Josie Mendez-Negrete, Hijas de Juan
Reading assignment for Monday, October 15. Your reply (under Comments) is due before class.
Be sure to check and make sure your response posts.
Look up the definition of testimony and discuss how Las Hijas de Juan fits into the tradition of the testimonio. What is gained by this sort of writing? What questions did the text leave you with?
Did you read the book differently knowing this is an autobiography? How do you think you would have read it differently were it presented as a work of fiction?
Las Hijas De Juan fit into “el testimonio” because this is Josefina’s declaration of truth as personal witness to what happened. She is revealing truths about what happened to her, her mother, her sisters, her family, and what is happening to other Latinas and women. In the book Josefina talks about how she never had the opportunity to have her testimony in court. She never got to reveal her side of the horrors that Juan committed against her and her family. This book, “Las Hijas de Juan,” was her opportunity to have her “testimonio” and let the whole truth be known.
When I Read this book, Knowing that this is an autobiography, it made the reading more real and more relatable. Many times throughout the book when reading about Juan beating his wife and daughters, It made me very uncomfortable and aroused many emotions in me. Many times I was angry and made me very aware of how real these situations are. These acts were actually performed and other similar acts have and are still being done. When reading this I could also really get a sense of the strong bond between the mother and her daughters. I could really feel that happiness and joy they all shared when Juan was not around. Their many memories cooking all those delicious dishes were very relatable to me and reminded me of my family. Also, Josefina’s strong and amazing aunts reminded me of my own because of how much they care for their family. Many of their stories, relationships and situations, and struggles are very similar to many Mexican families like my own. The entire book really did have a much deeper impression knowing that it was fact.
If this were a work of fiction, the characters would have been more two dimensional. The horror and situations in this book would have not had as much of an impact. The entire reading would be a different feel. One would read it and be thinking, “that character in the book did horrible things to the other characters of the story,” but instead while people read they think, “how could Juan have been so evil and cruel to his amazing wife and mother of his children?” “How could Juan be so cold and heartless to his own innocent children causing them so much pain and suffering.” If this were fiction, it would really take away the opportunities for the reader to feel empathy and sympathy.
I definitely think that Las Hijas de Juan can be considered testimonio. Merriam Webster defines the word testimony as a firsthand authentication of a fact, evidence and I think that definition is the most accurate for what this book. The author, Josie Méndez-Negrete is making a claim about her father and his actions and she is following through with that claim with evidence from her childhood. I’ve come across this word at different times through some of the other Chicana/o Studies classes I have taken. I don’t know for certain, but I think that testimonios might be a form of feminist, maybe Latina feminist, practice. The ones that I have read usually deal with Latinas describing situations by themselves. Some include women describing their relationship to the Virgin of Guadalupe, Latinas describing the educational system here in the U.S. and what that was like for them, or women that are incarcerated talking about their own experiences with that. Testimonios then seem to be apart of the idea of a critical pedagogy. Women are given the option of naming their own oppression and they are exerting their own agency by telling it in their own perspective. Again, I do think that Las Hijas de Juan is an example of testimonio for all of these reasons. From the reading we’re able to see that Méndez-Negrete didn’t have much, if any, voice growing up. She writes that her father “had control of everything and everyone. [He] did what he wanted” (54). It seems pretty unlikely, probably an impossibility, for Méndez-Negrete to speak out against her father. This book then becomes the vehicle for which she is able to exert her own agency and she does that through testimonio.
I agree with you Joseph, what the father did to his family and himself, as he was being self destructive, was terrible. I too, found to be emotionally involved while reading Las Hijas de Juan.
If this book were to be fiction, I think the ingagement in the book would still arouse emotion out of me. The characters would become real and just the thought that many people do suffer from traumatic experiences like that.
Thanks.
I do agree that Las Hijas de Juan is a testimony. The real and true events that happened in the life of every family member the book was told. The story was true, as in the court of law, a testimony is only true events protected under the laws of perjury. Josephina recalled everything in her book as she experienced it in her life.
Writing about something so tragic, but familiar to many families, in a way is about finding peace with oneself. The writing of this book I am sure was a difficult time, but it was a liberation too. To be able to speak and let the world now about such events demonstrates an amending of her life. If for some time in her life she felt ashamed and regretful, she obtained a different perspective and outlook as she wrote the book.
I can only discuss so much of my life. The other part is hidden because I have not come to an amends with it and I have not learn to deal with for whatever reason it may be. One is able to talk about a tragic moment only if they have come to learn how to deal with it. I have a feeling that Josefina did this to liberate herself and other people who experienced any type of drama.
It was definitely a way to find peace in her life. Getting the story out to the police was such a relief to her as a young girl, I image it feel so liberating to have her story out their for others to read especially those who may be going through similar situations. I’m sure it is still difficult for her to talk about these events, but now that they’re out and public knowledge she doesn’t have to worry about hiding herself anymore.
I would agree with my class mates that this book is indeed a testimony. Josie admits all of her emotions and all of the actions perpetrated against her as well as her life as a young Mexican girl hopping from place to place. The book is a collection of true events as they occurred in the eyes of the author. What can be gained by such writing is simple: the truth. The reader gains knowledge not only of Josie’s troubles, but we also gain knowledge of sexually and physically abusive fathers as well as the effects this can have on a whole family unit. Throughout the book the family is being moved from one place to another so that Josie’s father can keep his secret. He also emoloys fear to keep the family quiet and obedient to his reign. These are the stories that often go unheard especially in Mexican cultures where family is first and you don’t air your dirty laundry in public. Testimonies are often the most difficult things to say or write because you must come face to face with the truth which is often hurtful.
I don’t have questions so much as I’d like to read a testimony from the mother. What kind of person did she think she had married? He treated her horrifically and yet she stuck around, for what? Because she was married? I understand the fear she must have had about being alone in a foreign country with so many kids, but why not go back to Mexico querido y lindo? I think her story would be fascinating.
I read it knowing it was an autobiography or autoethnography as Josie calls it. It was horrible to read these things and know that they actually happened, however, I’m glad it was a testimony. It gave the book a trueness that only come from reality. Had the book been a work of fiction I don’t think the pain and other emotions could have been so powerful and eloquently put.