Revelation in Aztlán

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

   PDF

2. Introduction: Scriptures, Place, and No Place in the Chicano Movement

   • Jacqueline M. Hidalgo

   Pages 1-28

3. “We Are Aztlán”: Writing Scriptures, Writing Utopia in El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán

   • Jacqueline M. Hidalgo

   Pages 29-73

4. “The Holy City Which Has Been Written in This Book”: The Utopian Scripturalization of Revelation

   • Jacqueline M. Hidalgo

   Pages 75-126

5. “The Spirit Will Speak for My People”: El Plan de Santa Barbara and the Chicanx Movement as a Project of Scripturalization

   • Jacqueline M. Hidalgo

   Pages 127-169

6. “Power and Dominance, Loyalty and Conformity”: Family, Gender, Sexuality, and Utopian Scripturalization

   • Jacqueline M. Hidalgo

   Pages 171-212

7. “Faith and Social Justice Are So Connected in My Book”: Scriptures, Scrolls, and Scribes as Technologies of Diaspora

   • Jacqueline M. Hidalgo

   Pages 213-260

8. Back Matter

   Pages 261-314

   PDF

 Bridging the fields of Religion and Latina/o Studies, this book fills a gap by examining the “spiritual” rhetoric and practices of the Chicano movement. Bringing new theoretical life to biblical studies and Chicana/o writings from the 1960s, such as El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán and El Plan de Santa Barbara, Jacqueline M. Hidalgo boldly makes the case that peoples, for whom historical memories of displacement loom large, engage scriptures in order to make and contest homes. Movement literature drew upon and defied the scriptural legacies of Revelation, a Christian scriptural text that also carries a displaced homing dream. Through the slipperiness of utopian imaginations, these texts become places of belonging for those whose belonging has otherwise been questioned. Hidalgo’s elegant comparative study articulates as never before how Aztlán and the new Jerusalem’s imaginative power rest in their ambiguities, their ambivalence, and the significance that people ascribe to them. 

• Scripture
• Utopia
• revelation
• Aztlán
• Chicano
• Chicana
• Chicana feminist criticism
• new Jerusalem
• diaspora
• apocalypse
• religion and society

“Hidalgo does a good job of navigating the world of religious study/commentary and Latino/a studies. It is a masterful work of Chicanx history and texts … . for experts in Chicanx studies, the analysis of key texts from the lens of scripture and utopia provides a new avenue of studying this history that pays attention to religious language.” (Fides et Historia, Vol. 51 (1), 2019)

“Revelaon in Aztlán is a must-read for anyone interested in the Chicanx movement and contemporary biblical scholarship. It is a bold and eloquent work written by a scholar for an audience of scholars. … Hidalgo’s work provides a template for understanding an oppressed community from a tumultuous era in the last century, but it also opens new opportunies to reflect on and respond to our crisis today.” (Jason Steidle, Reading Religion, readingreligion.org, September, 2018)​

“Hidalgo lifts the veil on the intersections between the imaginary of the Bible, particularly the book of Revelation, and the scripturalizing discourses of the Chicano/a movements of the 1960s and 70s. An eclectic and disciplined mix of ethnography, textual analysis, category criticism, cultural critique, and a kind of social history, Revelation in Aztlán shows how scriptures are made through social practices even as communities are shaped by scripture. This book is a must-read.” (Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre, Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity, Drew Theological School, USA)

“In Revelation in Aztlán, Hidalgo transgresses traditional approaches to biblical hermeneutics by privileging modern textual appropriations and applications of the Bible (scripturalization) over textual analysis of the ancient texts themselves (scriptural exegesis). This is subjective biblical criticism in its most refined form.” (David A. Sánchez, Associate Professor of Early Christianity, Loyola Marymount University, USA)

“Hidalgo’s innovative project focuses on a conversation between various Chicano/a movement formulations of Aztlán and the book of Revelation as a way of thinking about the legacies of scriptural formations and transformations in the United States. This is necessary reading for anyone interested in scriptural interpretation and the legacies of colonialism in the United States. I highly recommend it.” (Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Krister Stendhal Professor, the Divinity School, Harvard University, USA)

• Williams College, Williamstown, USA

  Jacqueline M. Hidalgo

 Jacqueline M. Hidalgo is Assistant Professor of Latina/o Studies and Religion at Williams College in Massachusetts, USA.  

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