Spirituality, Magic and Myth in Hispanic and Latino Literature

Spirituality, Magic and Myth in Hispanic and Latino Literature

Introduction

Past several years shows us that there is a tremendous appraisal in the literature of Latino and Hispanic origin, due to its main themes that it follows. For many readers of the old times, the stories might not be intriguing, but today they are making top ranking due to the element of myth, magic and spirituality in them. It would not be wrong to say that these themes have always been a source of attraction for readers of literature, but the new technological era took the readers away from it and diverted their attention. Now with the change in times, the trend is returning, with more and more people, opting for the mysterious themes again that are a source of intrigue for them. Another aspect that makes the Latino and Hispanic literature good to read is that both the forms of literature actually starts from the childhood of the readers that are native to it, describing them being bi-linguistic and mix cultured people and from their actually everything starts shattering resulting in shattered personalities or abilities.

Discussion

Shattering actually results in inconsistent and paradoxical relations between language, culture or even some times identities. The belief in myths, magic, religion is totally dependent on where you are born, your social circle, your brought up excluding religion. Religion is something God gifted.

The Hispanic or Latino literature helps you to understand how difficult and unmatchable lives are living while comparing them to traditional American literature. Taking a perfect example of Spanish versus Spanglish the literature of children Hispanics shows you that it's having a lot of advantages like living a life every migratory can understand or absorb easily or living a life that youth actually have founded or achieved by them. While many scholars or critics have criticized it so brutally which to some extent is also seems to be favorable for the Hispanics. They have pointed out that this is totally negative for them as they are not having their own representation as one in terms of culture or even language.

The terms religiosity and spirituality have commonly been used simultaneously and interchangeably within psychological and health research ; however, a growing number of individuals who identify themselves as spiritual do not necessarily identify with any religious belief, doctrine, or denomination , and researchers are beginning to distinguish spirituality and religiosity as somewhat overlapping, yet distinct multidimensional constructs. Although definitions vary, religiosity and spirituality can generally be defined as any feelings, thoughts, experiences and behaviors that arise from a search for the sacred (Alvarez, p. 144).

The term religiosity was traditionally used as a broad construct referring to both substantive elements such as beliefs, practices and relationships that are related to a higher power, or the sacred, as well as more functional elements that emphasize how religious beliefs and practices are used to deal with existential concerns such as meaning and suffering. Religiosity is now commonly more narrowly defined as ...