At the Bordelands of Knowledge

Gloria Anzaldua’s book is highly unconventional- both in approach, and in subject matter. Anzaldua’s book eloquently expresses her bilinguality, which is quite appropriate considering the themes of multiplicity that she covers. What I found most interesting about this stylistic choice was her refusal to conform to a traditional approach- she uses this bilinguality of hers as a metaphor to dismantle the traditional standards or means of expression, and by doing so, she forces one to engage with her, rather than her having to engage with the reader. Through this method, Anzaldua sends out a political message that resonates with the struggle of decolonization- the deliberate refusal to, through her language, uphold the weight of a civilization that threatens to stifle other ways of gaining knowledge and establishing the truth- in short, European humanism and rationality. 

Anzadula’s book is a struggle to own the way she tells her own story, just as decolonization is the struggle for ownership of one's self, and representation. The fact that her book also covers a myriad of themes and does not follow one singular narrative ties in perfectly with her hybrid Mestiza identity. The form in which she seeks to tell her story is true to the story she wants to tell, and her method, which is tied to the refusal of accepting a singular way of knowing, is key- and this is tied to her attempt to decolonize knowledge. She also refuses to reject the burden of history that her cultural heritage weighs upon her, but instead celebrates and seeks to build upon this historical violence. Gloria Anzadula thus decolonizes knowledge by disallowing herself to ally with one singular camp- she constantly questions the source of her knowledge. Through the way in which she articulates herself, she is aware of the hierarchy of knowledge and mode of consciousness- one that favors the mind over the body- what she sees is how she comes to be in locations that are not immediately visible or discernible to us. She forces the reader to rely on their imagination and senses, bringing home the point that there is not only one singular rational way of knowing and understanding.

Standing at the intersection, or border land, of several identities and oppression, Andzadula is able to come up with a future, or a type of consciousness that does not need to hark back and reclaim what was written off the pages of history, or one that rationality and humanism aspires to- instead, she envisions a future that employs a third way. This third way, the Mestiza consciousness is the de-centering of one singular possibility, and the divergence, or the acceptance of the concept of multiple possibilities- of the idea that there are infinite ways of knowing and experiencing the world, there is infinite knowledge, infinite types of wisdom- and only when we celebrate these and employ a more wholesome perspective, we will be able to overcome the darkness of and truly repair the damage of colonization.