Sandra Cisneros’ Construction Of The Female Discourse In The House On Mango Street

The House on Mango Street, an internationally acclaimed novel published in 1984, was written by Sandra Cisneros, one of the most influential Mexican American female writers. It describes the survival situation of Chicanas(Mexican American women) especially the heroine Esperanza’s growth experience in the United States. The book consists of forty-four vignettes, with concise language but profound meanings. After its publication, the book became an immediate success. Critics both at home and abroad have showed great interest in it. Most previous researches focus on bildungsroman characteristics, post-colonialism and psychoanalytic interpretation. This thesis attempts to discuss the ethnic women’s voiceless situation and how Cisneros constructs the female discourse for the women on the Mango Street from the perspective of female discourse.Drawing upon Hélène Cixous’ female writing theory, this thesis analyzes the living conditions of the Mexican American women suffering from the racial discrimination and oppression of their own native men. For these reasons, the Chicanas lose their discourse right and get stuck in their identity crisis. In the book, Sandra Cisneros creates some women characters who utter their voices and establish their discourse rights by painting and writing. Esperanza is the protagonist of the novel and also the representative of the Chicanas that Sandra Cisneros characterizes. Harsh reality cultivates Esperanza’s ethnic and sexual awareness. Esperanza finally succeeds in uttering her voice by writing and realizes her self-value.This thesis is composed of an introduction, a main body and a conclusion.The introduction starts with a sketch of Sandra Cisneros and her literary career, followed by an outline of the novel The House on Mango Street. It combs the research review on the book at home and abroad. The related theory of the female writing is introduced, aimed to lay the foundation for the interpretation of the female discourse in the novel. The objective and significance of the thesis brings this part to a close.The second part is the main body, which consists of four chapters:Chapter One provides a detailed analysis of the external reasons for the complicated voiceless situations of the Mexican American women in the mainstream society. Besides, by probing into the archetypal image of women La Virgin de Guadalupe and La Malinche in Mexican traditional culture, this chapter draws light on the internal causes for the plight of Chicanas in patriarchal society. Derived from Chicana Movement and her early experience, Sandra Cisneros’ Chicana feminism is very important for the understanding of her novels, which makes a contribution to changing the voiceless situation and unequal status of Mexican American women.Chapter Two mainly analyzes the various causes and miserable experiences that Chicanas in the Mango Street undergo, and their struggle at the very bottom of the United States, including the shackles in the mainstream society and sexual discrimination from native Mexican men like their fathers and husbands, and the extreme poverty because of their marginalized social position.Chapter Three discusses how Sandra Cisneros helps the Chicanas awaken their feminist consciousness by using Hélène Cixous’ female writing theory. The discussion is focused on the three women: Esperanza’ mother, Minerva, and Alicia, who take up painting and writing as weapons to utter their voices. By doing so, they demonstrate their discontent with the dominance of male discourse, thus construct their female discourse rights.Chapter Four, based on Hélène Cixous’ female writing theory, focuses on exploring the heroine Esperanza’s growth process from a miserable girl to an acuminous observer, finally into a conscientious writer. Sandra Cisneros’ construction of the female discourse for the women on the Mango Street is best shown in Esperanza. Esperanza succeeds in gaining discourse power and autonomous identity by writing and self- relying.The last part is the conclusion, which makes a summary and review of the preceding analysis, pointing out that Sandra Cisneros, spokeswoman of Mexican American women, seizes the necessity of establishing female discourse and the significance of constructing a harmonious male-female relationship. In the book she conveys such an idea to her folks: gain your discourse right in a mild way; it is not a good policy to escape and desert your hometown; what you should do is to change and improve it.