Читать книгу Imagining LatinX Intimacies - Edward A. Chamberlain - Страница 3

Storytelling expands our understanding of the world. Through stories, we weave together the experiences, ideas, and language that unite us as human beings. The storytellers among my family taught me how to observe an experience, explore the tension, and remember my roots. As a child of the 1980s, I came to love the stories that family members would share at our small house, a place where people gathered to tell tales about faraway lands, including Australia, Germany, and South Korea. During winter months, we kept the cold winds at bay by sharing tales in the warmth of our little kitchen. Then a family of crickets would find their way into the house, surprising us as we shared stories. An eclectic mix of stories and people shaped my early years and this book’s development. They showed me how kinship and community can take many forms beyond the ones we are first taught. Hence, I wish to acknowledge how my family members and friends have fueled my love of stories, community, and places around the world.

My parents and siblings taught me to have humility and patience, which has enabled me to persist and refine my ability to tell a story in writing. We now live far from one another so we make do by sharing stories digitally. My grandmothers, aunts, and cousins also have taught me to remember the past, including the loved ones far from home. A good number of friends also have played key roles in keeping me levelheaded during challenging times. I am very grateful for the company of my friends as I made several moves and journeys. Erwin, John, and Chelis kept me focused during my visits to various parts of the world. I am also thankful for the sage advice of Kristen Yourno, who read portions of the manuscript at a key stage in the process. Her insights and questions led me to make the manuscript more accessible. Andrea Gutierrez, likewise, offered a great number of suggestions, which improved the writing. Additionally, I am lucky to have met several thoughtful people, including Alexandra, Dave, Derek, Jason, and Virginia. These lovely folks have kept me in good spirits as I adapted to new challenges in recent years. I also must recognize a kind group of friends in Bloomington, Indiana, who lent meaningful support.

Mentors and researchers at Indiana University opened my eyes to new approaches, concepts, and methods of research. Throughout the process, I benefited from dialogues with marvelous interdisciplinary scholars, including Angela Pao, Barbara Klinger, Colin Johnson, Deborah Cohen, Emily Maguire, Fedwa Malti-Douglas, Jeff Johnson, Melissa Dinverno, Micol Seigel, Patrick Dove, Shane Vogel, and Vivian Nun Halloran. Their ideas and questions have proven useful in a variety of contexts. My work also was shaped by a generous fellowship from the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Indiana University, which helped me to focus my efforts more effectively. An early research experience at the Kinsey Institute Library at Indiana University similarly opened my eyes to the cultural contexts and histories of gender and ethnicity. Later on, the Helen R. Whiteley Center and the Pack Forest Conference Center at the University of Washington provided supportive spaces for doing research in a peaceful manner. Outside of these spaces, I was fortunate to connect with excellent scholars such as Larry La Fountain and Martha Nell Smith, who inspired my research again and again. Their innovative studies of diverse cultural contexts have brought new life to my intellectual endeavors.

Further, I received some generous funding on two occasions from the Scholarship and Teaching Fund Committee in my present post at the University of Washington (UW) Tacoma. These funds helped me to expand my thinking and test ideas at conferences, which also helped me to connect with scholars and reimagine portions of the project. Colleagues, staff, and students at UW Tacoma also inspired new kinds of thinking during key moments in the research process. The expertise of the librarians at the University of Washington came in handy in multiple ways over the years. The UW Libraries repeatedly have made a space for people and projects that often are seen as different or seem like outsiders. In light of that backing, I honor the librarians’ excellent work here by commending them on their dedication, open-mindedness, and warmth. In a comparable fashion, the Campus Writing Groups at UW Tacoma allowed me to focus, discuss new ideas, and connect with thinkers outside of my job in the Division of Culture, Arts, and Communication. I am thankful for the thoughts from colleagues who do wonderful work in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences and across the UW Tacoma campus. Moreover, there have been many people at conferences that shaped this research. Early versions of my writing were presented at conferences, including the American Studies Association, the American Men’s Studies Association, the Cultural Studies Association, the Latin American Studies Association, and the Modern Language Association. In these sessions, several attendees shared generative comments and queries that were very beneficial to the latter part of my revisions.

Beyond academia, the friendship and mentorship of multiple people also offered me encouragement, support, and new perspectives. Support from Jörg, Michael, and Tehanee helped me to understand the bigger picture and be a better mentor to young folks. People living in the cities of Tacoma and Seattle, likewise, helped me to make progress in several ways. In a similar, albeit unique way, several visual artists contributed their work to this production. The artists Tino Rodríguez and J. D. Casto kindly have allowed me to reprint their work here. Christopher Velasco and the Laura Aguilar Trust have permitted to reprint one of Laura Aguilar’s powerful photographs. At the same time, I have been fortunate to connect with a myriad of communities along the way. I greatly appreciated opportunities to volunteer with nonprofits, which taught me new perspectives, including new ways of connecting with underrepresented populations. Another sort of community helped to make this book’s production possible: my thanks go to the multiple reviewers, editors, journals, and staff members, who often remain behind the scenes. Their keen critiques and contributions opened my eyes to other possible ways of thinking and existing in the larger world. Relatedly, I wish to acknowledge two journals that published previous versions of chapters that are included in this book. A shorter portion of chapter 3 was first published in the interdisciplinary journal CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, and another version of chapter 5 was published in the international journal, Otherness: Essays and Studies.

To bring these acknowledgments to a close, I wish to express my thanks to the people who had considerable impact on this book’s final steps and development. I have been inspired by the work of activists, advocates, and artists who have worked long hours to improve the lives of Latinx and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) peoples. The work of these unsung heroes repeatedly breathed new life into this project. Artists and poets around the world, including Gloria Anzaldúa, Audre Lorde, and Félix González-Torres, provided considerable inspiration for this book’s creation. Similarly, at Rowman & Littlefield International, I wish to thank Gurdeep Mattu, Scarlet Furness, and the rest of the staff that spent numerous hours arranging this book’s production. Their dedication made the last steps easier and more of a pleasure. Then in an entirely different manner, a little buddy named Rascal offered some much-needed support on occasion, encouraging me to enjoy the afternoon sunlight and take a break from work. Equally, my partner, David R. Coon, inspired me to laugh, breathe, and look at the world with a new set of eyes. David made the journey of writing a book much smoother. His support gave me strength and helped me to see that social change takes place in multiple ways across time and space. This book is dedicated to David and the many changemakers of the world. Through this book, I honor the larger mosaic of peoples who are working to create positive forms of social change and a more inclusive future.

Edward A. Chamberlain

October 2019