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Leal (Luis) papers
M0761
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Luis Leal papers
Identifier/Call Number: M0761
Physical Description:
67 Linear Feet
Date (inclusive): 1946-1985
The Luis Leal papers document the personal and academic activities of a literary
historiographer, mexican writer, and critic.
Director of the Research Center for Chicano Studies at U.C. Santa Barbara and Professor
Emeritus at the University of Illinois, Urbana, Leal has achieved a record of distinction as
Professor of Spanish-American literature and has authored numerous books and hundreds of
journal articles dealing with Latin American and Chicano literature. Especially noteworthy
articles on Chicano literature include "Mexican American literature: a historical
perspective," and "The problem of identifying Chicano literature."
By the time that Professor Leal began to study Chicano literature, he was one of the most
respected critics of Latin American literature, and in particular the Mexican short story.
The prestigious--and unfortunately now defunct--Mexican publishing house of Andre had
published five books of his: Breve historia del cuento mexicano (1956), Antología del cuento
mexicano (1957), Bibliografía del cuento mexicano (1958), Mariano Azuela: vida y obra
(1961), and Historia del cuento hispanoamericano (1966). With these books, and many others
published in the United States and Latin America, together with the innumerable articles and
monographs which appeared in all the best academic periodicals, Leal built an admirable body
of work, solid and systematic.
Luis Leal was born in Linares, Nuevo León, México on 17 September 1907. At the time of the
mexican revolution, he emigrated to the United States, and established his residence in
Chicago, where he continued his education.
On september 1936 he married Gladys Clemens. From this marriage they had two sons, Antonio
and Luis Alonso.
In 1943 LuisLeal joined the United States Army, and was sent to the Pacific for two years.
After his service in the Philippines at war's end, he continued his doctoral work at the
University of Chicago and won his degree in Philosophy and Belles Lettres in 1950.
In 1951, he served as President of the Chicago Chapter of the American Association of
Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP), in 1952 he served as President of the Chicago
Society of Romance Language Teachers, and in 1953, as Chairman of a Spanish section for the
South Central Modern Language Association (the SCMLA).
Luis Leal held a number of teaching positions. From Instructor, Assistant Professor and
Associate Professor at the University of Chicago, University of Illinois, Visiting Professor
at UCSB and UCLA, Visiting Professor/Lecturer at the University of Chicago, University of
Arizona, University of Wisconsin, National University of Mexico, Middlebury College,
University of Arizona NDEA Institute, Guadalajara, México, and Stanford Univeristy.
Surrounded by mexican ambience, Doctor Luis Leal lives in Santa Bárbara with his gentle
wife. His house like his heart continues open to share with disciples and friends the
literary topics, memories of classrooms and the destiny of man.
[Identification of item] Luis Leal Papers, M0761, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford
University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Gift of Luis Leal, 1989
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