The Devil at the Gay Bar: Revitalizing and Queering Northern New Mexican Folktales

Authors

  • Ishmael Mondragón New Mexico Highlands University

Abstract

Although cuentos are used to educate younger generations, I target adult readers, within and beyond the academic community, to illustrate how to communicate relevant beliefs in modern times to ultimately retell these stories in contemporary contexts while illustrating a facet of Nuevomexicana/o/x culture.

As a writer, I transform oral narratives into contemporary adult short stories to continue the transmission of Northern New Mexico folktales to give voice to a Chicana/o/x subculture found thriving in the American Southwest. The reason my writings focus on (re)educating adults on this form of storytelling is because the modern-day Nuevomexicana/o/x, Chicana/o/x, and everyday reader no longer have the time to come together to listen to cuentos.

A stylized painting on a textured, wood-grain yellow background depicts a top-down view of a large blue sun or star emblem at the top. Below it, an Indigenous woman with long dark hair holds soil in her hands while vine-like lines with small red buds wrap gracefully across her upper body. Features bold white and black text reading: "INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE FOR RESISTANCE, LOVE, AND LAND: LECCIONES FOR OUR CHILDREN, FOR OUR FUTURE."

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Published

2019-04-01

Issue

Vol. 2019 (2019): Indigenous Knowledge for Resistance: Lecciones from Our Past

Section

Articles