The Study On Contemporary Representative Chicana Writers

The United States is a multi-ethnic nation. With the multi-cultural development of the globe, the literature of ethnic minorities has become a quite important voice in the American Literature. In addition to the Afro-American literature, Asian-American literature and Native American literature, Latino/a American literature has made a splendid figure in American Literature with the increase of their social position. Latino/a American literature has drawn people's attention because of its special ethnic cultural element and historical background. Among the Latino/a literature, the Chicana literature is a unique one, which has become a new voice in the ethnic American women literature.This dissertation is to take the representative Chicana writer Gloria Anzaldua, Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo and their works as the objects of the research to present the characteristics of the comtemporary Chicana literature. Set in the background of general American literature Chicana literature is different from the Chicano literature and other ethnic American (women) literature. It is different from others because of its particular elements of racial cultural tradition and Chicana feminist perspective. The feature is made more visible with the use of comparison method in the dissertation. The dissertation consists of four chapters and the part of literature review at the beginning.First, it is the literature review. As the introduction part, it is to introduce the international and domestic research situation of Chicana literature and the meaning of my research. It is the general outline of research situation of contemporary Chicana Literature. The uprising of the Latino Amercans provides the rich soil for the birth and development of the Chicana literature. While the borderland life experience and the multiple oppressions the Chicanas undertake are the driving force of Chicana literature production.Chapter one is to define the Chicana literature. As a new literature phenomenon, it is quite necessary to give a definition to it, especially at the beginning of the dissertation writing, I am always confused about the difference between the Chicana literature and Mexican American literature. Later, I find that the two look quite similar, but different. The Chicana literature is more of a resistant and oppositional literature produced by the Mexican Americans. The Chicano Movement laid a solid foundation for the renaissance and development of Chicana literature and it grows up in the general background of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and 1970s in the United States. Chicana literature not only has distinctive cultural and ethnic characteristics, but also has the clear political position like the Chicano literature. By the way, it is essential to know the traditional Mexican legendary folktales and heroines in order to understand the Chicana literature better. These cultural figures are all women archetypes and are the important parts of Mexican cultural tradition. The introduction of them is also included in this chapter.Chapter two is about Gloria Anzaldua who is the well-known Chicana feminist and literary critics in the United States. As a Mexican American woman, she is now widely accepted in the American literary circle. The work The Borderland is not only her literary masterpiece but also her Chicana feminist political manifesto. It is also a breakthrough in the critical theory for the Mexican American writers with the mixed blood. The multiple identities of Chicanas in the Mexican-American border are best reflected in the changes of different literary style and code switching in the work. The Borderland not only tells about the development of Chicana feminism in multiple languages, but also creates the theory of"The New Mestiza", which is considered as the most classic statement about the situation of the Chicanas and Chicana literature. The cultural mestiza, the language mestiza, the gender mestiza, the religion mestiza, it seems people can find the keys to all these problems in the"The New Mestiza". So it is also regarded as the main line that goes through the whole dissertation. The comparative study between the Du Bois's"Double Consciousness"and Gloria's"The New Mestiza"is an innovative part of chapter two. The two theories look similar but quite different. If we say that the focus of the"Double consciousness"is on the issue of the race and class, then"The New Mestiza"by the Gloria adds the level of sex/gender to the study of the ethnic race and class. The problem of Chicanas is quite complex and it involves the intersection of race, class and gender.Gloria Anzaldua also transforms the male-centered Aztlan to the female-centered Coatlicue nation and a feminist resistant site through remodeling the female archetypes in the Mexican cultural tradition and dating back to the shamanism in the Mexican religious tradition.Chaper three is about Sandra Cisneros who is considered as the most widely accepted Mexican American woman writer. Though she is not that theoretical compared with Gloria Anzadula, she depicts the Mexican -American borderland experience with her implicative but fresh literary style. For this chapter, the comparative study between Sandra's the House on the Mango Street and Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own is a meaningful attempt because it is a mirror to reflect the difference beween the Aglo-American women literature and Chicana literature. The comparison proves that the strong sense of class and collectivism is the most distinctive feature of Chicana literature compared with mainstream women literature due to the different racial and historical background.In addition, in the House on the Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros has dissolved the duality of Mexican tradition value virgia and puta through shaping a new Mexican woman archetype Esperanza. In Woman Hollering Greek, the traditional Mexican woman has transcended the limitations of self-identity through the bordercrossing, which proves that only the return to the Mexican tradition can the women complete the pursuit of freedom.Chapter Four is for Ana Castillo. Ana Castillo is another highly theoretical Chicana feminist and writer. In her work the Massacre of the Dreamers, she even coins a new word"Xicanisma". It is not only her political declaration, but also the way to Chicana culture dream. She calls for the union of the Chicanas and other ethnic women to establish a new value system that goes beyond the simple and limited female identity. For her, it is the best way to resist and subvert the traditional patriarchy Mexican values and white society value system.Chicanas'value of family and religion has always been the most important part of Chicana culture and literature study. Luckily, the works of Ana Castillo is considered as the most efficient sample to demonstrate the Mexican American family tradition and religion value. In So Far from the God, the stories in the Mexican community witness the distinctive family and religion situation of the Chicano/as. The strong sense of familism, strong identity with the role of mother in the household , the extension of the mother role , the cultural and religious meaning of the mother part, the mestiza of the religion etc, are all the the cultural connotation that the Chicana literature presents.In conclusion, in my opinion, I think the Chicana Literature is a distinctive ethnic women's writing from the Chicana feminist perspective. Faced with the multiple oppressions of race, class and gender, the mestiza Chicana writers are seeking their way to construct and reconstruct Chicana's feminine literary traditions through the rediscovery of earlier modes of speaking and by challenging conventional distinctions among forms of expression.