Contemporary Mexican-American Women Novelists: Toward a Feminist Identity

Contemporary Mexican-American women novelists - some of whom are moving toward a Chicana feminist construct - have produced very exciting work. Using the works of both Gloria Anzaldua and Elaine Showalter as theoretical frameworks, this study argues for a specific Chicana feminism whose roots are both in and outside the Mexican-American culture. The authors included in Contemporary Mexican-American Women Novelists are Ana Castillo, Denise Chavez, Sandra Cisneros, Lucha Corpi, Margarita Cota-Cadenas, Roberta Fernandez, Laura del Fuego, Irene Beltran Hernandez, Mary Helen Ponce, and Estela Portillo Trambley.