FORGING A NEW TYPE OF FEMINIST IDENTITY: CHICANA FEMINISM, FEMININITY,  AND THE INSTITUTION OF MEMORY Cover Image

FORGING A NEW TYPE OF FEMINIST IDENTITY: CHICANA FEMINISM, FEMININITY, AND THE INSTITUTION OF MEMORY
FORGING A NEW TYPE OF FEMINIST IDENTITY: CHICANA FEMINISM, FEMININITY, AND THE INSTITUTION OF MEMORY

Author(s): Monica Got
Subject(s): Literary Texts
Published by: EDITURA ASE
Keywords: cultural memory; collective identity; Chicana literature; symbolic violence; trauma

Summary/Abstract: Drawing on Jan Assmann’s interpretation of cultural memory as devoid of any racial/biological component, as well as James Clifford’s repudiation of the notion of cultural purity, the paper redefines memory as a mentally configured cultural institution, claiming that any reconfiguration of group identity is an act of symbolic violence. By emphasizing the crucial role that identity plays in understanding the fundamental themes tackled by Chicana literature—patriarchal oppression, racial terror, domestic abuse, sexism, homophobia—, the paper illustrates the extent to which the ethnic-gender binomial, i.e. belonging to a group that faces bias on various levels (femininity, Mexican American genealogy and, sporadically, sexual minority status), stands at the very core of the desire to redefine identity that largely fuels contemporary Chicana prose.

  • Issue Year: 17/2021
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 7-19
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: English
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