Gloria Anzaldua's 'Towards A New Consciousness'

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In Gloria Anzalduas text “Towards a New Consciousness”, she presents a solution to the issue of social division and self perception. Her theories promote the idea of unification among different races and cultures, and seek to develop a new social and cultural consciousness which embodies all cultures. The text opens by referencing Jose Vasconcelos, a Mexican author and philosopher, and states that there is a new race which is the product of all the other races combined, and from this "confluence of two or more genetic streams”, she explains, comes a new "mestiza consciousness", which is forced to face the confusion of identity not only physically, but racially, culturally, biologically and ideologically. For Anzaldua, this deep pain stems from having to live a life of division do to the…show more content…
She introduces this term "mestiza consciousness", and elaborates upon the importance of embracing this new way of thinking. Anzaldua believes that this new consciousness is the end of all dualistic thinking and provides a step toward embracing the entirety of the self, which in turn can lead to the recreation of the individual and the attainment of a collective consciousness. She believes that through this new consciousness, there can exist the creation of another culture, a new social configuration which connects everything and everyone. These ideas of social and cultural collectivity presented by Anzaldua, are profound in that they aim to tear apart the old system of division based off physical, political and spiritual, and cultural differences, and instead aspire to bring unison through spiritual and cultural awakening. By embracing this new mestiza consciousness, Anzaldua believes that one can better understand the issues and divisions within society and can in turn alter reality by altering collective

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