3. 3
BILINGUAL ALLUSIONS
• In John Nichols’ The Milagro Beanfield War,
Horsethief Shorty gives a forest ranger the
following warning:
• “These people wouldn’t confide in you, in
that uniform, Carl, if you was Cesar Chavez,
Pedro Infante, Cantinflas, and Lee Trevino all
rolled into one.”
4. 4
BILINGUAL EDUCATION
• One young bilingual child defined
“Bilingual Education” as follows:
• “That’s when the teacher says
everything twice, but you only
understand it once.”
5. 5
A BILINGUAL KNOCK-KNOCK
JOKE
• Knock knock.
• Who’s there?
• Kelly.
• Kelly who?
• Que le importa?
• (Spanish for “What’s it to you?”
6. 6
A BILINGUAL STORY
from Laurence Peter and Bill Dana’s The Laughter Prescription
• “There was un ratoncito, a little
mouse, and he was hiding in his hole
in the living room. He was very
frustrated, because he knew where
there was some queso, some cheese.
But, he heard the ‘miao’ of el gato,
the cat.”
7. 7
• This was no ratoncito estupido, because he
knew that gatos eat ratoncitos. So he
waited until he heard “Woof, woof,” and he
knew it was el perro, the dog. He knew that
perros scare away los gatos, and also that
perros don’t eat ratoncitos. So he walked
out and saw, no perro, pero el gato!
• And el gato gulped him up and said: “iQue
bueno ser bilingue!”
8. 8
CHEECH AND CHONG
• Cheech and Chong (Richard
Marin and Tommy Chong) have
been described as the Bob and
Ray of the scruffy drug culture.
9. CHEECH AND CHONG: UP IN SMOKE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2pXxHW1DHs
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11. 11
GEORGE LOPEZ
• “I liked the original Batman because
the Joker was Latino—Cesar Romero—
but I thought Batman should have been
Mexican because that car was way too
nice for a white man to be driving.”
12. 12
MAGICAL REALISM
• Magical Realism is a blend of
exaggeration, fables and cultureal lore
that is distinctly Hispanic.
• It can be seen in Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless
Me, Ultima, and in Laura Esquivel’s
Like Water for Chocolate
13. 13
• Like Water for Chocolate gets its title from a
Spanish colloquialism alluding to water that
is agitated or ready to boil.
• Tita is the youngest of three daughters in a
Mexican ranching family. She was born in a
kitchen and therefore has a special affinity for
food.
• So many tears were shed at Tita’s birth that
when the tears dried there was enough salt to
last the family for many years.
14. 14
• When Tita is forced to bake the
wedding cake to celebrate her
sister’s marriage to the man
that Tita loves, Tita cries so
many tears that her sorrow is
baked into the wedding cake
and all of the guests become ill.
16. 16
MEXICAN CORRIDOS
• Because Mexican “corridos” are about the
“corridor” between Mexico and the United
States, they are very bicultural.
• These Corridos make allusions both to
Mexican folk heroes and to American folk
heroes, whether they are real (like Jimmy
Hoffa), mythological (like Pecos Bill), or
superheroes (like Superman).
17. 17
MEXICAN HUMOR
• Mexican humor is expressed in folk
genres such as jokes, jests, and
anecdotes. It is very bilingual and
bicultural.
• Mexican proverbs are epiphenal, as in
“En boca cerrada, no entran moscas.”
18. 18
OFFENSIVE ETHNIC HUMOR
• Sometimes our sensitivities change. Bill
Dana used to have a character named Jose
Jimenez who used a Mexican accent to tell
hilarious jokes.
• But this offended so many people that he had
to stop using this persona.
• The same is true about the Taco Bell
spokesman who spoke with an accent.
19. 19
JEFF VALDEZ
• “My brothers’ names are Alfonso,
Lorenzo, Ramon…[and me] Jeff. I
guess that was right about the
time my parents assimilated…
right there!
20. Groucho Marx and Funny Mexican Guy:
http://www.chonday.com/Videos/funny-mexican-guy-with-groucho-
marx#.UfVbmBN44QQ.email
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