Ramsdell: Language and Identity Politics: The Linguistic Autobiographies of Latinos in the United States

In this work, Lea Ramsdell compares three authors who wrote autobiographies that focused on their "home" language in order to prove that "language is identity and that identity is political" (Ramsdell 166). What Ramsdell means by this statement is that language is a part of our identities as humans. It is the way that we communicate with one another and it shapes up us as human beings. However, it becomes political when that language is under public scrutiny. As stated earlier, Ramsdell wrote this comparison after reading three different works with language as the common factor. Those works are Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodríguez, Heading South, Looking North: A Bilingual Journey by Ariel Dorfman, and "How to Tame a Wild Tongue," by Gloria Anzaldúa. In these stories language is at the premise of each. Language has shaped each one of these authors in one form or another and it is why these authors put it as the focus of their works. According to Ramsdell, Anzaldúa's relationship with her language differs from the other works studies is through the way she "takes pride in her ability to express herself with such a range of linguistic codes." (Ramsdell 174). In the stories of the other two authors they encountered a struggle with their language, even grew to hate it at some point, for Anzaldúa it was the exact opposite. I agree with the author's stance of "language is identity and that identity is political." Like the authors of the autobiographies I have had my own relationship with the language I speak and the language of my culture, and I see the the struggle of both sides, much like Anzaldúa has.