Literature Review #2: Lessons from Mexican Folklore... Child Separation and La Llorona

 Visual:

                                                                      Richard Delgado

Summary:

Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic's article titled, 'Lessons From Mexican Folklore: An Essay on U.S. Immigration Policy, Child Separation, and La Llorona", highlights some of the more current social issues in today's world. Directly within the context of the folklore that is La Llorona, Delgado and Stefancic quickly call previous president Donald Trump the modern day Llorona due to his direct involvement with child separation at the U.S. Mexican border. With such a heavy comparison, Delgado and Stefancic give an overview of some of the issues in regards to child separation in history. Through the discussion of Indigenous and Conventional Remedies (Delgado, Stefancic 308), there is farther emphasize towards the relevance of indigenous culture within the motives of child separation.

Citation:

Delgado, Richard, and Jean Stefancic. “Lessons From Mexican Folklore: An Essay on  U.S. Immigration Policy, Child Separation, and La Llorona.” University of Pittsburgh Law Review, vol. 81, no. 2, University of Pittsburgh, 2019, p. 287–, doi:10.5195/lawreview.2019.675.

Link: Lessons From Mexican Folklore

Author:

Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic are coauthors for this article. Both authors are affiliated with The University of Alabama, more specifically, the school of Law. Teaching on topics such as social change and race, respectively, both Delgado and Stefancic have various works published, in total Delgado having around 200 articles and twenty books while Stefancic has fifty articles and fifteen books (Alabama Law: Faculty). Overall, both share expertise on prevalent social issues that affect today's world through a more political standpoint, which greater connects to La Llorona's presence in society.

Sources:

Richard_Delgado

Jean_Stefancic

Key Terms:

Indigenous: original natives to a certain area of land.

Indigenous Remedies: Solutions to issues that revolve around a more cultural basis (sometimes even more mythical approaches).

Conventional Remedies: Literal modern forward solutions. (Ex. Talking to gov. leaders)

Quotes:

"Child psychologists recognize the myth as a control device and a means of exercising authority over children who might otherwise be tempted to stray or misbehave" (Delgado, Stefancic 291).

"Institutions known as residential schools, run by churches through government partnerships, with a view to assimilating indigenous children into white Canadian society" (Delgado, Stefancic 304).

"Instead, we should encourage and cloak ourselves in television shows celebrating and broadcasting immigrants, in books telling their stories, and in policies to encourage the equitable exchange of cultural ideas" (Delgado, Stefancic 313).

Value:

Ultimately, this article provides pivotal information for my research as it clearly emphasizes some of today's more prevalent issues when in regards to La Llorona. The simple comparison between Trump and La Llorona provides a visualization towards the fact that La Llorona transcends to some of the more significant political issues in the world. It also shows that the very culture in which such folklores come from play a significant part into helping find a better solution for today's issues. This ultimately gives La Llorona's transcendence even more meaning.