Description
Book SynopsisCompares the self-representations of the US Mexicanas with the representations of academic-affiliated, intellectual Chicana writers and visual artists. This work looks at how the Chicana professional intellectuals and the US Mexicana women refigure demeaning constructions of female gender roles and racial, ethnic, and sexual identities.
Trade Review“Debra J. Blake makes a great contribution to Chicano/a studies, feminist theory, folklore, and literary studies. Much has been written on La Malinche, La Llorona, and the Virgin of Guadalupe but Blake’s study is one of the most thorough, perceptive, and brilliantly argued.”—
María Herrera-Sobek, author of
Chicano Folklore: A Handbook“Debra J. Blake’s approach to the discussion of the archetypes of La Malinche, La Llorona, and La Virgen de Guadalupe, and her inclusion of other lesser-known figures, allow her to go beyond the mere rehashing of the same old discussions as she introduces women’s voices whose very existence questions the archetypes. By including and analyzing personal narratives collected in a series of interviews, the author explores the real-life existence of these figures in contemporary Chicana lives. This scholarly and illuminating text offers a fresh view of these often oversimplified images and icons found in Mexican female iconography.”—
Norma E. Cantú, author of
Canícula: Snapshots of a Girlhood en la FronteraTable of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. The Power of Representation: History, Memory, and the Cultural Refiguring of La Malinche's Lineage 13
2. Chicana Feminism: Spirituality, Sexuality, and Mexica Goddesses Re-membered 70
3. Las Historias: Sexuality, Gender Roles, and La Virgen de Guadalupe Reconsidered 102
4. Cultural Anxieties and Truths: Gender, Nationalism, and La Llorona Retellings 144
5. Reading Dynamics of Power: Oral Histories, Feminist Research, and the Politics of Location 185
Conclusion 215
Notes 223
References 253
Index 273
