In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Acknowledgments Books are never an individual enterprise. Without institutional support and the generosity of colleagues, friends, and family, one would be hard-pressed to accomplish such a feat. A New Faculty Research Grant and General Research Fund Grant provided by the University of Kansas allowed me to conduct necessary research in Central America and Los Angeles for two of the book’s most pivotal chapters. At KU, I have found an amazing network of colleagues to whom I owe a great debt. I would like to thank, first and foremost, Jorge Pérez, my “unofficial” mentor, whose careful reading of all my work, professional and personal guidance, and friendship have been invaluable to me. I am grateful for the knowledge that Stuart Day and Vicky Unruh have shared with me as scholars as well as the professional support they have provided to me as administrators. Outside of KU, my sincerest gratitude goes to Misha Kokotovic, an early mentor and esteemed friend who helped me cultivate my interest in Central American literature and women’s struggles, to Arturo Arias and Ana Patricia Rodríguez for taking me under their wings and paving the way for scholars like me, and to Norma Klahn, who taught me the “nuts and bolts” of research and was a strong Latina role model. My friends both in and outside academia, Holly Goerdel, María Bernath, Alyssa Labrado, Andrea Gracia, Misti Oto, and Stacy Carlock, have been a constant source of understanding and warmth, a welcome refuge from the stresses of the profession. Thank you. Words are not enough to express how thankful I am to my parents, Oscar and Alicia Padilla, two courageous individuals who never stopped crossing borders and gave me all that they never had, and to my three siblings, Georgina, Lisa, and Oscar, for putting up with my “bad moods” and helping me laugh through it all. Finally, I wish to thank my husband, Steven Rosales, for weathering the most difficult of times and for bringing such joy and endearing love into my life. An earlier version of Chapter 3 appeared in Latin American Perspectives, published by SAGE/SOCIETY. Chapter 5 also originally vii viii / Changing Women, Changing Nation appeared as an article published in Latino Studies, a Palgrave Macmillan journal. Alynn Guerra was generous enough to let me use her beautiful artwork for the cover. With regard to the translations that appear in the book, I have used quotations from published translations of primary literary works when available and, in some instances, have made modifications. Spanish quotations are followed by their English translations in brackets. Page numbers are provided in parenthesis and follow this same order, Spanish first, then English. If no secondary page number is given, that means that the translation of the material is my own. ...

Share