The Plays of Josefina Niggli: Recovered Landmarks of Latino Literature
by Josefina Niggli edited by William Orchard and Josefina Niggli
University of Wisconsin Press, 2007 eISBN: 978-0-299-22453-0 | Paper: 978-0-299-22454-7 | Cloth: 978-0-299-22450-9 Library of Congress Classification PS3527.I66 2007 Dewey Decimal Classification 813.52
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Josefina Niggli (1910–1983) was one of the most successful Mexican American writers of the early twentieth century. Born of European parents and raised in Mexico, she spent most of her adult life in the United States, and in her plays and novels she aimed to portray authentic Mexican experiences for English-speaking audiences. Niggli crossed borders, cultures, and genres, and her life and work prompt interesting questions about race, class, gender, modernity, ethnic and national identity, and the formation of literary canons.
Although Niggli is perhaps best known for her fiction and folk plays, this anthology recovers her historical dramas, most of which have been long out of print or were never published. These plays are deeply concerned with the aftermath of the 1910 Mexican Revolution, imagining its implications for Mexico, Mexican Americans, and U.S.-Mexico relations. Included are Mexican Silhouettes (1928), Singing Valley (1936), The Cry of Dolores (1936), The Fair God (1936), Soldadera (1938), This is Villa! (1939), and The Ring of General Macias (1943). These works reflect on the making of history and often portray the Revolution through the lens of women’s experiences.
Also included in this volume are an extensive critical introduction to Niggli, a chronology of her life and writings, plus letters and reviews by, to, and about Josefina Niggli. that provide illuminating context for the plays.
Best Books for Special Interests, selected by the American Association of School Librarians, and Outstanding Book, selected by the Public Library Association
“The Best of the Best of the University Presses: Books You Should Know About” presented at the 2008 American Library Association Annual Conference
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Josefina Niggli was an accomplished playwright, novelist, screenwriter, and teacher. She was associated with the San Antonio Little Theater, the Carolina Playmakers, and the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. As a screenwriter, she worked for Twentieth Century Fox and MGM, where she adapted her novel Mexican Village for the screen. Niggli was a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Western Carolina University, where a campus theater is named for her. William Orchard is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of English at the University of Chicago and was a Cesar Chavez Fellow at Dartmouth College. Yolanda Padilla is assistant professor in the Department of English and in the Latin American and Latino Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
REVIEWS
“Padilla and Orchard have completed the formidable task of revitalizing the archive of Mexican American author Josefina Niggli, a writer whose production defies easy categorization but whose time has arrived thanks to the vicissitudes of cultural styles and newer rehearsals in Chicano-Latino literary history.”—Roberto Tejada, University of California, San Diego
“Josefina Niggli’s ghost haunts the fields of Mexican American and Chicana/o Studies, which have been uncomfortable with her exclusion but hesitant to embrace her fully.”—from the introduction
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Acknowledgements 000
Introducing Josefina Niggli 000
Josefina Niggli: A Chronology 000
Mexican Silhouettes (1928) 000
Singing Valley (1936) 000
The Cry of Dolores (1936) 000
The Fair God (1936) 000
Soldadera (1938) 000
This Is Villa (1939) 000
The Ring of General Macías (1943) 000
Backgrounds: Letters and Reviews
Carleton Beals, From The Saturday Review, 13 October 1945 000
Orville Prescott, From The New York Times, 16 October 1945 000
Norah Piper, From The Commonweal, 14 December 1945 000
Mildred Adams, From The New York Times, 16 December 1945 000
John Guillen, From Social Forces, May 1946 000
Agapito Rey, From Journal of American Folklore, July- Sept. 1947 000
Bonaventure Schwinn, From The Commonweal, 19 December 1947 000
Betty de Sherbinin, From The Saturday Review of Literature, 24 January 1948 000
Mildred Adams, From The New York Times, 8 February 1948 000
William C. Parker, From The Raleigh News and Observer, 29 February 1948 000
Carol Leh, From The Greensboro Daily News, 13 January 1952 000
Carol Leh, From Durham Morning Herald, 15 February 1953 000
Bosley Crowther, From The New York Times, 23 April 1953 000
John Rothwell, From The New York Times, c. 1953 000
Bernadette Hoyle, Letter to Richard Gaither Walser, 20 June 1955 000
Josefina Niggli, Letter to Maren Elwood, 11 May 1957 000
Josefina Niggli, Letter to Paul Green, 18 December 1964 000
Josefina Niggli, Autobiographical Article, n.d 000
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
The Plays of Josefina Niggli: Recovered Landmarks of Latino Literature
by Josefina Niggli edited by William Orchard and Josefina Niggli
University of Wisconsin Press, 2007 eISBN: 978-0-299-22453-0 Paper: 978-0-299-22454-7 Cloth: 978-0-299-22450-9
Josefina Niggli (1910–1983) was one of the most successful Mexican American writers of the early twentieth century. Born of European parents and raised in Mexico, she spent most of her adult life in the United States, and in her plays and novels she aimed to portray authentic Mexican experiences for English-speaking audiences. Niggli crossed borders, cultures, and genres, and her life and work prompt interesting questions about race, class, gender, modernity, ethnic and national identity, and the formation of literary canons.
Although Niggli is perhaps best known for her fiction and folk plays, this anthology recovers her historical dramas, most of which have been long out of print or were never published. These plays are deeply concerned with the aftermath of the 1910 Mexican Revolution, imagining its implications for Mexico, Mexican Americans, and U.S.-Mexico relations. Included are Mexican Silhouettes (1928), Singing Valley (1936), The Cry of Dolores (1936), The Fair God (1936), Soldadera (1938), This is Villa! (1939), and The Ring of General Macias (1943). These works reflect on the making of history and often portray the Revolution through the lens of women’s experiences.
Also included in this volume are an extensive critical introduction to Niggli, a chronology of her life and writings, plus letters and reviews by, to, and about Josefina Niggli. that provide illuminating context for the plays.
Best Books for Special Interests, selected by the American Association of School Librarians, and Outstanding Book, selected by the Public Library Association
“The Best of the Best of the University Presses: Books You Should Know About” presented at the 2008 American Library Association Annual Conference
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Josefina Niggli was an accomplished playwright, novelist, screenwriter, and teacher. She was associated with the San Antonio Little Theater, the Carolina Playmakers, and the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. As a screenwriter, she worked for Twentieth Century Fox and MGM, where she adapted her novel Mexican Village for the screen. Niggli was a faculty member at the University of North Carolina at Western Carolina University, where a campus theater is named for her. William Orchard is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of English at the University of Chicago and was a Cesar Chavez Fellow at Dartmouth College. Yolanda Padilla is assistant professor in the Department of English and in the Latin American and Latino Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
REVIEWS
“Padilla and Orchard have completed the formidable task of revitalizing the archive of Mexican American author Josefina Niggli, a writer whose production defies easy categorization but whose time has arrived thanks to the vicissitudes of cultural styles and newer rehearsals in Chicano-Latino literary history.”—Roberto Tejada, University of California, San Diego
“Josefina Niggli’s ghost haunts the fields of Mexican American and Chicana/o Studies, which have been uncomfortable with her exclusion but hesitant to embrace her fully.”—from the introduction
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
Acknowledgements 000
Introducing Josefina Niggli 000
Josefina Niggli: A Chronology 000
Mexican Silhouettes (1928) 000
Singing Valley (1936) 000
The Cry of Dolores (1936) 000
The Fair God (1936) 000
Soldadera (1938) 000
This Is Villa (1939) 000
The Ring of General Macías (1943) 000
Backgrounds: Letters and Reviews
Carleton Beals, From The Saturday Review, 13 October 1945 000
Orville Prescott, From The New York Times, 16 October 1945 000
Norah Piper, From The Commonweal, 14 December 1945 000
Mildred Adams, From The New York Times, 16 December 1945 000
John Guillen, From Social Forces, May 1946 000
Agapito Rey, From Journal of American Folklore, July- Sept. 1947 000
Bonaventure Schwinn, From The Commonweal, 19 December 1947 000
Betty de Sherbinin, From The Saturday Review of Literature, 24 January 1948 000
Mildred Adams, From The New York Times, 8 February 1948 000
William C. Parker, From The Raleigh News and Observer, 29 February 1948 000
Carol Leh, From The Greensboro Daily News, 13 January 1952 000
Carol Leh, From Durham Morning Herald, 15 February 1953 000
Bosley Crowther, From The New York Times, 23 April 1953 000
John Rothwell, From The New York Times, c. 1953 000
Bernadette Hoyle, Letter to Richard Gaither Walser, 20 June 1955 000
Josefina Niggli, Letter to Maren Elwood, 11 May 1957 000
Josefina Niggli, Letter to Paul Green, 18 December 1964 000
Josefina Niggli, Autobiographical Article, n.d 000
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE