Proposals are invited for a volume in the MLA’s Options for Teaching series entitled Teaching Mexicana and Chicana Writers of the Twentieth Century, to be edited by Elizabeth C. Martínez. The goal for this project is to consider the publishing boom of women writers both in Mexico and the United States (of Mexican descent), whose narratives burst on the scene in the late twentieth century. Contributions will address connections and disconnections between women’s writing in each nation, and compare-contrast or study major authors. The volume will highlight key issues and pedagogical strategies for teaching contemporary literary narratives. It will include information on the diverse topics and artistic strategies of, and influences on, Mexicana and Chicana writers, as well as focus on teaching techniques and concepts.
Possible topics may include but are not limited to the influence of and markers made by early publications of the Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska and the Chicana writer Sandra Cisneros; the Jewish and Arabic Mexicana experience; intersectionalities and agency in Chicana writing; the impact of the best-selling novelists Laura Esquivel and Angeles Mastretta; the influence of feminist theory by Gloria Anzaldúa; teaching texts in translation; sex as literary tool in Mexicana novels; queering in Chicana novels; gender and critical race studies through Chicana texts; late-twentieth-century discourses of women’s writing; disability studies in Chicana and Mexicana novels; testimonial narratives; the strange and the normal in writings by Carmen Boullosa, Brianda Domecq, and Silvia Molina; precursors and early (invisible) works by Chicanas; female authors and the modern literary canon; early Chicana criticism in literary journals; Third World consciousness in Chicana fiction; patriarchal systems in Mexicana texts; symbols and codes in Mexicana and Chicana narratives; film adaptations and digital presentation of Chicana and Mexicana writing and other interdisciplinary approaches.
Proposals should mention and define, as appropriate, specific terms, concepts, techniques, and classroom contexts. They should indicate the value of the intended topic to a broad range of instructors and maintain a clear focus on teaching. Please note that any quotations from student papers will require written permission from the students.
For those interested in contributing an essay of 3,000 to 3,500 words for this innovative volume, please send an abstract of 500 words in which the approach and topic are outlined, including how it might enhance the teaching of Chicana and Mexicana literature of the twentieth century, to Elizabeth C. Martínez (emarti71@depaul.edu) by 15 May 2016.