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Cherre Moraga is an artist of multiple identities:playwright, essayist, poet; Chicana, lesbian, mother,

feminist, indigenous rights activist. After many yearsof writing and over ten years serving as an artist-in-residence in theDrama Departmentof StanfordUniversity, Moraga continues to explore theseidentities as a guiding source of meaning and purposein her most recent works. Moragas collection ofpersonal essays from the past decade, A XicanaCodex of Changing Consciousness, was publishedthis year. Furthermore, her upcoming play New Fire,both written and directed by Moraga, isscheduled topremiereat Brava Theater Center in January.

According to Moraga, writing is a way of inscribing identity. This ability for words and stories to

communicate central truths about oneself resides at the heart of her book, A Xicana Codex ofChanging Consciousness, and is epitomized in Moragas self-conscious decision to spell Xicanawithan x. In an artists salon held recently at the Clayman Institute, Moraga prefaced her reading from thebook with anexplanation of this creative choice: The x in Nahuatl, which is one of hundreds ofindigenous tongues in Mexico, is pronounced as a kind of ch. So when you write [Xicana] with the xyoure reflecting a politic thats attached on some level to questions of indigenous identity. The xepitomizes Moragas attitude towards writing and politics. Writing is a source of power; it enablesindividuals to take ownership of their identity.

While Moragas example encourages people to take creative ownership of multiple identities, Moragacourageously admits that this is not easy or simple to do. Human consciousness changes; identitiesshift. Moraga recognizes that one of the most central aspects of her identity as an artist isuncertainty. I write essays because I have a question and I cant read the answer in a book, Moraga

said. Similarly, Moraga postulated that her fascination with theater stems from the freedom to depictcharacters as fallible individuals. I think that, as an author you have to be full of mistakes, Moragaconcluded. Mistakes are an important part of shared human identity. Mistakes, too, can be a sourceof power.

In the midst of these uncertainties, Moraga finds one vital certainty in the impulse to create the needto tell ones own story. Moraga described how the process of writing some of her essays was

Writing identity: the art of Cherrie Moraga

by Heidi Thorsen on Monday, October 17, 2011 11:21am

http://www.stanford.edu/dept/drama/http://www.stanford.edu/dept/drama/http://www.stanford.edu/dept/drama/http://brava.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=143&Itemid=68http://brava.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=143&Itemid=68http://brava.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=143&Itemid=68http://brava.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=143&Itemid=68http://brava.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=143&Itemid=68http://brava.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=143&Itemid=68http://www.stanford.edu/dept/drama/

7/31/2019 Writing identity: the art of Cherrie Moraga

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Copyright 2010 Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.

preceded by an overwhelming physical sensation of sicknessa physical echo of the need to articulate ones own questionsand experiences. The central character of New Fire faces asimilar hybrid of physical and spiritual malady on the eve of her52

ndbirthday, a landmark number in Meso-American culture. In

order to get well what she has to do is remember, of course,

Moraga divulges. For Moraga, the connection between memoryand storytelling is clear: memories are stories we tellourselves. Just as memories are a critical part of our personalidentity, so are stories a unifying point of our shared identity.

Whether exercising her role as an essayist, a poet, or aplaywright, Cherre Moraga is a storyteller. She tells stories inorder to codify her own myriad identities, and in doing so sheexpands the vicarious experience and memory of those whoencounter her work. Her stories become our stories, in ritual ifnot in truth. We encounter her identities in order to betterunderstandand expandour own.

Cherre Moragais an award-winning playwright, poet, and activist. She is the author of AXicana Codex of Changing Consciousness, Loving in the War Years, and co-editor, with GloriaAnzalda, of This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color. Moraga is afounding member ofLa RED Xicana Indgena, a network of Xicana activists committed toindigenous political issues and spiritual practices. She is an Artist-in-Residence in the DramaDepartment at Stanford University

This article was written byHeidi Thorsen, a reporter on the Clayman Institute Student WritingTeam. She is an undergraduate student at Stanford University majoring in English Literatureand Drama.

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