Kathryn Quinn-Sánchez is professor at Georgian Court University.

This slim volume deals with women’s exploration of identity in the face of hegemonic structures that seek to limit the way in which gender roles, nationality, and ethnicity are defined. Avoiding impenetrable theoretical discussions, Quinn-Sánchez devotes each of the volume's three sections to different contemporary books—most of them novels, though she also includes testimonio—and how their authors reject, contest, and subvert powerful constructs of 'space.' In doing so, she follows the theoretical work of Henri Lefebvre . . . who 'explains how space primarily functions to oppress those considered as inferior by society in an attempt to control the possibility of actual verifiable social change.' The spaces examined include, among others, the Garden of Eden (in Gioconda Belli's El infinito en la palma de la mano),the barrio (Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street), and the borderlands (Ana Maria Castilllo's The Guardians), along with imagined and futuristic spaces that allow new forms of freedom and solidarity for women and their communities. Quinn-Sánchez challenges artificial boundaries by including both Latina and Latin American women, and she emphasizes her desire not just to work in the literary sphere but to connect texts to real-world identity issues and human rights. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.

• Table of ContentsIntroduction.Section I. REJECTChapter 1. Rejecting Eden’s Limits/Choosing Freedom: Belli’s El infinito en la palma de la manoChapter 2. Rejecting Labels/Choosing Hope through Self-Definition: Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango StreetChapter 3. Rejecting Failed Hegemony: Capitalism and Borderland Violence in Ana Castillo’s The GuardiansChapter 4. Rejecting National Mores/There is No Country for Homosexuals: Cherríe Moraga’s TheHungry WomanSection II. CONTESTChapter 5. Contesting Love as Defined by Popular Culture/Redefining Self-Love: Denise Chávez’ Loving Pedro InfanteChapter 6. Contesting the Nation-State’s Reach for Power: Marcela Serrano’s La lloronaChapter 7. Contesting Traditional Patriarchal Definitions of Theory: Norma E. Cantú’s CanículaChapter 8. Contesting Anglo-Feminism and Academic Space/Redefining the Academy from Within: Telling to Live, Latina Feminist TestimoniosSection III. SUBVERTChapter 9. Subverting Patriarchy, the Nation-State and Redefining Society: Gioconda Belli’s El País de las mujeresChapter 10. Subverting HIStory, Space and Power: ConclusionsSelected BibliographyIndexAbout the author

Kathryn Quinn-Sánchez is professor at Georgian Court University.

This slim volume deals with women’s exploration of identity in the face of hegemonic structures that seek to limit the way in which gender roles, nationality, and ethnicity are defined. Avoiding impenetrable theoretical discussions, Quinn-Sánchez devotes each of the volume's three sections to different contemporary books—most of them novels, though she also includes testimonio—and how their authors reject, contest, and subvert powerful constructs of 'space.' In doing so, she follows the theoretical work of Henri Lefebvre . . . who 'explains how space primarily functions to oppress those considered as inferior by society in an attempt to control the possibility of actual verifiable social change.' The spaces examined include, among others, the Garden of Eden (in Gioconda Belli's El infinito en la palma de la mano),the barrio (Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street), and the borderlands (Ana Maria Castilllo's The Guardians), along with imagined and futuristic spaces that allow new forms of freedom and solidarity for women and their communities. Quinn-Sánchez challenges artificial boundaries by including both Latina and Latin American women, and she emphasizes her desire not just to work in the literary sphere but to connect texts to real-world identity issues and human rights. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.

• Table of ContentsIntroduction.Section I. REJECTChapter 1. Rejecting Eden’s Limits/Choosing Freedom: Belli’s El infinito en la palma de la manoChapter 2. Rejecting Labels/Choosing Hope through Self-Definition: Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango StreetChapter 3. Rejecting Failed Hegemony: Capitalism and Borderland Violence in Ana Castillo’s The GuardiansChapter 4. Rejecting National Mores/There is No Country for Homosexuals: Cherríe Moraga’s TheHungry WomanSection II. CONTESTChapter 5. Contesting Love as Defined by Popular Culture/Redefining Self-Love: Denise Chávez’ Loving Pedro InfanteChapter 6. Contesting the Nation-State’s Reach for Power: Marcela Serrano’s La lloronaChapter 7. Contesting Traditional Patriarchal Definitions of Theory: Norma E. Cantú’s CanículaChapter 8. Contesting Anglo-Feminism and Academic Space/Redefining the Academy from Within: Telling to Live, Latina Feminist TestimoniosSection III. SUBVERTChapter 9. Subverting Patriarchy, the Nation-State and Redefining Society: Gioconda Belli’s El País de las mujeresChapter 10. Subverting HIStory, Space and Power: ConclusionsSelected BibliographyIndexAbout the author

Kathryn Quinn-Sánchez is professor at Georgian Court University.

This slim volume deals with women’s exploration of identity in the face of hegemonic structures that seek to limit the way in which gender roles, nationality, and ethnicity are defined. Avoiding impenetrable theoretical discussions, Quinn-Sánchez devotes each of the volume's three sections to different contemporary books—most of them novels, though she also includes testimonio—and how their authors reject, contest, and subvert powerful constructs of 'space.' In doing so, she follows the theoretical work of Henri Lefebvre . . . who 'explains how space primarily functions to oppress those considered as inferior by society in an attempt to control the possibility of actual verifiable social change.' The spaces examined include, among others, the Garden of Eden (in Gioconda Belli's El infinito en la palma de la mano),the barrio (Sandra Cisneros's The House on Mango Street), and the borderlands (Ana Maria Castilllo's The Guardians), along with imagined and futuristic spaces that allow new forms of freedom and solidarity for women and their communities. Quinn-Sánchez challenges artificial boundaries by including both Latina and Latin American women, and she emphasizes her desire not just to work in the literary sphere but to connect texts to real-world identity issues and human rights. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.

• Table of ContentsIntroduction.Section I. REJECTChapter 1. Rejecting Eden’s Limits/Choosing Freedom: Belli’s El infinito en la palma de la manoChapter 2. Rejecting Labels/Choosing Hope through Self-Definition: Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango StreetChapter 3. Rejecting Failed Hegemony: Capitalism and Borderland Violence in Ana Castillo’s The GuardiansChapter 4. Rejecting National Mores/There is No Country for Homosexuals: Cherríe Moraga’s TheHungry WomanSection II. CONTESTChapter 5. Contesting Love as Defined by Popular Culture/Redefining Self-Love: Denise Chávez’ Loving Pedro InfanteChapter 6. Contesting the Nation-State’s Reach for Power: Marcela Serrano’s La lloronaChapter 7. Contesting Traditional Patriarchal Definitions of Theory: Norma E. Cantú’s CanículaChapter 8. Contesting Anglo-Feminism and Academic Space/Redefining the Academy from Within: Telling to Live, Latina Feminist TestimoniosSection III. SUBVERTChapter 9. Subverting Patriarchy, the Nation-State and Redefining Society: Gioconda Belli’s El País de las mujeresChapter 10. Subverting HIStory, Space and Power: ConclusionsSelected BibliographyIndexAbout the author