Senior Theses
Publication Date
5-26-2024
Document Type
Thesis (Open Access)
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts in English
Faculty Advisor(s)
Jesse Donaldson
Subject Categories
English Language and Literature
Abstract
The main focus of this article is to show that teaching Mexican-American literature is an important part of teaching American literature, one that is often neglected. As of right now, Chicano Literature and American Literature are seen as two separate categories even though they are one in the same. Authors such as Rudolfo Anaya and Tomás Rivera allow readers insight into Mexican-American culture; the foundations they have set should be used in American Literature courses to help students view the wide variety that is American Literature, other than what the canon deems acceptable. Bless Me, Ultima, and …and the Earth Did Not Devour Him represent a part of literature and history that is left out of the canon. My paper addresses the lack of Mexican-American literature and history in the High school curriculum and how we can fill this gap with authors like Anaya and Rivera. Assimilation, identity, and communal voice are themes that will be examined, and used to express why these texts are important to incorporate within American literature. These novels should not be excluded from what we know as the canon and should not be put into an “other” category. The importance of including Chicano Literature into the high school curriculum is not only to help inform Mexican-American students of their past, but to inform everyone that there is more to American literature than what is being taught.
Recommended Citation
Guzman, Davia Ellen, "Mexican-American Literature Is American Literature" (2024). Senior Theses. 38.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/englstud_theses/38
