SOURCE: A review of Floricanto in Aztlán, in Modern Language Journal, Vol. 56, No. 3, March 1972, pp. 181-2.

In the following review, Hancock enumerates some charcteristic strengths of Alurista's poetry.

Emerging from the Chicano movement is a distinctive literature which depicts the conditions of the Chicano and expresses his anxieties and expectations. In poetry, the best-known voice is Alurista (Alberto Baltazar Urista Heredia), and his Floricanto en Aztlán evinces the unique ness of Chicano writing with its rich cultural and linguistic legacies. The one hundred poems comprised in this collection represent the early period of the young poet—written in 1968 and 1969—and as such mark the appearance of a talented and sensitive writer.

Alurista's poetry is a call to action. He urges brotherhood and solidarity among Chicanos in their struggle for liberation. The Chicano must regain his dignity and oppose the oppression of his exploiter; he must feel...