Challenging the canon: A history of United States Latina literature anthologies, 1980--2000.
Item
-
Title
-
Challenging the canon: A history of United States Latina literature anthologies, 1980--2000.
-
Identifier
-
AAI3074677
-
identifier
-
3074677
-
Creator
-
Rivera, Beatriz.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: Susana Reisz
-
Date
-
2003
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Literature, Modern | Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies | Women's Studies | Literature, American
-
Abstract
-
Although U.S. Latinas, particularly Chicanas, had a literary tradition prior to 1980, their voices were seldom, if ever, heard. One had to go to great lengths to find a copy of a work written by a Latina, because no one wanted to publish them. Then suddenly, in 1980, Dexter Fisher included Chicanas in her anthology entitled The Third Woman: Minority Women Writers of the United States that was published by Houghton Mifflin. A year later, two Latinas, Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua, compiled the well-known anthology entitled This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, an anthology that was to pave the way for all future Latina writings. Those two anthologies, that have no authors in common although they were published practically at the same time, are my point of departure.;From there, I analyzed the many anthologies that followed. I situated the anthologies in a particular decade or even year, and tried to determine what the Latina writer's situation was at that specific moment in time. I also compared the anthologies, pointing out what authors or messages they had in common.;The introductions to the anthologies played a very important role in the shaping of this history since they always direct attention to trends. The choice of the name was obviously one of these trends. The title of the anthologies also indicated a trend.;A history does not necessarily have to be linear but I chose to proceed in chronological order because this allowed me to decipher trends such as those I mentioned above, as well as the history's rhythm and pace.;I proceeded by dividing both the history and the corpus of anthologies into four parts: Background; Reflections on Minor and Minority Literature; Reflections on Many Feminisms; and The Canon and its Making. The earliest anthologies were analyzed in the section that focused on the background while those of the mid-eighties were seen in light of the concept of minor literature. This, certainly, does not mean that history had it that tidy way. But it did seem to be a logical course. Latina writings situated themselves in opposition to the reigning white Feminism, so I chose to see them as examples of a minor literature before taking Feminist theory into account. I left the Canon for last so as to have the broadest picture before my eyes. However, these anthologies all challenged the canon, from the very beginning.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
