Luis Leal ( Linares, Nuevo León, September 17, 1907 –

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...

, January 25, 2010) was a Mexican-American writer and literary critic.

Biography

Born into a family that had participated in the Mexican Revolution, Leal lived in the United States beginning in 1927, studying at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. There, in 1936, he met his future wife Gladys Clemens, with whom he had two sons, Antonio and Luis Alfonso. In 1939 he was naturalized as an American citizen. After serving in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, he resumed his literary studies at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

, where in 1950 he acquired a doctorate in Spanish and Italian literature. Leal was a pioneer in the field of

Latin-American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-ethn ...

and

Chicano literature Mexican American literature is literature written by Mexican Americans in the United States. Although its origins can be traced back to the sixteenth century, the bulk of Mexican American literature dates from post-1848 and the United States ann ...

. He taught briefly at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment ...

, but uncomfortable with

racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

transferred to

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

and later to the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

before finally accepting a post at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

in 1976. There he directed the Center for Chicano Studies from 1994 to 1996. He lectured as a guest professor at various universities and continued his academic career until well into his nineties. He published articles in ''Cuadernos Americanos'' and ''Historia Mexicana,'' and edited ''Ventana Abierta: Revista Latina de Literatura, Arte y Cultura''. He was especially interested in Mexican storytelling, particularly the work of Mariano Azuela and

Juan Rulfo Juan Nepomuceno Carlos Pérez Rulfo Vizcaíno, best known as Juan Rulfo ( ; 16 May 1917 – 7 January 1986), was a Mexican writer, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for two literary works, the 1955 novel ''Pedro Páramo'', and th ...

, contributing substantially to the ''Encyclopedia of Latino Folklore''. He authored some 45 books and more than four hundred articles. Among his students were the hispanists Merlin Foster, Sara Poot-Herrera, Francisco Lomelí, and María Herrera-Sobek. Leal was one of the first professors to incorporate the writers of the

Latin American Boom The Latin American Boom ( es, Boom latinoamericano) was a literary movement of the 1960s and 1970s when the work of a group of relatively young Latin American novelists became widely circulated in Europe and throughout the world. The Boom is mo ...

(i.e.

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

Carlos Fuentes Carlos Fuentes Macías (; ; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are ''The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (1962), ''Aura'' (1962), '' Terra Nostra'' (1975), ''The Old Gringo'' (1985) and ''Christopher ...

, and Julio Cortázar) into his curriculum. He also introduced American scholarship to the works of

Amado Nervo Amado Nervo (August 27, 1870 – May 24, 1919) also known as Juan Crisóstomo Ruiz de Nervo, was a Mexican poet, journalist and educator. He also acted as Mexican Ambassador to Argentina and Uruguay. His poetry was known for its use of metaphor a ...

, Mariano Azuela, Rafael Muñoz, and

Martín Luis Guzmán Martín Luis Guzmán Franco (October 6, 1887 – December 22, 1976) was a Mexican novelist and journalist. Along with Mariano Azuela and Nellie Campobello, he is considered a pioneer of the revolutionary novel, a genre inspired by the experiences ...

. With respect to Chicano literature, he promoted the study of

Tomás Rivera Tomás Rivera (December 22, 1935 – May 16, 1984) was a Mexican American author, poet, and educator. He was born in Texas to migrant farm workers, and worked in the fields as a young boy. However, he achieved social mobility through educatio ...

, Rolando Hinojosa,

Sandra Cisneros Sandra Cisneros (born December 20, 1954) is an American writer. She is best known for her first novel, ''The House on Mango Street'' (1983), and her subsequent short story collection, '' Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories'' (1991). Her work e ...

Alurista Alberto Baltazar Urista Heredia (born August 8, 1947), better known by his nom de plume Alurista, is a Chicano poet and activist. Early life and education Urista was born in Mexico City and attended primary school in Morelos. He went to the Unit ...

, and

Rudolfo Anaya Rudolfo Anaya (October 30, 1937June 28, 2020) was an American author. Noted for his 1972 novel ''Bless Me, Ultima'', Anaya was considered one of the founders of the canon of contemporary Chicano literature. The themes and cultural references of ...

. A member of the Modern Language Association of America, Leal received the

National Humanities Medal The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the human ...

and was honored by the National Association for Chicano Studies in 1988. In 1991 he received the

Order of the Aztec Eagle The Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle ( es, Orden Mexicana del Águila Azteca) forms part of the Mexican Honours System and is the highest Mexican order awarded to foreigners in the country. History It was created by decree on December 29, 1933 ...

. Luis Leal has no relation to Luis Leal of Cleveland, TX.

Works

*With Carlos Castillo, ''Anthology of Mexican Literature'', 1944. *Editor of ''Cuentecitos: Retold and Adapted from the Spanish of Vicente Riva Palacio'', 1944. *''El Periquillo Sarmiento'', 1946. *''México: civilizaciones y culturas'', 1955, rev. 1971. *''Breve historia del cuento mexicano'', 1957, 1990. *Edición de ''Antología del cuento mexicano'', 1957. *''Bibliografía del cuento mexicano'', 1958. *''Mariano Azuela, vida y obra'', 1961. *''Panorama de la literature mexicana actual'', 1968. *''Breve historia de la literature hispanoamericana'', 1971. *''Mariano Azuela'', 1971. *''Corridos y canciones de Aztlán'', 1980, 1986. *''Juan Rulfo'', 1983. *''Aztlán y México: Perfiles literarios e históricos'', 1985. *''No Longer Voiceless'', 1995. *With Victor Fuentes: ''Don Luis Leal: Una vida y dos culturas. Conversaciones con Victor Fuentes'', 1998. *With Mario T. García: ''Luis Leal: An Auto/Biography'', 2000.

References

* Consuelo Hernández."Luis Leal: un inmigrante ejemplar." ''En rendido homenaje a Luis Leal (1907-2010''). Víctor Fuentes, Francisco Lomelí and Sara Poot-Herrera (eds). Sponsored by Institute of Chicano Studies and University of California. Santa Barbara: College Editions/Bandanna Books, 2010. 164-169. * Vivancos Pérez, Ricardo F. "Apuntes de Don Luis Leal sobre la función del crítico." ''One Hundred Years of Loyalty. In Honor of Luis Leal''. Ed. María Herrera-Sobek, Francisco A. Lomelí and Sara Poot-Herrera. Mexico D.F.: UCSB, UC-Mexicanistas, UNAM, U del Claustro de Sor Juana, and Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, 2007. 965-77.

External links

Brief biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leal, Luis 1907 births 2010 deaths Mexican emigrants to the United States American academics of Mexican descent American literary critics Literary critics of Spanish American writers of Mexican descent American centenarians Men centenarians University of California, Santa Barbara faculty National Humanities Medal recipients