Among Mexico's most original traditions is the holiday dedicated to honoring the dead, Dia de los Muertos, November 2. This tradition combines aspects that define the national spirit. At the same time that it is a solemn festivity to remember the dead, it becomes a fiesta in its own right. Death, more than a thing to be feared, becomes the motif…

The ascendance of Menudo, the Puerto Rican rock group, was the most significant cultural event in the Hispanic community in the last eight years. As a phenomenon of popular culture, Menudo is worthy of study because of its main audience (Hispanic) and because it illustrates the dialectical interplay of gender, class, Hispanic ethnicity, and…

Six Chicano anthologies, five novels, and one poem written between 1959 and 1979, selected for their usefulness as texts for a Chicano literature course, were investigated for occurrence of folk beliefs and legends. The 1959 novel "Pocho" contained one reference to a belief. In the 1967 poem "I Am Joaquin" were references which…

Describes the nature of the godparent relationship, which is prominent in Hispanic family culture. Cites results of a study of Hispanic godparents, and urges more effort by the child welfare system to explore the availability of godparents as placement resources. (SKC)

Draws from hearings and testimony regarding Hispanic experiences with the Catholic Church and Catholic schooling. Highlights Hispanics' feeling of non-acceptance by the church; interest in Catholic schooling; support of biliteracy and bilingual education; and concerns regarding cultural and religious maintenance, family, the law, leadership…

Describes the underutilization of drug rehabilitation programs among Puerto Rican addicts because of the failure of the programs to consider Hispanic cultural differences. Six cultural values specific to Hispanics are evaluated for their psychological implications and suggestions are made for clinicians working with Hispanic drug addicts.…

Discussing the literary and artistic expression of Hispanics in the U.S., this article focuses on such thematic and idealogical manifestations as the Hispanic historical experience, the sentimental journey "back home" into the community, the depiction of conflicts, the destruction of stereotypes, and the reflection of the artists' cultures and…

Compared to mental health professionals, curanderos were more reluctant to label psychiatric or folk-medical disorders in hypothetical case histories as "mental illness." They perceived people as less seriously ill and less dangerous to others or to themselves. Curanderos perceived the disorders, their causes, and appropriate treatments…

Presents survey data on the unique needs of the Spanish-speaking community for bilingual services and culturally reinforcing materials. The survey provides hard data on the level of awareness of library service by a sizable Mexican American population in southern California. (RAA)

The dropout problem among Hispanics may be less severe than it appears, since many Hispanics have arrived here very recently. Given time, funding, and a willingness to join the mainstream, Hispanics should progress as have other groups. (DM)

This anthology of contemporary fiction and poetry by Hispanic American women writers contains material ranging from national award winners to emerging talents. Noting that until recently 20th-century academic literary criticism described ethnic American literature as parochial and politically driven, the anthology's introduction discusses how the…

This booklet integrates 9 stories from the multicultural southwestern United States, 90 photographs of a storyteller telling the stories, and running sidebars where the storyteller gives hints and secrets to parents, educators, and would-be storytellers. The photographs in the booklet capture the storyteller in the remarkable poses that make him…

New Mexican tinwork is a folk art tradition that developed out of Mexican and European silver work. Due to a lack of silver in New Mexico, tin became the material of choice. Rooted in European Hispanic traditions, this contemporary craft is yet another example of the resourceful ingenuity and adaptation that characterizes many New Mexican folk…

This booklet accompanied a 1991 exhibition of migrant arts, mounted by CAMPS (Creative Artists Migrant Program Services) and an ongoing program of collection and documentation research on migrant folk arts at the BOCES Geneseo Migrant Center. There are four passages in migrant lives: through historical time, through space, through the seasons of…

The field of Mexican American studies has come of age only in the past 15 years. This bibliography represents a core library collection of works in Mexican American studies and the Mexican American experience. Works significantly influencing Chicano scholarship are also included. The bibliography is weighted to reflect the historical period from…