(Re)Reading the Chicano Literary Canon

Abstract

The bildungsroman has a long and ubiquitous presence in the history of literature worldwide. As narratives that center on the maturation of a young protagonist and her/his relationship to the society in which she/he resides, novels of this genre often include experiences that shape gender and sexual development and, in turn, identity. Such locations present numerous opportunities for examining queer identities. In her excellent analysis of Chicana “lesbian” works of fiction, With Her Machete in Her Hand: Reading Chicana Lesbians (2006), Catrióna Rueda Esquibel examines Chicana novels that center on young female protagonists: The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros (1984); The Last of the Menu Girls, by Denise Chávez (1986); Margins, by Terri de la Peña (1992); and Gulf Dreams, by Emma Pérez (1996). In each, Esquibel focuses on the ways in which intimate relationships between girls/women are homoerotic. She argues that Chicana lesbian writing has a long trajectory in the history of Chicana/o literature that goes beyond those texts where clearly marked lesbian identities are present. In this way, she expands and enriches the Chicana lesbian canon considerably and creates a discourse on the ways in which characters that are not overtly marked as gay or lesbian can and do contribute to a discourse on nonnormative gender and sexuality.

In short, he was a sissy, really, and he could fool a lot of people.

Narrator of Pocho, describing Richard Rubio¹