Border Women
Writing from La Frontera
Border Women rethinks border theory by emphasizing women writers whose work-in Spanish, English, or a mixture of the two languages-calls into question accepted notions of border identities.
This important book takes Border Literature and turns it on its head by insisting on a thoroughly binational and bilingual approach. This cross-national collaboration is highly unusual and sets an important precedent for future scholarly collaborations across borderlines.
Cynthia Steele, author of Politics, Gender, and the Mexican Novel, 1968-1988
It is a peculiar fact that U.S.-Mexico border theory is dominated by those who write about, not from, the border. By looking at the work of women writers from both sides of the border, Debra A. Castillo and María-Socorro Tabuenca Córdoba open border studies to a truly transnational analysis while bringing questions of gender to the fore.
Border Women rethinks border theory by emphasizing women writers whose work—in Spanish, English, or a mixture of the two languages—calls into question accepted notions of border identities. These writers include those who are already well recognized internationally (Helena María Viramontes, Sheila and Sandra Ortiz Taylor, and María Novaro); those who have become part of the Chicano canon (Norma Cantú, Alicia Gaspar de Alba, and Demetria Martínez); along with some of the lesser-known, yet most exciting, women’s voices from the Mexican border (Rosario Sanmiguel, Rosina Conde, and Regina Swain).
This important book takes Border Literature and turns it on its head by insisting on a thoroughly binational and bilingual approach. This cross-national collaboration is highly unusual and sets an important precedent for future scholarly collaborations across borderlines.
Cynthia Steele, author of Politics, Gender, and the Mexican Novel, 1968-1988
Border Women forcefully questions the prevalent U.S.-centered approaches in the field of border studies. Insightful.
Aztlan
Border Women is a significant contribution to U.S.-Mexico border studies, and to gender studies as well. It places emphasis on the cultural richness of the border region through the reading of the original and provocative voices of its women.
South Central Review
Contents
1. Reading the Border, North and South
2. Bilingual Alicia Gaspar de Alba
3. Displacement Rosario Sanmiguel
4. Snapshots Norma Cantú, Sheila Ortiz Taylor, and Sandra Ortiz Taylor
5. Unredeemed Rosina Conde
6. Homely Helena María Viramontes
7. Solidarity Demetria Martínez
8. Utopia Regina Swain and María Novaro
Conclusion: Shorts
Notes
Bibliography
Permissions
Index
