Onda Latina

The KUT Longhorn Radio Network Presents: Mexican American Experience Collection

Audio recordings including interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns in the series "The Mexican American Experience" and "A esta hora conversamos" from the Longhorn Radio Network, 1976-1982.

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PROGRAM INFO

Title:
Pocho: The Novel, The Author, And Their Times
Program #
1981-07
Theme:
Culture

Series:
Biography, Literature
Host:
Linda Fregoso
Guest:
José Antonio Villarreal
Date:
Jan 1, 1981

Pocho: the novel, the author, and their times

Jose Antonio Villarreal discusses his novel, Pocho, and the ways in which his own life and politics influenced his writing. Villarreal first discusses his experiences growing up in the pre-World War II era in California. He traces some of the similarities between his own life and that of his character, Richard Rubio, but he stresses that his novel is not a biography. Villarreal says he wrote Pocho because he wanted to introduce the rest of the U.S. to a group of Americans they knew nothing about.

Villarreal then discusses the critique many Chicanos have leveled against his book for being apolitical. He explains that he didn’t want to get involved in politics; he was interested solely in being a writer. Villarreal does acknowledge that the Chicano Movement has created a larger audience for his work and recognizes that the novel falls within its purview, but he emphasizes that he is not involved in the movement. He also discusses some of the benefits that the Chicano movement has won and some of its setbacks. While he praises their positive impact on education, he opposes ideas of cultural nationalism.

Villarreal then talks about his decision to move to Mexico City and become a Mexican citizen. He also discusses the current economic situation in Mexico and the growing middle class. Despite his decision to move, Villarreal explains that he loves the United States and has fond memories of growing up in the ethnically diverse Bay Area. He then briefly discusses his current projects.

KEYWORDS

Aesthetics
American Novel
Bay Area
Beatnik
California
Chicano Movement
Chicano Novels
Chicano Studies
Chicanos in Higher Education
Clemente Chacon
Doubleday Publishing
Education
El Sol
Ethnic Studies
Exile
James Joyce
Jose Antonio Villarreal
Literature
Los de Abajo
Mariano Azuela
Mexican Revolution
Mexico
Mexico City
Middle Class
Migrant Life
Money
Novels
Pancho Villa
Patriarchy
Patriarchy
Pocho
Popular culture
Ramon Ruiz
Richard Rubio
Santa Clara
Socially Conscious Art
The 50s
The Fifth Horseman
UC-Berkeley
UC-Santa Clara
Universidad Autonoma de Mexico
UT-El Paso
Women
World War II
Zacatecas
 

Center for Mexican American Studies | Department of History | The Benson Latin American Collection

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