Querencia: Reflections on the New Mexico Homeland
New Mexico cultural envoy Juan Estevan Arellano, to whom this work is dedicated, writes that 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." This collection of both deeply personal reflections and carefully researched studies explores the New Mexico homeland through the experiences and perspectives of Chicanx and indigenous/Genízaro writers and scholars from across the state. The importance of querencia for each contributor is apparent in their work and their ongoing studies, which have roots in the culture, history, literature, and popular media of New Mexico. Be inspired and enlightened by these essays and discover the history and belonging that is querencia.
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"Querencia's strength is its ability to foster conversations among the various peoples that populate the Land of Enchantment so that stories are shared and multiple narratives can hold meaning at once."--Daniel Arbino, Western American Literature
"Querencia's evocative prose and engagement with contemporary politics make it an accessible and timely reassessment of New Mexico's historical consciousness, while interlocking geographies of race, gender, and colonialism grant it a broader relevance as a robust framework for borderlands history."--Joseph Ukockis, Western Historical Quarterly
"Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez, Levi Romero, and Spencer R. Herrera bring together in Querencia fifteen Chicanx, Indigenous, and Genízaro writers and scholars whose work provides an insightful and well-considered approach to the ever-complex relationship between place, land, identity, and culture."--Jorge A. Hernández Jr., New Mexico Historical Review
"Inspiring and thought-provoking."--The Literary West Review
