Aztlan for the Middle Class: Chicano Literary Activism
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Authors
Arellano, Jose Antonio
Issue Date
2022-05-26
Type
Book chapter
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
This chapter examines the relationship between Mexican American literature and the strand of Chicano activism focused on the needs of the working class. By offering literary case studies, including Rudolfo A. Anaya’s novel Heart of Aztlan (1976), Arellano identifies how literary activism has diverged from these needs. Although literature could aid the plight of workers by enabling a group to recognize its solidarity, Arellano argues, the identity that Chicano literature consolidates is ultimately distinct from the working class as such. So even as Chicano literary activism tends to be presented as the cultural arm of a labor movement, such activism has instead operated as the psychic support for a growing Mexican American middle class. While it may seem as if the interests of this growing class are unified with the needs of Mexican American workers, a shared Chicano culture has not been able to address the economic problems that each class faces. It remains necessary to identify continually the difference between literary activism benefiting the middle class and a labor movement benefiting workers.
Description
Citation
Arellano, José Antonio. “Aztlan for the Middle Class: Chicano Literary Activism.” Chapter. In Race in American Literature and Culture, edited by John Ernest, 324–37. Cambridge Themes in American Literature and Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press