Abstract
“Mita Mita” asks audiences to reflect on the often discordant nature of identity development and how language, culture, and community impact this understanding. This piece is inspired by Gloria Anzaldua’s creation of the “mita y mita” framework in relation to border identity and politics theory as a way to conceptualize the doubling of identity that occurs between binaries. Through this lens, I attempt to dismantle the borders I have constructed around my identities by analyzing how reclaiming my name has begun to mend my sociocultural insecurities. As you engage with this material, I encourage you to let down your guard and get messy as you unbury the roots of your identity. *This piece was originally an installation and performance piece at Claremont Graduate University’s installation show A Dim Glow in the Belly in 2025.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Yudess, Belén S.
(2026)
"Mita y Mita: Bilingualism Beyond Identity Borders,"
The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal:
Vol. 6:
Iss.
1, Article 14.
Available at:
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/steam/vol6/iss1/14
Included in
Art Education Commons, Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Chicana/o Studies Commons, Fine Arts Commons, Latin American Languages and Societies Commons, Latina/o Studies Commons
Author/Artist Bio
Belén Yudess is a graduate student at Claremont Graduate University getting her MA in Transdisciplinary Analysis and MFA. She graduated from Scripps College in 2025 with their BA in English (creative writing) and Spanish (Interdisciplinary Studies) with a minor in Humanities. As a queer, Mexican/Cuban, and Jewish American young woman and the granddaughter of immigrants, Belén is passionate about exploring the interdisciplinary relationship between culture, language, and sociopolitical histories on youth identity\ development. Their writing and research focus on the importance of empowering young adult voices, especially queer, Latinx folks, a fight that is especially critical in our current times considering the recent attacks on the Latinx immigrant and LGBTQIA+ communities. They aspire to be a writer and professor specializing in the transdisciplinary nature of queer, Latinx stories and histories and the role of identity within educational spaces.