nepantlism
Etymology
From nepantla + -ism.
nepantlism means the condition of being a nepantla, a Chicano or Latino person who experiences a sense of being in between cultures. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 95 out of 100.
Why “nepantlism” is a great word
NEPANTLISM — [Noun] The condition of existing in a liminal, cultural borderland, specifically for Chicano or Latino individuals. From the Nahuatl nepantla ("in between, in the middle") + the English suffix -ism (denoting a state or condition). Coined by Gloria Anzaldúa in the late 20th century. Unlike assimilation, which implies a one-way journey toward a dominant culture, or hybridity, which suggests a settled blend, nepantlism denotes the persistent, dynamic friction of the in-between space itself. It is the taste of chorizo at a suburban barbecue, the rhythm of Spanish syntax in an English sentence, and the daily navigation of an internalized frontier—a homeland built entirely of thresholds, a territory of both wound and wisdom.
noun
- The condition of being a nepantla, a Chicano or Latino person who experiences a sense of being in between cultures.