Richard Rodriguez
Richard Rodriguez is an influential American writer and essayist, born on July 31, 1944, in San Francisco, California, to Mexican American immigrant parents. His acclaimed work, *Hunger of Memory* (1982), delves into his personal journey of navigating the complexities of his cultural identity and the language barriers he faced as a child who could not speak English when he began school. Rodriguez's early experiences with language highlighted a divide between his public life, dominated by English, and his private life rooted in Spanish, leading him to feel alienated from his Mexican heritage. As he continued his education, ultimately earning a master's degree and becoming a Fulbright scholar, Rodriguez wrestled with issues of identity, race, and cultural assimilation.
Rodriguez has been a vocal critic of affirmative action and bilingual education, arguing for the importance of mastering the dominant language of a culture, which he believes is essential for success in public life. His explorations of faith and identity also reflect his upbringing in a traditional Catholic household, and he has expressed concerns about the changes in the Catholic Church following the Second Vatican Council. In addition to *Hunger of Memory*, his notable works include *Days of Obligation* (1992) and *Brown: The Last Discovery of America* (2002), which further examine the intersections of culture, education, and spirituality. A prominent contributor to various publications and a familiar face on television, including the PBS NewsHour, Rodriguez has won several prestigious awards for his contributions to literature and public discourse. His writings resonate deeply with those grappling with complex identities in America.
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Subject Terms
Richard Rodriguez
- Born: July 31, 1944
- Birthplace: San Francisco, California
Author Profile
Writer. Richard Rodriguez’s Hunger of Memory (1982) is a collection of essays tracing his alienation from his Mexican heritage. The son of Mexican American immigrants, Rodriguez could not speak English when he began school in Sacramento, California. The Catholic nuns who taught him asked that his parents speak English to him at home so that he could hear English spoken all the time. When his parents complied, Rodriguez experienced his first rupture between his original and newly acquired cultures. That initial experience compelled him to see the difference between “public” language—English—and “private” language—Spanish. To succeed in a world controlled by those who spoke English and in the public arena, Rodriguez learned that he had to choose the public language over the private language spoken within his home. Hence, he opted to alienate himself from his Mexican heritage and roots. He believed, with resignation and regret, that he had no alternative to this choice.
His educational journey continued as he earned a master’s degree and became a Fulbright scholar studying English Renaissance literature in London. At that time, he decided to leave academic life, believing that it provided an advantage to Mexican Americans at the expense of those who did not possess a multicultural background.
Rodriguez proceeded to become an opponent of affirmative action, detailing his opposition to this policy in Hunger of Memory. He also opposed bilingual education. Believing that “public educators in a public schoolroom have an obligation to teach a public language,” Rodriguez used various opportunities—interviews, his autobiography, and television appearances—to emphasize his view of the relationship between a person’s identity in a majority culture and their need to learn the language of that culture.
Another component of Rodriguez’s identity he explored through various means was his relationship with the Roman Catholic Church. Having been raised in a traditional Catholic home, he was accustomed to the symbols and language of the Catholic Church as they were before the changes that resulted from the Second Vatican Council (or “Vatican II”), which convened in 1962. After Vatican II, the rituals of the church were dramatically simplified, and the liturgy was changed from Latin to commonly-spoken languages, such as English. According to Rodriguez, these changes in the Roman Catholic Church challenged the identity of people whose early sense of self was shaped by traditional Catholicism.
Rodriguez's other books include Days of Obligation: An Argument with My Mexican Father (1992), in which he focused on the juxtaposition of his life in mainstream American society and his upbringing in a Mexican household. He also shared his thoughts on the influence of religion on his life. Brown: The Last Discovery of America (2002) completed his trilogy of memoirs that explore the issues of religion, culture, education, and, especially in this case, race. Interested in the symbolic nature of the desert in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, Rodriguez wrote Darling: A Spiritual Autobiography (2013). This work also documented Rodriguez’s life-long spiritual journey and brought many of his long-term reflections on faith to fruition. As a long-time contributor to the Los Angeles Times and Harper’s Magazine, he continued to write articles for various publications into the 2020s. Rodriguez is also known for his television appearances, including a regular spot on the PBS NewsHour program, which earned him an Emmy Award in 1992.
A thoughtful and articulate writer regarding the tensions experienced by Mexican Americans growing up in America and by a Catholic struggling with the changes in the Catholic Church, Richard Rodriguez gives voice to the frequently unspoken difficulties of possessing a complex identity. Further, his works highlight complex issues such as education, culture, language, and spirituality. Rodriguez has been the recipient of several awards, including the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in 1983, the Frankel Medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1992, and the George Foster Peabody Award in 1997.
Bibliography
Christopher, Renny. "Rags to Riches to Suicide: Unhappy Narratives of Upward Mobility—Martin Eden, Bread Givers, Delia’s Song, and Hunger of Memory." College Literature, vol. 29, 2002.
Collado, Alfredo Villanueva. "Growing Up Hispanic: Discourse and Ideology in Hunger of Memory and Family Installments." The Americas Review, vol. 16, no. 3–4, 1988.
Danahay, Martin A. "Richard Rodriguez’s Poetics of Manhood." Fictions of Masculinity: Crossing Cultures, Crossing Sexualities. Edited by Peter F. Murphy. New York UP, 1994.
De Castro, Juan E. "Richard Rodriguez in 'Borderland:' The Ambiguity of Hybridity." Aztlan, vol. 26, no. 1, 2001, pp. 101-126.
Guajardo, Paul. Chicano Controversy: Oscar Acosta and Richard Rodriguez. Peter Lang, 2002.
London, Scott. "A View from the Melting Pot: An Interview with Richard Rodriguez." Scott London, 2009, scott.london/interviews/rodriguez.html. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
Michael, David. "Regarding Mystery: An Interview with Richard Rodriguez." Paris Review, 9 Sept. 2014, www.theparisreview.org/blog/2014/09/09/regarding-mystery-an-interview-with-richard-rodriguez. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
"People - Richard Rodriguez." Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/people/richard-rodriguez. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
"Richard Rodriguez." Calvin Center for Faith & Writing, ccfw.calvin.edu/speakers/richard-rodriguez. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
Rodriguez, Richard. "The Castro." Harper's Magazine, harpers.org/archive/2018/01/the-castro/. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
Romer, Rolando J. "Spanish and English: The Question of Literacy in Hunger of Memory." Confluencia, vol. 6, no. 2, 1991.
Sedore, Timothy. "Violating the Boundaries: An Interview with Richard Rodriguez." Michigan Quarterly Review, vol. 38, no. 3, 1999, hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.act2080.0038.308. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.
Segura, Olga. "Why the Writer Richard Rodriguez Refuses To Be Put into a Box." America Magazine, 25 Jan. 2019, www.americamagazine.org/arts-culture/2019/01/25/why-writer-richard-rodriguez-refuses-be-put-box. Accessed 10 Oct. 2024.