The University of Arizona Press
Central American Women in Diaspora
Testimonios of the Generations
Through the practice of testimonio, contributors create intergenerational dialogues between mothers and daughters, engage with Indigenous oral traditions, and reflect on the violent histories of war in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The volume is organized around five themes: political histories, migration, gender and sexuality, navigating institutions, and healing. Within each theme contributors tackle a range of issues, including Central American political histories, healing, grief, Indigenous knowledge, memory, trauma, post-traumatic growth, organizing, creativity, and agency.
This anthology spans genres such as poetry, essay, and visual art to present diverse perspectives, including Indigenous, Afro-Indigenous, queer, and working-class voices. An intervention that centers gendered experiences and challenges oppressive structures, this volume celebrates the solidarity, cultural memory, and healing found within transnational ties.
Contributors
Leisy J. Abrego
Margoth Abrego
Bella
Juanita Cabrera
Jennifer A. Cárcamo
Sandra Castro
Karla Cativo
Kency Cornejo
Gabriela Corona Valencia
Jessica Delgado
Carolina Rivera Escamilla
Rafael Escamilla
Mildred Fuentes-Chung
Diana Gamez
Joanna Beltrán Girón
Ruth Girón
Victoria Gonzalez-Rivera
Claudia D. Hernández
Jessica Hernandez
Leticia Hernández-Linares
Leigh-Anna Hidalgo
Andrea Nikté Juarez Mendoza
Amanda Macal
Carla Macal
Patricia Veliz Macal
Kiara Aileen Machado
Beatriz Maldonado
Jacqueline Munguía
Johanna Perez
Rossana Pérez
Katy Pinto
Claudia A. Portillo
Suyapa Portillo Villeda
Nalya Rodriguez
Andrea Zelaya
“This beautiful volume invites current and future generations to learn from, wrestle with, and add their own experiences to these and other histories of struggle. I wish I had this book as I was making my way through academia and am glad it’s available for us now.”—Gilda L. Ochoa, author of Academic Profiling: Latinos, Asian Americans, and the Achievement Gap
“This collection represents an important intervention that resituates and centers Central American women’s lives within a growing body of scholarship on the Central American diaspora. It provides a bountiful tapestry of voices—of grandmothers, mothers, daughters, and sisters—navigating what it means to be Central American women in the United States and to carry such rich but often unspoken legacies. In reading their heartfelt sorrows and triumphs, we are able to reflect on our shared humanity and find points of connection to join in resistance against intersectional forms of oppression together.”—Georgina Guzmán, co-editor of Campus Service Workers Supporting First-Generation Students: Informal Mentorship and Culturally Relevant Support as Key to Student Retention and Success
“Central American Women in Diaspora offers a moving, intimate series of testimonio accounts of gendered life in the diaspora—on the Central American isthmus, up north in the United States, and in the imaginary between linking families and memories. Whether in Latinx studies classes, seminars on memory and identity, or in public book groups, readers who enter this book’s world will feel welcomed into a defiant and loving space.”—Ellen Moodie, author of El Salvador in the Aftermath of Peace: Crime, Uncertainty, and the Transition to Democracy
