Focusing on the often unrecognized role race plays in expressions
of Chicano culture, "Mestizaje" is a provocative exploration of the
volatility and mutability of racial identities. In this important
moment in Chicano studies, Rafael Perez-Torres reveals how the
concepts and realities of race, historical memory, the body, and
community have both constrained and opened possibilities for
forging new and potentially liberating multiracial identities.
Informed by a broad-ranging theoretical investigation of identity
politics and race and incorporating feminist and queer critiques,
Perez-Torres skillfully analyzes Chicano cultural production.
Contextualizing the history of mestizaje, he shows how the concept
of mixed race has been used to engage issues of hybridity and voice
and examines the dynamics that make mestizo and mestiza identities
resistant to, as well as affirmative of, dominant forms of power.
He also addresses the role that mestizaje has played in expressive
culture, including the hip-hop music of Cypress Hill and the
vibrancy of Chicano poster art. Turning to issues of mestizaje in
literary creation, Perez-Torres offers critical readings of the
works of Emma Perez, Gil Cuadros, and Sandra Cisneros, among
others. This book concludes with a consideration of the role that
the mestizo body plays as a site of elusive or displaced knowledge.
Moving beyond the oppositions--nationalism versus assimilation, men
versus women, Texans versus Californians--that have characterized
much of Chicano studies, "Mestizaje" synthesizes and assesses
twenty-five years of pathbreaking thinking to make a case for the
core components, sensibilities, and concerns of the discipline.
RafaelPerez-Torres is professor of English at the University of
California, Los Angeles. He is author of "Movements in Chicano
Poetry: Against Myths, Against Margins," coauthor of "To Alcatraz,
Death Row, and Back: Memories of an East LA Outlaw," and coeditor
of "The Chicano Studies Reader: An Anthology of Aztlan, 1970-2000."
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
