James Seth

Research Plan

I would like to do a research term paper over the difficulties of canonization for Chicana feminist writers. Having been introduced to the genre by Dr. Maria Gonzalez, a leading authority on Chicana and gender studies, I’m interested in the tension between the “old canon” and “new canon.” My paper, tentatively titled, “Beyond Mango Street: Where do Chicana Feminist Writers Fit?” will explore works of underappreciated Chicana writers and why, specifically, their inclusion in the American literary canon is challenging but necessary.

I want to examine issues of intertextuality, transnational migration, self/other relations, and how Chicana feminist works speak to the “old canon” in affecting ways. Works considered for this essay are Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper, and The Last of the Menu Girls by Denise Chávez.