For Immediate Release
Brownsville native and UT Austin professor Dr. John Gonzalez to present newest book Border Renaissance: The Texas Centennial and the Emergence of Mexican-American Literature
BROWNSVILLE, October 2009--The Brownsville Heritage Complex, located in historic downtown Brownsville, invites the public to a presentation on Brownsville and the Border Renaissance during the 1930s by University of Texas Austin Professor Dr. John Gonzalez, author of Border Renaissance: The Texas Centennial and the Emergence of Mexican-American Literature on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 6 p.m. A book signing and reception follows the presentation. The event is free to the public and is sponsored in part by City of Brownsville. 
The Texas Centennial of 1936, commemorated by statewide celebrations of independence from Mexico, proved to be a powerful catalyst for the formation of a distinctly Mexican American identity. Confronted by a media frenzy that vilified "Meskins" as the antithesis of Texan liberty, Mexican Americans created literary responses that critiqued these racialized representations while forging a new bilingual, bicultural community within the United States. The development of a modern Tejano identity, controversies surrounding bicultural nationalism, and other conflictual aspects of the transformation from mexicano to Mexican American are explored in this study.
Capturing this fascinating aesthetic and political rebirth, Border Renaissance presents innovative readings of important novels by María Elena Zamora O'Shea, Américo Paredes, and Jovita González. In addition, the previously overlooked literary texts by members of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) are given their first detailed consideration in this compelling work of intellectual and literary history.
Drawing on extensive archival research in the English and Spanish languages, John Morán González revisits the 1930s as a crucial decade for the vibrant Mexican American reclamation of Texas history. Border Renaissance pays tribute to this vital turning point in the Mexican American struggle for civil rights.
A Brownsville native and St. Joseph alum, Dr. John Morán González attended Princeton University, graduating in 1988 with an A.B. in English literature. After a stint as a newspaper reporter, he entered graduate school at Stanford University in 1989. At Stanford, he earned an M.A. degree in 1991, and a Ph.D. in 1998, both in English and American literature. He currently teaches as an Associate Professor in the English Department at the University of Texas at Austin, where he has faculty affiliations with the Center for Mexican American Studies, the Program in Comparative Literature, the Center for Women and Gender Studies, and the American Studies Department. He teaches courses in Mexican American studies, Latina/o studies, and late nineteenth- century US literature.
He has published in journals such as American Literary History, Western American Literature, and Nineteenth-Century Contexts. He has contributed essays to two volumes of the Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage critical series. His study of the origins of Mexican-American fiction during the 1930s, titled Border Renaissance: The Texas Centennial and the Emergence of Mexican- American Literature, is published by the University of Texas Press.
Members of the Brownsville Historical Association receive a 10% discount on the purchase of the book, as well as a discount on other items in the new La Tienda Heritage Museum gift shop.
For more information on BHA programs and exhibits, please call 956-541-5560.
The Brownsville Heritage Complex is located at 1325 E. Washington Street and is managed by the Brownsville Historical Association. For more information on BHA programs and exhibits please call 956-541-5560.
About Brownsville Historical Association
The Brownsville Historical Association manages the Brownsville Heritage Complex which consists of: Stillman House, Brownsville Heritage Museum, Aiken Education Center, and Preservation Resource Center. The BHA also manages the Old City Cemetery Center, Market Square Research Center and Southmost Heritage Center. The Brownsville Heritage Complex is located at 1325 E. Washington, Brownsville, Texas 78520. The mission of the BHA is to preserve, educate, and promote the history, heritage, and cultural arts of Brownsville, Texas and its environs through exhibitions, educational programs, publications, cultural events, and archival collections.
Brownsville Historical Association
Sarah Martinez
Program Coordinator-Stillman House and Southmost Heritage Center
smartinez@brownsvillehistory.org