Nuevomexicano Cultural Legacy

Book excerpt: As striking as its beautiful landscapes, New Mexico's culture is also endlessly complex. The fourteen essays collected here examine many sides of Nuevomexicano culture: its treatment of the sacred, its discourses on identity and difference, its historical and literary legacy from colonial times to the present. Among the diverse topics considered are the role of Charles Fletcher Lummis in romanticizing New Mexico; the importance of Spanish-language newspapers at the turn of the century and their commitment to the social, educational, and cultural progress of the Spanish-speaking population of the Southwest; the role of mutual aid societies as agents of collective action and cultural adaptation and survival; the cultural and religious importance of captivity narratives; popular depictions of the Virgin of Guadalupe; and the history of textile making in north central New Mexico. A photo essay by renowned documentary photographer Miguel Gandert explores the blurring of lines between Spanish and Indian cultures in the Rio Grande Valley. Working within and across disciplines, charting relationships between geography and culture that have informed the state's history, and placing empirical, philosophical and scholarly materials in dialogue with regional, historical, and cultural studies, the contributors to this volume add immeasurably to knowledge of New Mexico's cultural history.