Another Book on La Virgen?: Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Cultural Politics of Interpretation

Team Members/Contributors

Socorro Castañeda-Liles University of California, Santa Barbara Contact Me

About this dissertation fellowship

For centuries many people of Mexican descent regardless of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and geographical location have recognized the Virgen de Guadalupe as the most influential Catholic and cultural feminine symbol of Mexico. Although the Guadalupe narrative emerged over 470 years ago, for many Mexican-origin people she is one of the most enduring cultural symbols of Mexican life both in the U.S. and in Mexico. With such a large and disparate following, it is not surprising that there are as many competing interpretations and ways of experiencing the Virgen de Guadalupe as there are people.

Generally, theologians strive to define what the Virgen de Guadalupe means in the lives of people. Historians make every attempt to prove that the event never took place or that it was a mechanism of colonization. Chicana artists express in a canvas a reflection of their lived reality through Guadalupe, and working-class women create yet new ways to relate to this sacred symbol often counter to the voices of the established discourse on the Virgen de Guadalupe.

This study examines Mexican-origin women’s views about the Virgen de Guadalupe across: class, generation, immigrant status, religious background, and occupational lines. I analyze how or at what points these views reflect or depart from each other, and from established discourse on the Virgen de Guadalupe. I pay particular attention to what this tells us about how and why women make knowledge claims about the Virgen de Guadalupe and their spirituality.