The nth generation: An examination of Chicana/o identity via Silvia Molina, Terri de la Peña, and Lucha Corpi

Aida Valenzuela, Purdue University

Abstract

Approximately forty years have passed since the inception of the Chicano Movement—how has Chicana/o identity changed since then? To explore this question, this study begins by reaching back to the roots of Chicana/o—Mexico. Chapter one begins with an analysis of Silvia Molina’s La familia vino del norte (1987). The protagonist, Dorotea Leyva, in Molina’s novel is significant due to her encounter with many of the challenges which women and Chicanas must confront: personal and financial independence and breaking from traditionally prescribed gender roles. Following upon this foundation, chapter two examines Terri de la Peña’s Faults (1999). Through the presentation of three different types of Chicana identity, de la Peña dismisses the notion of a singular cultural identity. Lastly, chapter three investigates Death at Solstice (2009) by Lucha Corpi. In this final chapter, I survey the evolution of the cultural identity of protagonist Gloria Damasco as she begins with Chicano nationalism at the height of the Chicano Movement, grapples with the term “Hispanic” and moves into the twenty-first century and wrestles with issues such as immigration and U.S. nationalism. In the last two chapters I discuss a generation of Chicanas/os that is not often viewed in Chicana/o literature. This generation is what I term the nth generation; the nth generation is a term I use to define any and all generations beyond the founders of the Chicano Movement. The nth generation enables us to examine Chicana/o identity in a new light and serves as a point of departure to evaluate the position of Chicanas/os in society and ask—are there goals to achieve, discrepancies to resolve or successes to celebrate.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Stephenson, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Modern literature|Latin American literature|American literature|Hispanic American studies

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