Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1996. [Vol. 3.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 23)

STUDIES - András Tarnóc: Ethnic Consciousness in Chicano Literature: The Voice of "La Raza".

Furthermore the labor movement seemed to defy the stereotype of the "docile Mexican." Although the strikers led by Cesar Chávez demanded better wages and the improvement of their working conditions, the events at Delano led to a movement aimed at remedying centuries of historical wrongs. The Delano strike brought on El Movimiento where the former's "El Plan de Delano" demanding land and justice paved the way toward the emergence of Chicano consciousness. The Chicano movement was a response to Mexican-American society's cultural, economic, and political crisis. Chicano consciousness was characterized by the notions of brotherhood, cultural empowerment, maintenance of historical values and sympathy with the oppressed (Anaya 301). Aztlán The notion of Aztlán was introduced in 1969 by the Chicano Youth Conference held in Denver. Alberto Alurista's "El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán" put forth a program demanding land, political equality and changes in higher education (Pérez—Torres 58). Aztlán functioned as a matrix where two lines of Chicano thought met, one concerning an attempt to change the hostile socio-political system, the other operated on the subjective level aiming to instill ethnic pride (Pérez—Torres 59). Aztlán, the land of the Seven caves, is the primeval ground from which the ancient Mexicans moved southward in 820 A.D. (Pérez— Torres 57). Chicanos consider themselves the "true descendants of the Fifth Sun, el Quinto Sol." Out of the four groups to have emerged from Aztlán: Nahuas, Toltecs, Chichimecas and Aztecs, the latter inaugurated the epoch of the Fifth Sun. The arrival of el Quinto So/was preceded by four eras, the age of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. The Fifth Sun represents movement and progress born of man's sacrifice and reaffirms the existence of a "cosmic spirit," the alma Chicana (the Chicano soul). William H. Prescotfs History of the Conquest of Mexico (1843) and Alvin M. Josephy Jr.'s The Indian Heritage of America 71