The Lost Portal of Aztlan: A novel of the Mexican American experience (with Original writing)

The Lost Portal of Aztlán and accompanying contextual essay is a two-part document. The first section is a novel about a Mexican American woman named Rebeca Chávez, a “small-town” librarian who is confronted with a major dilemma when she learns that the county has decided to close her library. The ensuing plot revolves around this one woman's attempts to preserve what she feels is a fundamental democratic institution, one that she sees as vital to the community she knows. In the process, Rebeca Chávez learns much about the people she serves. She also learns much about her own strengths and weaknesses as a person, particularly when she discovers an ancient manuscript that becomes the catalyst for a series of strange occurrences and magical events. The Lost Portal of Aztlán gives a historical overview of the Mexican American people and touches on many of their cultural values and traditions in a subtle way. It also reflects on the role of the public library in a free society. This novel is written in the tradition of the Latin American magical realist novel and stresses both the fantasy of and magic in everyday life. The novel also makes extensive use of the Spanish and English spoken by the Mexican American people of the Southwestern United States. The accompanying contextual essay identifies key features of the Mexican American novel as it has evolved over the last forty years. Beginning with an overview of the social and historical events that have impacted the growth and development of this literature, the essay then focuses on the challenges faced by the Chicano/a writer, particularly as he/she struggles against the literary stereotypes that have been imposed by a hegemonic society over the last one hundred and fifty years. The essay also explores the need for more literature created by ethnic American writers and concludes with a discussion of how The Lost Portal of Aztlán attempts to fill this void.