Gloria Anzaldúa’s Mexican Genealogy: From Pelados and Pachucos to New Mestizas

This essay examines Gloria Anzald&uacute
a&rsquo
s critical appropriation of two Mexican philosophers in the writing of Borderlands/La Frontera: Samuel Ramos and Octavio Paz. We argue that although neither of these authors is cited in her seminal work, Anzald&uacute
a had them both in mind through the writing process and that their ideas are present in the text itself. Through a genealogical reading of Borderlands/La Frontera, and aided by archival research, we demonstrate how Anzald&uacute
s philosophical vision of the &ldquo
new mestiza&rdquo
is a critical continuation of the broader tradition known as la filosof&iacute
a de lo mexicano, which flourished during a golden age of Mexican philosophy (1910&ndash
1960). Our aim is to open new directions in Latinx and Latin American philosophy by presenting Anzald&uacute
s Borderlands/La Frontera as a profound scholarly encounter with two classic works of Mexican philosophy, Ramos&rsquo
Profile of Man and Culture in Mexico and Paz&rsquo
s The Labyrinth of Solitude.