to using the information as a cultural artifact, we can use mentions of actual artifacts or traditions such as the molcajete and metate in her book ‘Loverboys’. The mention of her father working on the railroads and migrating is helpful in understanding what it was like for her family in that time. These things create a relationship between the artifact and the culture to help the reader create their own inference about the life of the author. In an article by Yvonne French, speaking of Ana Castillo, she states “In her neighborhood, everything,…..was done in the Mexican style.” (French, 1995)
Jose Carrasco
Interview with Ana castillo
In my opinion I think Ana Castillo wants the audience to learn a more in-depth insight on her personal self, as well as the reasonings behind writing each of the three novels, short stories, and essays she’s written. She also wants the audience to gain a clear understanding of what it’s like as a Mexican American or in other words (Chicana) in America, and some of the struggles that come with it. While also empowering not only Chicanas but ALL Mexican Americans who are here in America not to give up on any dream they may have. That no matter how hard it may be to accomplish where there is a will there is a way.
To review the information as a cultural artifact I would refer to Castillo book titled Lover Boy. In the book she references tools such as molcajete (a stone mortar used to grind herbs), as well as a metate (a flat stone used to grind corn). As well as the “melting pot” which in her interview she says is a direct reference to the American dream, while also explaining how culturally diverse America is getting as well as how normalized it has become as the years pass.
Castillo’s interview is a prime representation to her own people of what its like as a Chicana/ Mexican American in America. More the less stating to Chicana/ Mexican Americans to have a very clear mind of who you are and where you want to go. No matter the obstacles you stay true to your origin/race and fake it until you make it. I mean personally Castillo being recognized as one of the most outspoken voices for colonized woman speaks volumes on how influential she was on the woman of Chicana decent and just Mexican Americans in general.