Cover image: Gold and Leaves, by Manuela Guilln, Philadelphia, PA, 2021
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
2021 State University of New York
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Printed in the United States of America
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Name: Pitts, Andrea J., author.
Title: Nos/otras : Gloria E. Anzalda, multiplicitous agency, and resistance / Andrea J. Pitts.
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, [2021] | Series: SUNY series, philosophy and race | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021016727 (print) | LCCN 2021016728 (ebook) | ISBN 9781438484839 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438484846 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Anzalda, GloriaCriticism and interpretation. | Agent (Philosophy) in literature. | Feminism and literature. | LCGFT: Literary criticism.
Classification: LCC PS3551.N95 Z84 2021 (print) | LCC PS3551.N95 (ebook) | DDC 818/.5409dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021016727
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021016728
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a todas mis relacionesAcknowledgments
This book was a collective undertaking and would not exist were it not for the immense networks of support, guidance, and care that I received from others. In this, I would like to extend thanks to some of the people who have made this project possible, and I offer these words as a humble gesture of my love and appreciation for all the time and energy that others have put into helping me get these words to print.
First, I owe tremendous thanks to the close philosophical mentors in my life, Jos Medina, Adriana Novoa, and Mariana Ortega. In times of frustration, curiosity, and vulnerability, they have created spaces where I could explore and experiment with ideas, including the many reading groups, workshops, panels, conferences, and conversations that we have had over the years. I look forward to many more years of our vibrant intellectual friendships.
Many thanks to Janaka Bowman Lewis, Consuelo Carr Salas, Mariana Ortega, Elisabeth Paquette, and Daniela Recabarren for their participation in the manuscript workshop for this book in January 2019. Their support and insights have helped strengthen both the book and my confidence in my own voice. Also, much gratitude to Shannon Sullivan and Gordon Hull for making that workshop possible through their institutional support.
Thanks also to all the organizers and participants in the writing groups who have supported my research since graduate school, including Brook Ackerly and members of the Vanderbilt Global Feminisms Collaborative, Dace Brown and members of the UNC Charlotte Diversity Writing Group, Vanessa Castaeda and the Charlotte Latin Americanist Writing Group, Consuelo Carr Salas and Elisabeth Paquette with the Coachella Writing Group, and Asia Ferrin for our Summer 2020 writing sessions.
I owe many thanks to the network of people in my life who have offered me advice or have taken the time to work with me through the themes and issues that inform this book. Many of them also created opportunities for me to connect to ideas, scholars, and students in their own communities, which has been tremendously important for the development of this book. To Geoffrey Adelsberg, Mariana Alessandri, Megan Altman, Kathryn Sophia Belle, Talia Mae Bettcher, Alisa Bierria, Jacoby Adeshei Carter, Mel Castaeda, Maria Chaves Daza, Natalie Cisneros, Tommy Curry, PJ DiPietro, Kristie Dotson, Tana Figueroa, Leonard Harris, Robin James, Myka T. Johnson, Tamsin Kimoto, Cat Lemon, Jim Maffie, Jamie Marsicano, Lee Mcbride, Denise Meda Calderon, Eduardo Mendieta, Julie Minich, Charles Mills, Anthony Sean Neale, Cynthia Paccacerqua, Lena Palacios, Goyo Pappas, Gaile Pohlhaus Jr., Omar Rivera, Stephanie Rivera Berruz, Monique Roelofs, Elena Ruz, Ofelia Schutte, everet smith, Alexander Stehn, Yannik Thiem, Ana Valdez, Emma Velez, Roo George Warren, Christine Wieseler, Ash Williams, and Kelly Zaytoun, I extend my sincerest gratitude for their generosity of spirit and energy.
To my dissertation committee, Linda Martn Alcoff, Lisa Guenther, Jos Medina, Kelly Oliver, and Lucius T. Outlaw Jr., with whom portions of the research for this project began, I am eternally thankful.
Many thanks to the participants and organizers of the many conferences where I presented research from this book, including the American Philosophical Association, the Caribbean Philosophical Association, the Carlos III University Workshop on Identity, Memory, and Experience, Philosophy Born of Struggle, the Roundtable on Latina/x Feminism, the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy, the Southeast Roundtable on the Philosophy of the Americas, and the Toward Decolonial Feminisms Conference. Additionally, the support of programs like the UNC Charlotte Junior Faculty Development Program, the UNC Charlotte Faculty Research Grant, and the Woodrow Wilson Career Enhancement Fellowship were invaluable for the completion of this project. Much thanks to the many people, participants, and donors who make those opportunities possible.
To the late Mara Lugones, I owe so much of my thinking and praxis regarding friendship and scholarly production. For our conversations and exchanges during her time in this world (of many worlds), I am immensely grateful.
Sincere thanks to Carla O. Alvarez at the LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections at the University of Texas at Austin for their help navigating the Gloria Evangelina Anzalda Papers, and much love to Denise Meda Calderon and Goyo Pappas for making my visit to Texas such a wonderful experience.
Mil gracias to Mariana Alessandri, Julie Minich, and Perry Zurn for their comments during my final edits on this project. Their support has been an inspiration and honor.
I also have deep gratitude for the friends in my life who have supported me throughout this project. Whether they know it or not, my academic life has been prefaced on their love and kindness. To Aman Agah, Alejandro Arango, Danielle Boaz, Joshua Burford, Adam Burgos, Rachael Forester, Tamara and Amaya Johnson, Joseph Jordan, David Juarez, Emre Keskin, Erica Lennon, Olivia, Ilan, and Naomi Love-Dembovsky, Alex, Maia, and Adriana Novoa-Levine, Daniela Recabarren, Matt Sparling, and Elizabeth Victor, thank you immensely for the friendship, laughter, and indignation that we have shared over the years.
An early exploration of themes from were previously published as Gloria E. Anzaldas Autohistoria-teora as an Epistemology of Self-Knowledge/Ignorance in Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy
