Chicana Creativity and Criticism: New Frontiers in American Literature

María Herrera-Sobek , Editor
Helena Maria Viramontes , Editor

This provocative combination of original poetry, prose, criticism, and visual art documents the continuing growth of literature by and about Chicanas. Through innovative use of language and images, the artists represented here explore female sexuality, economic and social injustice, gender roles, and the contributions of critical theory.

Chicana Creativity and Criticism, first published in 1988, includes poetry by Lorna Dee Cervantes, Lucha Corpi, Evangelina Vigil-Piñón, Denise Chávez, and Naomi Quiñónez; prose by Alma E. Cervantes, Helena María Viramontes, Roberta Fernández, and Sheila Ortiz Taylor; criticism by Tey Diana Rebolledo, Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano, Norma Alarcón, and María Herrera-Sobek; and art by Carmen Lomas Garza, Yreina Cervántez, and Laura Aguilar.

" . . . an impressive collage that documents literature by and about Chicanas." --American Literature

" . . . offers a genuine and symptomatic literary plenty . . . a stunning collage-canvas of a bound and exposed female upper torso set between the American and Mexican flags." --The Year's Work

"Through innovative use of language and images . . . This provocative combination of original poetry, prose, criticism, and visual art documents the continuing growth of literature by and about Chicanas." --Hispanic Outlook

Maria Herrera-Sobek, Professor of Chicano Studies, is the Luis Leal Endowed Chair at UCSB and the Associate Director of the Center for Chicano Studies. She is co-organizing the East/West Chicano Institute to be held at Cornell University in conjunction with UCSB' Center for Chicano Studies. A renowned literary critic, poet, and folklore specialist, Dr. Herrera Sobek has published numerous books, articles and scholarly essays. Her books include: "The Bracero Experience: Elite Lore versus Folklore"; "Northward Bound: The Mexican Immigrant Experience in Ballad and Song"; and "The Mexican Corrido: A Feminist Analysis."

6.125 x 9.25 304 pages 13 halftones