The Semiotic Representation Of Reconciliation Of Cultures In Bless Me,Ultima

Renowned as a contemporary Mexican American writer, Rudolfo Anaya is one of the very few writers who have not only been accepted as a famed author by Mexican American community, but also by American mainstream society. Bless me, Ultima is Anaya’s first work, and in the meantime the foremost one. It has been generally regarded as a classic both in Chicano literature and in American ethnic literature. Cultural reconciliation and harmony in contradictions exhibited in Bless me, Ultima are the very reason why it has been thought highly of not only by Mexican American community but by American mainstream society since it was published.That cultural reconciliation resonated in the hearts of large circle of readers is ascribed to unique social conditions in1970s when the novel was published. Then USA was marked by social upheaval and conflicts: Chicano movement and civil rights movement carried out by African Americans and Asian Americans all strove for rights as equal as Anglo Americans to break the situation in which Anglo American culture dominated; violence and fights full of blood featured the period. Under such circumstances, cultural reconciliation stressed in Bless me, Ultima was given prominence by Mexican Americans readers, and was also welcomed by American mainstream society. Thus, the thesis tends to focus on cultural reconciliation to highlight that reconciliation is the only solution to society permeated with conflicts.What distinguishes the thesis from the other relevant studies is that it is intended to explore cultural conflicts and reconciliation reflected in Bless me, Ultima from the perspective of signs, so as to arrive the conclusion that reconciliation can be achieved when variety of conflicts prevail. The reason why numerous "myths" are hidden in life and are not found out is that there is nothing special about them on the surface, and only through semiotics’detailed analysis, can they be unmasked. In Bless me, Ultima dominating conflicts and their reconciliations are concealed in and underscored by different sign systems. If these sign systems are not to be decoded, the profound meaning implied by Rudolfo Anaya would be easily neglected, in other words, the major conflicts Chicanos were in face of as well as their reconciliations would not be seized of. Therefore, by means of analyzing signs in Bless me, Ultima, for one thing the thesis aims to present three principal conflicts inflicted upon Chicanos:fanning tradition versus pastoral lifestyle, Spanish culture versus Indian culture, Chicano culture versus Anglo American culture;for another, it is prepared to argue how reconciliation is realized in signs. In the end, the conclusion is supposed to be arrived that reconciliation is possible though conflicts overwhelm Chicanos’ life.