The Hispanic Condition: The Power of a People – A Pioneering Meditation on Hispanic Civilization and Cultural Heritage in America

by Ilan Stavans

In The Hispanic Condition, Ilan Stavans offers a subtle and insightful meditation on Hispanic society in the United States. A native of Mexico, Stavans has emerged as one of the most distinguished Latin American writers of our time, an award-winning novelist and critic praised by scholars and beloved by readers. In this pioneering psycho-historical profile, he delves into the cultural differences and similarities among the five major Hispanic Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Central and South Americans, and Spaniards. Masterfully interweaving historical, literary, and political references with his personal experience, Stavans discusses the divisions within a common heritage; customs of music, love, sex, marriage, and religious belief; the role of the intellectual in society; ideological struggle; and the hopeful visions of the future at the core of a civilization rooted in the trauma of the past.

Genres: Nonfiction, Latin American, Anthropology

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1995

About the author

Ilan Stavans is the Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College. An award-winning writer and public television host, his books include Growing Up Latino and Spanglish. A native of Mexico City, he lives in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Evelyn Barhite · Rating 3 out of 5]

The narrative was written more as a stream of consciousness than a clearly organized discussion and was hard to make sense of the forest in the trees at times. The information was engaging and new to me though. Learning about the different cultures and histories under the Latinx umbrella was interesting.

[Kynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book to everyone interested in learning a beginning with little and great details about the Hispanic/Chicano/Latino experience.

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Literature professor and critic, Ilan Stavans writes what should be the textbook on 'Hispanics' for those often dreadful multiculturalism classes. This wonderfully well researched book by Stavans is an encyclopedic fountain of information on the different forces, both national and transnational, that shape the identity of immigrants or descendants of immigrants from Spanish speaking countries. Beware that Stavans does marshall some controversial facts (Ex. that the term Latino was originally a political South American/French term) and controversial opinions (Ex. that the aggregation of different nationalities under this US. label is justified by the transnational forces that those groups have in common) that will rub against the ideologies of older labels like: Mexicans, Latins, Latinos, Chicanos, Pochos, etc.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prof. Babilón has chosen good books for the honor student Span 5s class.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

INteresting