The Border/Crossings of College-Bound Latinas
Subject Area
Hispanic Women Writers
Abstract
The essay examines the work of US Latina writers, including Mexican-American Josefina López, Puerto-Rican American Nicholasa Mohr, Cuban-American Dolores Prida, and Dominican-American Julia Alvarez who document the experiences of first-generation college-bound female students. From their unique perspective as daughters of immigrants and cultural border-crossers themselves, these writers record the challenges of straddling two cultures. They provide readers with insight into the realities that especially young Latinas face when aspiring to a college education. The writing shows that Latina students have the added burden and stress of negotiating between an insular home culture very protective of daughters and a campus culture that operates under the assumptions of feminist ideology. While the Latina writers discussed in the essay provide their cultural sisters literary representation, they also, notably, propose that young Latinas take up the mantel as agents of change for the next generation of women within their families and ethnic group. The writing questions deep-seated cultural values that undermine a young woman’s sense of self-worth and desire for autonomy. As community advocates, these writers contribute to a body of “resistance” writing that refutes traditional gender scripts and cultural expectations that limit Latina women.
Brief Bio Note
Gisela Norat is a Professor of Spanish at Agnes Scott College, a liberal arts college for women in Atlanta, where she teaches Latina and Latin American women's literature in the Spanish department. She is author of Marginalities: Diamela Eltit and the Subversion of Mainstream Literature in Chile and scholarly articles on U.S Latina and Latin American women’s literature. Her latest research and publications focus on Latina mother/daughter cultural issues.
Keywords
Latinas, education, culture, border-crossings
Location
Room 210
Presentation Year
2017
Start Date
3-23-2017 4:05 PM
Embargo
11-3-2016
Recommended Citation
Norat, Gisela, "The Border/Crossings of College-Bound Latinas" (2017). South East Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures (SECCLL). 29.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/seccll/2017/2017/29
The Border/Crossings of College-Bound Latinas
Room 210
The essay examines the work of US Latina writers, including Mexican-American Josefina López, Puerto-Rican American Nicholasa Mohr, Cuban-American Dolores Prida, and Dominican-American Julia Alvarez who document the experiences of first-generation college-bound female students. From their unique perspective as daughters of immigrants and cultural border-crossers themselves, these writers record the challenges of straddling two cultures. They provide readers with insight into the realities that especially young Latinas face when aspiring to a college education. The writing shows that Latina students have the added burden and stress of negotiating between an insular home culture very protective of daughters and a campus culture that operates under the assumptions of feminist ideology. While the Latina writers discussed in the essay provide their cultural sisters literary representation, they also, notably, propose that young Latinas take up the mantel as agents of change for the next generation of women within their families and ethnic group. The writing questions deep-seated cultural values that undermine a young woman’s sense of self-worth and desire for autonomy. As community advocates, these writers contribute to a body of “resistance” writing that refutes traditional gender scripts and cultural expectations that limit Latina women.
