Philosophy Under the Guise of Creative Nonfiction: Considering the Functionality of Borderlands: La Frontera

[iversonm]

Of all the texts we've read throughout the course, Gloria Anzaldua's Borderlands: La Frontera is perhaps the only piece the crosses over into the realm of creative writing. In choosing the genre of creative nonfiction, Anzaldua does something uniquely different than other philosophers in her examination of social and cultural issues. She creates a nuanced, personal history, interwoven with bits of poetry and accented with fluid use of "Spanglish" and other dialects. While I was thoroughly impressed with the text, I question the limitations of Anzaldua's form in constructing highly organized, focussed philosophical considerations like we've seen in the other text. Do you think Anzaldua loses anything in her choice of the creative form, or rather, if her writing in fact makes the philosophical conversations she wishes to engage in more palatable to the general public? Personally, I felt a deeper connection to Anzaldua's text than many of the other couse texts due to the creative nuances of her writing, and on the whole I found myself more interested in what she had to say. How do the rest of you feel about the use of creative nonfiction in engaging philosophical musings?

[Tyler Manning]

I also felt a stronger interest in Anzaldua's writing compared to the other texts we have read this semester. I especially appreciated her personal connection with the ideas and experiences in the text and I think it created a more intimate connection with the reader. This book's discussion of philosophical ideas relating to identity, tolerance and oppression paired with personal experiences and thoughts from someone who has had to struggle with these concepts in reality, created a text that that addressed the general concept of borders through a series of individual lenses. I personally enjoyed this approach to philosophical writing and I think it could be useful in attracting a broader audience to important literature such as this.    

[hollandb]

I definitely agree with the above posts.  The creative nonfiction style definitely formed a stronger connection between the reader and the author.  Most of the texts were read involved philosophers taking their ideas and theories and presenting them in a dry and overcomplex fashion.  Anzaldua made understanding her ideas easy because she presented them in simple terms and also gave more substance to them by providing her personal experiences.  

Since you are reading her story and what her life was like at the same as you are learning her philosophical terms and concepts, you form a deeper connection with the text because it is easier to understand and also she makes it so you relate.