The Spanish word querencia does not have an exact translation in English but can be described as a place that gives one strength or a place in which one feels at home.
According to New Mexico writer Juan Estevan Arellano, to whom this work is dedicated, querencia is “that which gives us a sense of place, that which anchors us to the land, that which makes us a unique people, for it implies a deeply rooted knowledge of place, and for that reason we respect it as our home.” This sentiment is echoed in the foreword by Rudolfo Anaya, in which he writes that querencia is “love of home, love of place.”
Focusing on the connection between place and identity, this collection of essays explores the New Mexico homeland through the experiences and perspectives of scholars and writers from across the state.
Inspiring and thought-provoking.
About the Editors
Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez is an assistant professor of English at Arizona State University and the coeditor of Spanish Perspectives on Chicano Literature: Literary and Cultural Essays.
Levi Romero is an assistant professor of Chicana and Chicano studies at the University of New Mexico. He is the author or coauthor of several books, including A Poetry of Remembrance: New and Rejected Works and Sagrado: A Photopoetics Across the Chicano Homeland.
Spencer R. Herrera is an associate professor of Spanish at New Mexico State University. He is the author of several books and is a coauthor of Sagrado:A Photopoetics Across the Chicano Homeland.
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press