| The study of Chicano and Chicana literature, like that of other ethnic and Third World literatures and Women's literature, is a relatively new area of critical interest. While new works continue to appear and readership expands, research into the emergence of these two literatures, a definition of, critical approaches, and an assessment of their place within the larger literary domain has lagged. This study is an attempt to make a comprehensive, critical analysis of Chicano literature and criticism. It also attempts to introduce considerations for the reception and definition of Chicana literature both within Chicano literature and Women's literature.Chapter II elaborates on the problems of literary reception by examining the ties Chicano literature may have to Third World literatures. Since economic exploitation and colonization are common features among them, a Marxist approach is hypothesized as appropriate for their study. Marxism falls short in its application to these literatures, however, because it does not account for race and culture as factors that contribute to the historical production or non-production of literature.Chapter III is a detailed overview of the history, generic evolution, periodization, and proposed critical approaches to Chicano literature.Chapter IV turns to a discussion of Chicana literature which has emerged only within the last decade. Reception or knowledge of Chicana literature is compounded by the same factors that influence reception of Chicano literature, by its being subsumed under Chicano literature, and by the failure of both traditional white, male criticism and feminist criticism to expose and advance the literature of this minority group.Chapter I discusses the neglect of Chicano literature. One explanation for neglect lays in a general preference for the Western written tradition which precludes the serious consideration of Chicano works that arise in part from the New World, and have an orally transmitted base. Since the appearance of Chicano literature has been influenced by such extrinsic considerations as conquest, usurpation and colonization, a shift in critical attitudes would have to occur which accommodate its origins. A final explanation derives from the status of the Chicano in a society that attempts to incorporate cultural differences rather than to retain them. |
