Josefina Niggli had her first poem published when she was just 18. Over the next 55 years, Niggli wrote screenplays, short stories and drama, often centered around her experiences as a Mexican American, that captured the hearts and imaginations of her readers.

It happened here, in America, in 1848. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo brought an end to border warfare between the United States and Mexico. How? Mexico ceded a huge area of land — California, Nevada, Utah, part of Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico — to the U. S. The terms of the treaty stipulated that Mexican citizens could either stay where they were or return to Mexico.

During this turbulent time, Mexican-American literary voices began to be heard, but they were still very distinct from the larger American culture. The evolving literature of this community was spoken, sung, or written in Spanish. Much of the literature was in the oral tradition — it had not ever been written down but had been shared from generation to generation. At its center was personal or historical subject matter. From these traditional literatures a unique form of poetry began to flourish.

Songs and Stories

Pioneers of Mexican American literature, Pedro Rocha and Lupe Martínez wrote "The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez" in 1929.

One famous corrido, "The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez," told of a Mexican rancher who killed a white sheriff who was unjustly trying to arrest him. Cortez was subsequently chased by lawmen, captured and then convicted by an Anglo jury. In the ballad Cortez was described like a vaquero — expert horseman and marksman — whose adventures on the lam make for an exciting chase and confrontation with the Texas Rangers. The corrido tells how Cortez uses cunning to elude his captors, while the latter, who think only in stereotypes, are bungling and inept. The lawmen who are persecuting Cortez are described very negatively: They are "whiter than a poppy from the fear they had of Cortez and his pistol." The pejorative tone of these lyrics illustrates the tension in the Southwest.

The corrido continued to enjoy popularity and remains a vital literary and musical form of expression. During the 1960s a corrido immortalized the courage and determination of Cesar Chavez and the plight of migrant workers. A famous memorial ballad "Recordando El Presidente" was written to memorialize the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Other corridos have been composed about everything from bandoleros to bullfighting.

Crossing Over

Mexican American literature is just one example of the artistic benefits that result from the meeting of two different cultures.

In 1945 a landmark book, Mexican Village, a compelling story about the pains of dual identity, reached a broader audience. Its author, Josephina Niggli, was born in Mexico of Anglo parents. Her father had emigrated to Texas in 1836, and then returned to Mexico to manage a cement plant. From her small window, the lonely child observed a people and their village. She felt she could never really be part of the culture. Later, her poems and stories would reflect both the separateness and the love she felt for a culture she knew well but felt removed from.

Sandra Cisneros is one of the leading voices in Chicana literature today.

Niggli's collection of ten stories depicts the struggle of Bob Webster who is on a journey to discover which culture he owes loyalty to. After wandering about America, he goes to Hidalgo, the village of his grandmother, in search of his roots. Ultimately, he casts off his Anglo name and changes it to a Mexican name. He believes he has satisfied his "nostalgia of the blood." While Webster claims Mexico as his spiritual home, he cannot deny that he still has American values. He is torn.

Mexican Village was compellingly honest about what it meant to have divided loyalties in modern American culture. Niggli never shrank from discussing the effects of racism and discrimination that influenced Webster's choices, the oppression of women in Mexican culture, and the clash of conservative values with more modern, liberal views. The bravery of her writings influenced an entire new generation of Mexican-American authors.

Mexican-American authors faced the same dilemma as all authors whose ethnic identities are central to their work. How do writers preserve language and culture while reaching out to a larger community?

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