Date of Award

1999

Degree Name

Humanities

College

College of Liberal Arts

Type of Degree

M.A.

Document Type

Thesis

First Advisor

Dr. Nancy Lang

Second Advisor

Dr. Joyce E. East

Third Advisor

Dr. Leonard J. Deutsch

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Carlos Lopez

Fifth Advisor

Dr. Joan Randall

Sixth Advisor

Dr. Marcella Barton

Abstract

For years, the voice of the Chicana has been silenced by oppression. Anglos, Mexicans, and Chicanos have intentionally created such an oppression upon Chicanas that they were never allowed to tell stories of their own ideas, fears, and dreams. They were merely meant to be a voiceless servant to the male gender.

This master’s thesis will examine the racial and gender oppression that Chicanas Cisneros, and Julia Alvarez — focusing primarily on their attempts to establish a gender have faced over the centuries, beginning with the days of Malintzin and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, and continuing until the present day. In this study, the themes and techniques of four Chicana authors will be examined — Gloria Anzaldúa, Cherrie Moraga, Sandra and racial identity for their female protagonists.

This thesis will also examine the works of feminist theorists such as Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Hélène Cixous, Elaine Showalter, and Patrocino Schweickart in an attempt to show how feminism serves to critique and explain the Chicana author’s desire to write and the meaning behind her writings.

Subject(s)

Mexican American women authors.

Mexican American women – Social conditions.

Anzaldúa, Gloria – Criticism and interpretation.

Moraga, Cherrie – Criticism and interpretation.

Cisneros, Sandra – Criticism and interpretation.

Alvarez, Julia – Criticism and interpretation.

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