Tomas Rivera

This article analyzes the structural composition of the chicana/o novel . . .y no se lo tragó la tierra, by Tomás Rivera, a book that has become a collec- tive point of reference for chicana/o culture and community. Its structure will be explained, including the importance of personal and collective memory as elements that evolve every chapter as a fragmentary part of a whole. The classi- cal concept of “art of memory” joined to the rhetoric of discourse opens a new perspective to analyze this fragmentation and helps the reader to understand the connection of its elements. Finally, the idea of “theater of memory” may be applied to the novel’s chicana/o universe as a dramatic device for structuring the narrator’s personal memories, achieving a final literary composition similar to a memorable, collective altarpiece full of impressive images from this community’s daily struggle in the 1960s.

En la Introducción a los anexos de la primera edición latinoamericana de la novela …y no se lo tragó la tierra (1971) de Tomás Rivera, Buenrostro contextualiza la incorporación de 17 documentos inéditos que elucidan la génesis de la novela y aclaran aspectos del proceso de profesionalización de la editorial Quinto Sol.

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Tomás Rivera, ...y no se lo tragó la tierra. Edición Julio Ramos & Gustavo Buenrostro, Buenos Aires: Ediciones Corregidor: 2012. 183-213

At the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century, the Latino minority, the biggest and fastest growing in the United States, is at a crossroads. Is assimilation taking place in comparable ways to previous immigrant groups? Are the links to the countries of origin being redefined in the age of contested globalism? How are Latinos changing America and how is America changing Latinos?