Chicano literature: A relentless quest for identity

The thesis of this dissertation is anchored in Octavio Paz's statement that "all civilizations are civilizations of alienation and all civilized beings rebel against alienation" (The Labyrinth of Solitude 352). I will show that the substance of Paz's assumption is a strong force that drives the structuring principle of Chicano literature. Chicano writers explore the multiple situations that create a sense of alienation and solitude in the characters of their novels and short stories. However, the depiction of these situations impels Chicano writers, as well as the characters in their works, to pursue a relentless search for their identity in a world that does not understand them.I have chosen the following works to show the struggles of Chicanos as they begin to formulate their own identity through the energy they draw from the exposure to a world that basically reaffirms their being imprisoned by the forces of alienation. Such literary works as Tomas Rivera's... y no se lo trago la tierra, Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima, Rolando Hinojosa's Estampas Del Valle, Miguel Mendez's Peregrinos de Aztlan, Alejandro Morales' Caras Viejas y Vino Nuevo, Estela Portillo Trambley's Rain of Scorpions, Ron Arias' The Road to Tamazunchale, and Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street illustrate Chicanos' segregated communal world struggling to survive on the margins of the mainstream United States. These writers succeed in creating the tremendous tension that springs from the constant struggle Chicanos experience in their daily lives, namely, being United States citizens of Mexican descent who feel themselves estranged from both their Mexican heritage and their existence in the United States. Thus, these texts portray Chicanos' interactions with an Anglo world as one defined by racial and cultural confrontations and conflicts. Chicanos live not only between two cultures, but also between two languages, namely, Spanish and English. They are in a sense participating in two physical and cultural spaces.The starting point of the dissertation is an overall view of the Chicano Movement that is responsible for shaping the existential realities of the novels and short stories. In my second chapter, I discuss in great detail the content and characters of each work. In the third chapter, with several subchapters, I try to show the specific dynamics that Chicano writers have created by describing the conflicts that the characters must face as they see themselves alienated from an Anglo world. However, the clash of two cultures is the source of the tension in these works and therefore provides the characters as well as the writers with the power to pursue the search for their own identity.