Killing Spanish Literary Essays on Ambivalent U.S. Latino/a Identity [Paperback]

In this intelligent monograph for women's studies, literature and Latin American studies, Lyn Di Iorio Sandin asserts that there is a significant ambivalence surrounding identity that is present in the works of Latino writers such as Cristina Garcia, Edward Rivera, and Abraham Rodriguez. Sandin incorporates the theories of allegory and 'double identity' to talk about fragmentation of the Latino psyche. What Sandin finds compelling is that in all of the works of this diverse group of writers, there is a common theme of anxiety about origins that manifests itself through the symbols of dead women, ghosts, or madwomen. Using specific examples from literature ranging from Cuban American Cristina Garcia's The Aguero Sisters to Puerto Rican Rosario Ferre's Maldito amor , Sandin finds that fragmented ethnic identification is an area that is just beginning to be explored within the analysis of U.S. Latino fiction.Introduction: Towards a Typology of U.S. Latino/a Caribbean Culture PART I: SEEMLY LATINAS AND THEIR LOCA DOUBLES Allegory's Magical Fragments Killing Spanish Good Latina, Bad Latina PART II: MACHOS AND MONSTERS The Allegorists of the Street Latino Rage Conclusion: 'Culture-Conscious Scribes'

There is no other work in contemporary U.S. Latino/Latina Studies, known to me, that is comparable to Killing Spanish in scope, in analytical richness and in sheer trans-American thinking; it is actually a cross-genealogical history of U.S. Latino/Latina literature from Piri Thomas to Cristina Garc?a and Junot D?az and shows a passionate mastery of the literature of the Americas. - Jos? David Sald?var, Class of 1942 Professor of English, University of California, Berkeley

Killing Spanish is an illuminating examination of contemporary US Latino writing. Lyn Di Iorio Sand?n combines a comprehensive and revealing cultural study analysis with a compelling literary review of the manner in which allegory, in the works of some of the most significant authlÃ*