One High Heel On Each Side Of The Border: A Closer Look At Gender And Sexuality In Chicana And Anglo Young Adult Literature

Abstract

There is currently very little analysis of Chicana young adult literature available, and by extension there is almost nothing at hand that compares Anglo and Chicana young adult literature. These fields need to be examined seriously alongside one another in order to give appropriate academic attention to two areas that have been marginalized in academia (Chicana literature and young adult literature). This project uncovers significant similarities between Chicana and Anglo YA literature: I refer to these comparable points as crossover, apex, or collision moments that make experiences of relatability possible within the literature wherein the instability of adolescence can be shared across cultures. Crossover moments are particularly prevalent in Anglo bridge texts that focus on immigration or inter-species hybridity since these exigences allow the author to implement a sensitive treatment of the Other both formally and thematically.In each chapter, I examine 1-3 award-winning or bestselling Chicana YA texts and 1-3 Anglo YA novels from 1990-2010. Drawing from various theoretical lenses, I question the ways certain motifs (such as home, hunger, holiness, and love) function, and can be compared and contrasted, cross-culturally. In Chapter 2, I argue that home in flux, as presented in recent Chicana and certain Anglo young adult literature, is an integral trope that is parallel to girls' search for identity. Due to their cultural hybridity, self-identifying within one or both cultures is an ongoing struggle, and navigation of the patriarchal home is necessary. In Chapter 3, I apply the image of the vagina dentata to an exploration of the connection between appetites for food and sex in female characters, and I argue that the literature conveys that "good girls" do not and should not have significant appetites for either. In Chapter 4, I explore sacrifice as a prominent theme in young adult literature where female characters are often sacrificed for the good of male characters or for patriarchal society. Finally, in Chapter 5, I explore heretical texts that are foundational to Chicana and Anglo YA literature, and I identify archetypes distinct to and shared by the texts, including La Virgen de Guadalupe and the Crone.