Texas A&M University Kingsville

KINGSVILLE, TEXAS (News Release) - The legend of La Llorona or the Weeping Woman has been passed on from generation to generation. There have been movies made of the story, and she is even on some versions of Loteria.

Texas A&M University-Kingsville senior Anjelica M. Cantu has brought La Llorona into the present as she chose to study the tale as her research topic as a McNair Scholar. Cantu, from Corpus Christi, is looking at the Artistic Impact of La Llorona on South Texan Artists.

“I interviewed a few artists about how the tale can impact an artist who was raised or lives in South Texas, while also reading articles and journals about the subject,” she said. “Basically, it is a study that is aiming to see if learning the story of La Llorona can positively impact an artist in South Texas.

“It is specifically targeting how it can impact how an artist might further express themselves using the themes associated with the story, whether an artist will use research for future projects because of researching her and if the story can influence how they interpret their own work as well as other artists,” Cantu said.

After interviewing several South Texas artists and doing lots of research, Cantu determined that learning the story of La Llorona can impact an artist regarding how they show expression, how they interpret others’ works as well as their own and whether they continue to do research for future projects.

“It depends on the artist. It can depend on what version they were told, how they interpreted or reacted to the story and whether they could resonate with Llorona or any of the other people in the story,” she added.

During her research on the tale of La Llorona, Cantu discovered similar stories in other Hispanic countries like Spain and Portugal and in non-Hispanic countries like Germany and France. She found versions of the story in the United States, Mexico, Bolivia, Honduras, Columbia, Togoland, Dahomey, the Philippines, Ireland, Spain, Germany and France.

La Llorona is described as a beautiful woman who drowns her children and then herself after her husband is unfaithful. She is condemned to wander in search of her lost children, crying out for them in a loud wail. Because she drowned her children, she is said to roam near bodies of water.

“The different versions of the story don’t all have the same name as La Llorona and in Africa, she is not a person at all, but she is described as a water spirit who drowns children who get too close,” Cantu said.

Cantu is a fine arts major with a minor in business administration who is scheduled to graduate in spring 2025. As a talented sculptor, she has created some remarkable pieces to accompany her McNair Scholar presentation. Her mentors are Fulden Wissinger, professor, and Todd Lucas, professor and chair, of the Art, Communications and Theatre department.