Product Description

Showcasing over sixty short stories, poems, speeches, and articles, Aztln and Viet Nam is the first anthology of Mexican American writings about the U.S. war in Southeast Asia. The words are startlingly frank, moving, and immensely powerful, as they call to our attention an important and neglected part of U.S. history. Gathered from many little-known sources, the works reflect both the soldiers' experience and the antiwar movement at home. Taken together, they illustrate the contradictions faced by the traditionally patriotic Mexican American community, and show us the war and the grassroots opposition to it from a new perspective --one that goes beyond the familiar dichotomy of black and white America.

George Mariscal offers critical introductions and provides historical background by identifying specific issues which have not been widely discussed in relation to the war, noting, for example, the potential for Chicano soldiers to recognize their own ethnic and class identities in those of the Vietnamese people. Drawing upon interviews with key participants in the National Chicano Moratorium Committee, Mariscal analyzes the antiwar movement, the Catholic Church, traditional Mexican American groups, and an emerging feminist consciousness among Chicanas.

Also included are personal accounts: Norma Elia Canto's remembrance of her brother who died in combat, Brbara Renaud Gonzlez's evocative poem about Chicanas on the homefront, Alberto Ros's and Naomi Helena Quionez's moving poetry about the Wall, and the recollections of Abelardo Delgado and others on the August 29, 1970 Moratorium.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #795947 in Books
• Published on: 1999-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 337 pages

About the Author
George Mariscal is Associate Professor of Literature at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of the award-winning Contradictory Subjects: Quevedo, Cervantes, and Seventeenth-Century Spanish Culture (1991). The grandson of Mexican immigrants, he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1968 and served the following year in Viet Nam.

Customer Reviews

an excellent account of Vietnam and the Chicano community
George Mariscal has done a wonderful job collecting information by Chicano and Chicana writers -- both Vietnam veterans, and anti-war activists -- who share emotions, insights, and experiences about the Chicano community's involvement in the war. So little has been written about the Vietnam war and the Chicano(a) experience. As a community college teacher, I assigned my own book, Shifting Loyalties, to the class. Shifting Loyalties also deals with Chicanos in Vietnam. I remember a Vietnamese student saying, "I didn't know there were Mexicans fighting in Vietnam." His statement reminded me how sad it is that the Chicano community has given so much for this country, including the lives of our men and women, and still, there is relatively little recognition for our efforts. George Mariscal's book does much to remedy this situation. He has compiled a strong representation of poetry, short stories, interviews, and essays. His own narrative moves the work along in a way that makes the entire book act as if it were one piece. Any teachers, students, or persons interested in the Vietnam war from an entirely new and fresh perspective must buy this book.

A must for those Vietnam War history aficionados
I stumbled across this book while searching for another item. I purchased it as a Christmas present for my boyfriend since he is Chicano as well as his family and his father is a Vietnam veteran (hence the interest in this point in history). He loves it and even his father was really interested in the book. We will be purchasing another for his father for his birthday. Great buy!!