Walden Pond in Aztlan? A literary history of Chicana/o environmental writing since 1848

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dc.contributor.advisorAranda, Jose F., Jr.en_US
dc.creatorYbarra, Priscilla Solisen_US
dc.date.accessioned2009-06-03T21:05:51Zen_US
dc.date.available2009-06-03T21:05:51Zen_US
dc.date.issued2007en_US
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation responds to a lacuna in both ecocriticism and Chicana/o literary history. The former lacks input from ethnic American literatures, while the latter offers very little commentary on environmental aspects of Chicana/o writing. Why have these two fields remained separate despite often overlapping institutional histories? My study points to their common roots in activist movements, and how this early period critically preconditioned a disengagement with Chicanas/os as environmentalists. I engage these two fields to get at a literary history that is only weakly understood at the moment. What emerges is a greater understanding of the ways that the social construction of nature has operated to reinforce the oppression of people of color, as well as the ways that Chicana/o writing has transcended this subjugation. Environmental literary study has privileged introspective nature writing and individual exploration of nature. While this perspective is understood in certain Anglo American contexts, it is becoming increasingly obvious that it is insufficient as a paradigm for the study of other environmental literatures. More particularly, it cannot account for non-Anglo American mediations of nature. Chicana and Chicano writers, with their concern for social justice and community, nonetheless take up their pens to reflect on the natural environment, albeit differently than conventional ecocriticism expects. Curiously, Chicana/o literary study has been complicit with overlooking Chicana/o writers' environmental insights, largely because the environment has been perceived to be a lesser priority than the seemingly more immediate needs of social equity. However, broadening the category of nature writing to environmental writing, and considering the close ties between social justice and environmental issues reveals the ways that Chicana/o writers demonstrate how human interaction with the environment differs along lines of ethnicity and class. This study investigates what's behind these differences. Specifically, I explore the writings of four Chicana/o environmental writers: Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton, Jovita Gonzalez, Jimmy Santiago Baca, and Cherrie Moraga. Their environmental writing provides valuable insights about how Chicanas/os maintain a sustainable relationship with the environment.en_US
dc.format.extent162 p.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.callnoTHESIS ENGL. 2007 YBARRAen_US
dc.identifier.citationYbarra, Priscilla Solis. "Walden Pond in Aztlan? A literary history of Chicana/o environmental writing since 1848." (2007) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/20671">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/20671</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/20671en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.subjectAmerican studiesen_US
dc.subjectAmerican literatureen_US
dc.subjectHispanic American studiesen_US
dc.subjectLiteratureen_US
dc.titleWalden Pond in Aztlan? A literary history of Chicana/o environmental writing since 1848en_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialTexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentEnglishen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineHumanitiesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorRice Universityen_US
thesis.degree.levelDoctoralen_US
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen_US
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