Respond Paper: “How To Tame A Wild Tongue” By Gloria Anzaldúa Essay Examples

Anzaldua in her narrative, How to Tame a Wild Tongue” provides an insight of how she experienced the concept being brought up in dual culture society. On one hand, one of the cultures involved the American culture that she experienced on her academic journey. This culture expected her to adhere and speak clearly to the American English language. For instance, the culture required that “if you [Anzaldua] what to be American, Speak ‘American.’ If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong” (Anzaldua 2).
On the other, the other culture was her native culture, Spanish Chicano. The Spanish Chicano culture has been her culture since she was at a tender age and throughout her life. In this culture, Anzaldua believes “Chicano Spanish is not incorrect; it is living language” (Anzaldua 2). Therefore, one could be viewed as a cultural traitor because one ruins the Spanish Language if he/she speaks another language such as English. This paper, therefore, sheds light to the challenging and conflicting cultural ideas exhibiting from the dual culture, i.e. Arab culture and American Culture.
Anzaldua in her literature portrays the both side of the psychological and cultural change consequently to the convergent of the two or more cultures, also known as acculturation process. Here, the writer represents one side by the American culture and the other side by the Mexican culture. For one to become a fully assimilated and accepted in the American culture one has to conform to the American culture and language. For example, all the Chicano students were two speech classes at the Pan-American University in order to “get rid of [their] accents” (Anzaldua 2). This implies that the domestic culture dominates and swallows the foreign culture.
On the other hand, there is Mexican, who would encourage their children to abandon their Mexican culture and embrace the foreign culture, i.e. American culture. For instance, Anzaldua’s mother is ashamed that she speaks English like Spanish. Angelo quotes “my mother would say, mortified that I spoke English like a Mexican” (Anzaldua 2). In addition, she claims “in childhood we are told that our language is wrong. Repeated attacks on our native tongue diminish our sense of self” (Anzaldua 7). It is with this aspect that the writer believes that they (Chicano) are “culturally crucified.”
Anzaldua reveals that foreign cultures in the United States desire to have their own cultural value respected and be able to speak their languages. Such foreigners should be allowed to have free will to derive good traits from the two confliction culture and be able to influence the existing and the coming generation. Anzaldua believes that “if a person, Chicana or Latina, has a low estimation of my native tongue, she also has a low estimation of me” (Anzaldua 7). In this line, Anzaldua suggests that the Ethnic Identify is similar to the linguistic identity.
Therefore, in order to take pride one oneself, one must take pride in their language. Allowing the foreign cultures to practice and maintain their cultural value, by helping them to accept their legitimate language help them to identify and be proud of their culture. The writer argues “until I am free to write bilingually and to switch codes without always having to translate my tongue will be legitimate” (Anzaldua 8). In other words, the foreign cultures should be in a position to “accommodate the English culture” and have a free will to decide which language to use.
Anzaldua considers the acculturation process as a violent process by using the term “linguistic terrorism”. She also explains that this process violates the First Amendment because the individual’s freedom of expression is disapproved in the foreign culture. Anzaldua argues “attacks on one’s form of expression with the intent to censor are a violation of the First Amendment” (Anzaldua 2). Therefore, individuals should be given rights to express their ideas in the language they understand most because language is passive and subjective to changes caused by the cultural and social cultures. Anzaldua referred to this process of acculturation as “linguistic terrorism” because it limits the dominated cultures to decide what is accepted and what is not accepted in their lives.
Anzaldua considered that the language shape not only the individual identity but also their environments. Therefore, allowing the dominant culture to deny the other culture opportunity to communicate their language denies them chance to shape themselves and environments. Consequently, this raises the question whether the construction of identity is based on social input and to what degree people have control upon their own culture. Additionally, the writer argues “there are more subtle ways that we internalize identification, especially in the forms of images and emotions” (Anzaldua 10). Anzaldua identifies certain smell and food as the tied identity to her homeland. A Mexican saying that goes “Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are, suggests that that one can also be identified with the people they associate with. However, “being Mexican is a state of soul –not one of mind, not one of citizenship” (Anzaldua 11).
Not only is the Mexican culture dominated by the American culture but also other foreign culture that migrates in United States. It is often required to adopt the American culture and language in order to become accepted in that culture. For example, for Arab students in the American culture, they try to keep the values of their Arab culture, but they are usually faced with this rebellion. The Arabs students, especially who are Muslim, find acculturation process more difficult than the counterpart who are Christians. The students try to maintain their heritage of common linguistic, political, and cultural traditions, but they are challenged by the fact that they think they are seen more as Arabs than American. As suggested by Anzaldua, it is required for a foreign culture to embrace the American language and culture in order to be viewed as American. As a result of this forced acculturating, the victims suffer not only economically but also from psychological conflict, which produces “a kind of dual identity.” For instance, Anzaldua argues that they neither totally identify with the Anglo-American culture and their native culture. In this view, such people “are synergy of the two cultures with the various degrees of Mexicanness or Angloness” (Anzaldua 11).
Similarly to many of the minority cultures in the United States, Arab Students living in the country try to preserve their culture and also try to influence other generation through scholars, like Anzaldua. Contrary to the Mexican culture, our home culture appreciates our native culture more than the foreign culture. In this view, the Arab parents would like to hear their children speaking Arabic fluently rather than being fluent in any other foreign language. As Anzaldua suggests that the Ethnic Identify is similar to the linguistic identity, the Arab students are identified more with their language because they strongly conform to it.
In addition, while in America, Arab students maintain their relationship and contact with their families in their country of origin. Other aspects such as reunions and Arabic festivals help the Arab student to celebrate and preserve their culture. This confirms Anzaldua’s argument that language is passive and subjective to changes caused by the cultural and social cultures. In addition, these social inputs contribute significantly to the construction of the identity. Other social inputs that help the Arab students to develop their cultural identity include attire, perfumes, language, food, and values and believe. For instance, in our class it is easier to identify an Arab student through their attire especially those who are Muslim. Even if the Arab student has dressed in the American attire, it is easy to identify them with their Arabic accent whenever they speak.
However, while studying in the United States, it is difficult to be able to balance between embracing a new culture while maintaining the traditional culture. Additionally, the Arab students face controversial lives in the United States because of the aspect that most terrorists dress and behave like Arabs. For instance, in the college, students from other culture tend to fear and avoid relationship with the Arab Student, who has failed to assimilate to the American Culture. Consequently, most Arab students face various challenges such as discrimination because they cannot fully embrace the American culture. They also fail to acquire new college friends from other cultures because their values and believes contradicts with others.

Work Cited

Anzaldua, Gloria. How to tame a wild tongue. na, 1990.