The Chronicles of Panchita Villa and Other Guerrilleras: Essays on Chicana/Latina Literature and Criticism(Chicana Matters Series)

Although there have been substantial contributions to Chicana literature and criticism over the past few decades, Chicanas are still underrepresented and underappreciated in the mainstream literary world and virtually nonexistent in the canon. Writers like Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo, and Gloria Anzaldua have managed to find larger audiences and critical respect, but there are legions of Chicana writers and artists who have been marginalized and ignored despite their talent. Even in Chicano anthologies, the focus has tended to be more on male writers. Chicanas have often found themselves without a real home in the academic world. Tey Diana Rebolledo has been writing about Chicana/Latina identity, literature, discrimination, and feminism for more than two decades. In this collection of essays, she brings together both old and new works to give a state-of-the-moment look at the still largely unanswered questions raised by vigilant women of colour throughout the last half of the twentieth century. An intimate introductory essay about Rebolledo's personal experiences as the daughter of a Mexican mother and a Peruvian father serves to lay the groundwork for the rest of the volume. The essays delve into the historical development of Chicana writing and its early narratives, the representation of Chicanas as seen on book covers, Chicana feminism, being a Chicana critic in the academy, Chicana art history, and Chicana creativity. Rebolledo encourages "guerrillera" warfare against academia in order to open up the literary canon to Chicana/Latina writers who deserve validation.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Hey, That's MY Story! A Conversation with My Peruvian Father and My Mexican Mother--Literature and Identity Part I. On Criticism and Critics 1. The Chronicles of Panchita Villa: Episode One (1993); 2. The Chronicles of Panchita Villa: Episode Two (1997); 3. Women Writers, New Disciplines, and the Canon (2000); 4. The Politics of Poetics: Or, What Am I, a Critic, Doing in This Text Anyhow? (1987); 5. "Sprinkling Wildflower Seeds": A Platica about Critical Perspectives in Chicana/Latina Literature (1998); 6. Reconstructing Sor Juana's Library: Twenty Years of Chicana Literary Representation (1999) Part II. On Chicana Literature 7. Who Killed Presiliano Ulibarri? Or, the Case of the Missing Women: Clues for Cultural Studies (1993); 8. Las Mujeres Hablan: Creativity as Politics (1996); 9. "No More Cookies, Please!": Chicana Feminism through Literature (1997); 10. "Jugando a la vida con poemas": Contemporary Chicana Poetry in Spanish (1998); 11. "Mi Vida Loca": Symbolic Spaces in the Construction of Identity in Chicana Literature (1998); 12. The Chicana Bandera: Sandra Cisneros in the Public Press--Constructing a Cultural Icon (1996-1999); 13. The Tools in the Toolbox: Representing Work in Chicana Literature (1999); 14. La Nueva Onda--The New Wave: Contemporary Chicana Writing (2001); 15. Size 48D Bras and Men Who Wear Skirts: The Dialectics of Humor in Denise Chavez's Narratives (2001); 16. The Archbishop Sees the Body of the Virgin: Art, Religion, Ideology, and Popular Culture (2001) Part III. Miscellaneous Essays on Chicana/Latina Literature 17. Game Theory: A Typology of Feminist Players in Latina/Chicana Writing (1985); 18. Art and Spiritual Politics: Sor Juana Beatriz de la Fuente--A Feminist Literary Perspective (1995); 19. "Inheriting the Alphabet": Homeland and Exile in Marjorie Agosin (1997); 20. Questioning Nepantla: The Land in Between--Geopolitical Tyrannies and Other Border Complexities (2002)

About the Author :
TEY DIANA REBOLLEDO is Regents' Professor and Chair in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of New Mexico.