REL 360: Global Guide: Caring for Self (with Dr. Courtney Dorroll)

Spirituality has consistently been present in the political and cultural counternarratives of Chicanx literature. Calling the Soul Back focuses on the embodied aspects of a spirituality integrating body, mind, and soul. Centering the relationship between embodiment and literary narrative, Christina Garcia Lopez shows narrative as healing work through which writers and readers ritually call back the soul--one's unique immaterial essence--into union with the body, counteracting the wounding fragmentation that emerged out of colonization and imperialism. These readings feature both underanalyzed and more popular works by pivotal writers such as Gloria Anzaldúa, Sandra Cisneros, and Rudolfo Anaya, in addition to works by less commonly acknowledged authors.

With a combination of everyday practical advice, diagnostic exercises, toolkits for changing your life, and spiritual wisdom, spearheaded by selected verses from the Qur'an and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, this book is an essential aid for Muslims today.