Spanish American Women's Use of the Word (review)

Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies 301 a vast amount of material on which an extensive book can be written. The sheer quantity of poetry, shorr stories, novels, and essays that have been written by Chicano artists make it impossible to cover it all in a single chapter. Some of the more popular Chicano writers discussed here are: Sabine UlibarrÃ-, Fray Angélico Chávez, José Antonia Villareal, Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales, Alurista (Alberto Baltazar Urista Heredia), Tomás Rivera, Rudolfo Anaya, Ronaldo Hinojosa, Sandra Cisneros, Denise Chávez, Gary Soto, Victor Villaseñor, Gloria Anzaldúa, Michael Nava, and Manuel Ramos. Theater groups are also mentioned, such as: "El Teatro Campesino," "Culture Clash," and "Latins Anonymous." For a broader study of Chicano literature see Tarum's book Chicano Literature . Chapter six covers a variety of other topics such as secular and religious art, murals, graffiti, performance art, and low-rider art. A section for celebrations such as "EI Cinco de Mayo," "Mexican Independence Day," "Las posadas," and "El dÃ-a de los muertos" is given. Charreadas celebrations are also imporrant among Chicano culture. During this events lots of people from the Chicano community gather to enjoy popular singers and bands and charros (cowboys and cowgirls) skillfully performing escaramuzas (rodeo). During such events people may also enjoy traditional, freshlymade , Chicano food. Unfortunately, the topics mentioned in this chapter are discussed only briefly. As mentioned befóte, this book is a very useful manual as an introduction to the study of Chicano popular culture. Students of Chicano popular culture could use this book as a reference for research on its many forms. One very helpful part of the book is the section entitled "Discussion Questions" at the end of every chapter. These questions may guide the readers to further studies. Tatums book is very accessible and allows rhe reader to decide whether popular culture is used to express Chicano interests, experiences, and values , or if popular culture is used as a means of control. Tatum mentions the exclusion of some popular culture forms such as food, sports, comedy , and comic strips. In addition to these forms of populat culture it would also be interesting to consider ways of speaking and ways of dressing that are particular to the Chicano community. Sergio Martinez Mora The University of Arizona Spanish American Women's Use of the Word The University of Arizona Press, 2001 By Stacey Schlau Stacey Schlau's Spanish American Women's Use of the Word is a successful and timely addition to the growing canon of scholarly analysis of Spanish American women's writings. Schlau's chronological but non-linear selection of works by women shows that gendered politics of writing existed not only during the lifetime of each of the authors , but that some of the same stereotypes or categorizations of author's works and styles still exist in contemporary literary criticism. She writes: I want to unpack the matrix wirhin which women, politics, and narrative intermingle, in order to outline the shape of one literary tradition in Spanish America, (xii) Although Schlau applauds the efforts to recover women's writings, she opines that new feminist criticism needs to progress beyond the initial stages of recognirion and publication of texts. She believes that the sociopolitical context of these women played an important role in how they expressed themselves on paper and this must be an integral component of any textual analysis. At first glance the authors chosen for this book seem to have very little in common. Schlau selects women from a wide variety of social and educational backgrounds that span four different centuries. The author addresses this point in her introduction, and explains that these women are joined through their legacy of words. In effect, the words that they have left us attest to a real and tangible female Spanish American literary tradition. 302 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies After exploring a multiplicity of social, political and textual options from which to explore women's writing in her introduction, Schlau divides the book into seven chapters. The first two chapters analyze the lives and works of four colonial religious women. They include interpretations of autobiographical narratives by nun aurhors...