Josefina Niggli (1910–1983; birth name was Josephine ) was a Mexican -born Anglo -American playwright and novelist . Writing about Mexican-American issues in the middle years of the century, before the rise of the Chicano movement , she was the first and, for a time, the only Mexican American writing in English on Mexican themes; her egalitarian views of gender, race and ethnicity were progressive for their time and helped lay the groundwork for such later Chicana feminists as Gloria Anzaldúa , Ana Castillo and Sandra Cisneros . Niggli is now recognized as "a literary voice from the middle ground between Mexican and Anglo heritage." Critic Elizabeth Coonrod Martinez has written that Niggli should be considered on a par with such widely praised Spanish-language contemporaries as Mariano Azuela , Martín Luis Guzmán and Nellie Campobello . She is thought to be the only Mexican-American woman to have a theatre named after her, the Niggli Studio Theater at Western Carolina University .
19-657: Niggli is an Italian surname that may refer to Josefina Niggli (1910–1983), Mexican-born Anglo-American playwright and novelist Paul Niggli (1888–1953), Swiss crystallographer Dorsum Niggli , a wrinkle ridge on the Moon Niggli Nunataks , is a group of glacial islands in Antarctica Simone Niggli-Luder (born 1978), Swiss orienteering athlete Urs Niggli (born 1953), Swiss agronomist [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with
38-531: A giant of Mexican literature within the Latin American literary world ." These novels, written in English, were meant to help her U.S. audience better understand both Mexico and the experiences of Mexican Americans; as such, she has been described by such critics as Gloria Anzaldúa as displaying a "border consciousness", a confusion of identity brought on by the process of Americanization . When Mexican Village
57-511: A modern Mexico and was supportive of her success in America. In 1945, Niggli published her first novel-in-stories, Mexican Village , about a Mexican-born American (like Niggli, but male) who must confront problems with both American and Mexican cultures when he returns to Mexico. She followed this in 1947 with Step Down, Elder Brother , the Spanish translation of which "cemented Niggli's reputation as
76-519: A musical. During the early part of the 1950s Niggli began to work at Dublin 's Abbey Theater until she began to teach. Niggli left Hollywood to teach English and drama at Western Carolina University , where she worked from 1956 to 1975, helping to found the Theatre Department; the University now houses a collection of her writings and a theater in her name. In 2009, the University sponsored
95-559: A professor and diplomat. It was during his time as a diplomat in 1945 that he met George Bernard Shaw in London . After returning to Mexico from the U.S., he established the Midnight Theater and also became a member of the literary circle that formed around the journal Contemporary. During the 1930s, he directed radio dramas . Usigli’s theater focuses largely the history of Mexico and satirizing his contemporary Mexican society, and how
114-515: A teenager in San Antonio, and in spite of being an Anglo, she felt that she didn't belong and wished to be back in Monterrey; these feelings formed the basis of her first book of poetry, Mexican Silhouettes , published in 1928 with the help of her father. As a student at Incarnate Word College , Niggli was prompted by her teachers to become a writer, leading to awards from Ladies' Home Journal and
133-577: A theatre named after her. Rodolfo Usigli Rodolfo Usigli (November 17, 1905 – June 18, 1979) was a Mexican playwright, essayist and diplomat. He has been called "the father of Mexican theater" and "playwright of the Mexican Revolution ." In recognition of his work to articulate a national identity for Mexican theater, he was award the Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes (Mexican National Prize for Arts and Sciences ) in 1972. Usigli
152-634: A writer and producer for San Antonio's KTSA radio station and studied play writing at the San Antonio Little Theatre (now known as the Public Theater of San Antonio), eventually joining the Carolina Playmakers at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , where she earned her M.A. During this time, she continued to write about Mexican folklore and history, such as her play Soldadera , which depicted women soldiers ( soldaderas ) in
171-536: A yearlong, campus-wide theme in her honor: "Josefina Niggli: A Celebration of Culture, Art, and Life". While in North Carolina, she continued to write not only novels—her final novel, A Miracle for Mexico , was published in 1964 —but also radio and television shows, including The Twilight Zone and Have Gun—Will Travel . Niggli died on 17 December 1983 in Cullowhee, North Carolina . After her death Niggli's work
190-529: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Josefina Niggli Niggli was born on July 13, 1910, in Monterrey , Nuevo León , into an expatriated Euro-American family from the U.S. (her father, of Swiss-Alsatian descent, was from Texas, and her mother, who was Irish-French-German, from Virginia). Because of the Mexican Revolution , she was sent out of Mexico in 1913, and spent much of her youth between Monterrey and San Antonio, Texas . As
209-441: The surname Niggli . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Niggli&oldid=855888950 " Categories : Surnames Italian-language surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
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#1732898280610228-535: The Mexican Revolution, particularly the tradition of La Adelita . After a brief stint on the faculty at UNC Chapel Hill, she moved to Mexico to work for playwright Rodolfo Usigli at the National Autonomous University of Mexico . In 1938, she published a collection of her plays, Mexican Folk Plays , with a preface by Usigli. Usigli, like Niggli, wanted to portray the history and challenges of
247-570: The Mexican middle classes were betrayed, politically and socially, by the Mexican revolution. His plays reflect a sense of the hypocrisies of life after the revolution, both criticizing society and offering models to emulate. He called for a national theater movement that would reflect the truth of the Mexican experience and express the Mexican spirit. He is perhaps best known for his 1938 play El gesticulador (The Imposter) , which critiqued social issues ravaging Mexico, such as misuse of power that
266-654: The National Catholic College Poetry Award. In 1938 Niggli wrote a collection of five one-act pieces, Mexican Folk Plays , which was published by the University of North Carolina Press. This collection touches on themes Niggli frequently addressed in her writing, ranging from pieces focusing on pre-Columbian Mexico to more contemporary history of Mexico's revolution. Niggli was hired during World War II by NBC International to write Spanish language messages for Latin American radio. Niggli became active as
285-474: The bureaucracy had got from the Revolution of 1910. The play was censored by the Mexican government banned, raising Usigli's reputation. In 1942 Usigli published another work of scathing quality. In Family Dinner at Home' his intended target were the apex strata of the Mexican social structure. Usigli experimented with crime fiction in the novel, Ensayo de un crimen ( Rehearsal for a Crime ), which in 1955
304-569: Was adapted into a film, The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz , by Luis Buñuel . Usigli also wrote several essays on history, art and theater. He was also an occasional poet , writing modest but interesting poems. The award-winning Usigli believed the objective of theatre was to tell the truth about society. He was known for his strong representation of women in plays. Usigli designed strong female characters in several of his plays. Two of Usigli's protégées, Rosario Castellanos and Luisa Josefina Hernández , became important female voices on
323-586: Was born to an Italian father and a Polish mother in Mexico City . In his early childhood, he enjoyed many plays that his parents took him to. His father aspired him to go to music school, and Usigli spent a year in the National Conservatory of Music before deciding that his real passion was theater. He studied drama at the Yale School of Drama from 1935-1936 on a Rockefeller scholarship, later becoming
342-548: Was for the most part forgotten until the 1990s when literary scholars began to reevaluate her work and Chicana/o writers began to acknowledge her as a trailblazer of the Chicana/o literature movement. In 2005, Western Carolina University named the Niggli Studio Theater in her honor, in the university's newly opened John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center. She is thought to be the only Mexican-American woman to have
361-421: Was picked up by Hollywood to be made into a movie ( Sombrero , starring Ricardo Montalbán , Pier Angeli and Cyd Charisse ), Niggli moved to Hollywood and became a "stable writer" for Twentieth-Century Fox and MGM studios, working anonymously on such films as Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and The Mark of Zorro . The adaptation of Mexican Village involved quite a change in genre, being turned into
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