For a number of reasons, La Llorona is one of the trickier mythological characters to research. However, researching La Llorona is great practice for the types of research you'll be doing when you transfer and enroll in upper division courses. Don't hesitate to contact a Librarian for help!
Mythological Constructs of Mexican Femininity by
Mexican figures like La Virgen de Guadalupe, la Malinche, la Llorona, and la Chingada reflect different myths of motherhood in Mexican culture. For the first time, Melero examines these instances of portrayed motherhood as a discursive space in the political, cultural, and literary context of early twentieth century Mexico.
Sandra Cisneros's Woman Hollering Creek by
This is literary criticism (secondary source) about
Woman Hollering Creek but not the book itself. Instructions: Once you log in and click on the PDF to view the full text of the book, use the Index in the Table of Contents to scroll to the letter "L" to find the page entries for La Llorona. There is a lot of good material. (Log in as if you are using Canvas).
There Was a Woman: La Llorona from Folklore to Popular Culture by
"How is it that there are so many lloronas?" A haunting figure of Mexican oral and literary traditions, La Llorona permeates the consciousness of her folk community. From a ghost who haunts the riverbank to a murderous mother condemned to wander the earth after killing her own children in an act of revenge or grief, the Weeping Woman has evolved within Chican@ imaginations across centuries, yet no truly comprehensive examination of her impact existed until now. Tracing La Llorona from ancient oral tradition to her appearance in contemporary material culture, There Was a Woman delves into the intriguing transformations of this provocative icon. From La Llorona's roots in legend to the revisions of her story and her exaltation as a symbol of resistance, Domino Renee Perez illuminates her many permutations as seductress, hag, demon, or pitiful woman. Perez draws on more than two hundred artifacts to provide vivid representations of the ways in which these perceived identities are woven from abstract notions--such as morality or nationalism--and from concrete, often misunderstood concepts from advertising to television and literature. The result is a rich and intricate survey of a powerful figure who continues to be reconfigured.
Warriors, witches, women: : Celebrating Mythology's Fiercest Females by
See p. 122
With Her Machete in Her Hand: Reading Chicana Lesbians by
SEE Chapter 2: The Weeping Woman
Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories by 
The Road to Llorona Park by
NAMED BY NBC NEWS AS ONE OF EIGHT GREAT LATINO BOOKS PUBLISHED IN 2016 The Road to Llorona Park is a collection of short fiction about the changing world of la frontera/the borderlands of the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. The stories center around the current times when the political upheavals of Mexico began to effect peoples lives on both sides of the border.
There are many additional sources that discuss and analyze the La Llorona myth in the Library's DEI e-book database. Use your OneLogin credentials to get started, or Ask a Librarian for help.
"La Llorona's Sacred Waters" on 24th and York in the Mission District, San Francisco. (Karma Camilleeon / Flickr)
Not sure where to start?
