"Una peregrinación to an América unwritten": Chicana Codices and the Study of Scriptures

This panel brings together four scholars whose training is not technically in Latina/o Studies, but who bring Latina/o Studies questions, texts, and approaches to bear on their work in the broader field of “religion.” What... [ view full abstract ]

This panel brings together four scholars whose training is not technically in Latina/o Studies, but who bring Latina/o Studies questions, texts, and approaches to bear on their work in the broader field of “religion.” What happens when Latina/o Studies texts are refocused on religious discourses, histories, and fields that are not specifically Latina/o? Looking at the legacies of USA Christianity, biblical studies, late antique history, and the history of Pentecostalism, how does the integration of Latina/o studies thinkers and writers transform these other fields?

Hidalgo theorizes what scriptures are and how they work. She draws on Latinx Studies and Chicanx Studies scholarship on codices and glyphs. Given how some Latinxs engage alternative scriptural traditions, Hidalgo queries how contemporary notions of revelation and scripture may be understood as more plural and diverse than the dominantized Christian bible. She then uses more contemporary Chicana ideas of codices, such as those of Cherríe Moraga, to rethink the histories and legacies of the Christian book of Revelation in the USA West.