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Latinx Literature, Common stereotypes about the gender and ethnic…
Latinx Literature
Social Identity
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Stereotypes
Jennine Capo Crucet 
Tato Laviera
Jose Oliverez
Belonging
Daniel Borzutsky
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Miguel Algarin
Ethnicity/Race
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Tatiana Flores
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Claudia Milian
Class
Eduardo Corral
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Coming of Age
Tradition
Cristina Garcia
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Gender Identity
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Masculinity
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Nelly Rosario
Junot Diaz
Nicole Trujillo-Pagan
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Queerness
Cherrie Moraga
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Feminity
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Sandra Maria Esteves
Patricia Engel
Family
Boundaries/Borders
Gloria Anzaldua
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Communication
Kali Fajardo-Anstine
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Common stereotypes about the gender and ethnic identities of our authors are rexamined and at times, subverted and reframed to elaborate upon the author's exploration of what it means to be a part of that group.
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- "The Husband Stitch" discusses societal pressures put on women through a graphic lens, referencing the husband stitch
- "Eight Bites" also speaks of societal pressures but focuses on eating habits and "the perfect body"
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- "Sugar Babies" discusses the disconnect between Sierra and her mother
- "Ghost Sickness" touches on the idea that minorities are subjected to majority culture
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- Novel "Dreaming in Cuban" follows three generations of women living in Cuba and the United States
- Speaks of the ocean as a border between the women in the family
- The family is also divided by communication (Celia and Lourdes disagree about Communism, Celia and Pilar communicate through their minds)
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- Vignette novel "House On Mango Street" follows Esperanza growing up in a house that she wants desperately to leave
- Does not want to be just a 'woman looking out the window'
- Subtly weaves in the violence experienced by women in the neighborhood (narrator's assault, Sally's young marraige, Rafaela locked in her house)
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- "How To Leave Hialeah" deals with the narrator trying to embrace being Cuban-American while giving 'instructions' on how to leave Hialeah
- "Imagine Me Here, How I Became A Professor" discusses inequity when Crucet encounters an agitated women in her lecture
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- Essay "The Performance of Being Human" uses humor to examine the realities of immigration and racial violence in society
- Borzutsky reckons with his identity as Latinx and Jewish while atrocities happen all over the world
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- Semi-autobiographical novel "We the Animals" follows three brothers growing up in a violent household and the way they fall apart as they grow older
- Brothers mirror the masculinity of their father
- Family is confined in their small home for most of the novel, creating a volatile environment
- Narrator understands his queerness through violent encounters at bus stations, outlined in his journal
- Interior/exterior of the narrator's interactions with his brother ("We wanted more") versus alone
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- Down These Mean Streets discusses Piri Thomas' upbringing in Spanish Harlem. It serves as a coming of age memoir, that deals with the struggles of an interior/exterior conflict of identity.
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- "Postcolonial Love Poem" describes the speaker's resilience when facing violence as an Indigenous woman. This idea is contrasted with her relationship with a woman, and it transforms her pain into something beautiful
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- His poem "Puerto Rican Obituary" brings awareness to the alienation Puerto Ricans face in America. He does this by touching on the fact that the American dream was made for certain kinds of people. -Characters all wanted to be someone they couldn't be, because of their racial and class history
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- "How to Date a Thugboy, Artboy, Nerdboy, or Papichulo: Variation on a Junot Diaz Theme
- Gives a step by step plan on how to date a specific person based on who they are
- Highlights the insecurities that women have and their desire to make sure than they are liked by men
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- Themes explored in this memoir include toxic masculinity and family dynamics/communication. These are examined in connection with violence and the role violence plays in those dynamics.
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Social identity pertains to the way that characters express themselves in society. These are the characteristics that are often grappled with in Latinx literature as characters come to understand who they are and how they fit in with others.
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- His poem "Not Tonight but Tomorrow" speaks of how things are inevitable in life and that the universe keeps moving. Speaks of the violence of planet but eventually says the earth will turn green again.
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Family is central to many Latinx works, weighing on the theme of intergenerational relationships and the trauma shared by families.
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- Short story "How to Date a Browngirl (Black Girl, White Girl, or Halfie)" gives instructions to the reader through the perspective of character Junior
- Centers on race as a motivation for behaviors
- Examines the struggles of dating as a man, showing vulnerability versus asserting confidence to manipulate the situation
- Junior's insecurities about himself: "Tell her that you love her hair, her skin, her lips, because, in truth, you love them more than you love your own."
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Violence is a theme that's examined by our authors, particularly the role it plays in connection to both gender dynamics and family dynamics. It is frequently explored in conjunction with masculinity, suggesting that perpetual cycles of reinforcing toxic masculinity create cycles of violence.
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- "Borderlands La Frontera" highlights the conflicts that arise when having to leave your home for a chance at a better life
- Shows the challenges that having to choose what to identify with and how that can affect your relationships with your family
- How culture is a big part of who you are and you can't belong to two places at the same time
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Gender identity plays a heavy role in Latinx literature, as characters grapple with their gender presentation and expression through themes of violence and performance as it correlates to their racial identity and history
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Traditions and customs play a huge role in these coming of age narratives, as the authors challenge traditions held by previous generations. Usually is connected in association to family and the dynamics between generations.
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- "AmeRican" highlights the importance of having two different cultures and valuing all aspects of your identity
- Connects to nationality because in another country where different cultures are not seen, it's important to be able to represent where you are from and be able to connect with others from the same background
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Masculinity is a subsect of gender identity that's explored in depth, both from the perspective of those that perpetuate that masculinity, and those that are victims of it. Authors examine the way in which masculinity has been tied to the Latinx identity historically, and how that history impacts them today.
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Queerness, like femininity, is a mode of rebelling against the traditional Latinx culture. Queerness is often expressed through isolation from traditional society or modes of horror or violence.
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There is often a strong focus on young characters coming of age as Latinx within the U.S., showing the isolation, trials and tribulations, and ultimate maturity
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Race and racism are central to the Latinx literary canon, and most works include themes or mentions of how race impacts society. Many works touch on colorism and the anti-Blackness within and outside of Latinx culture.
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Nationality is worked into many Latinx stories through focus on a character's country of origin, and how this country impacts who they are and how they act in the U.S.
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Class intertwines with race and nationality in many cases to show the economic and societal barriers that Latinx people, especially first-gen migrants, face in the U.S. Class is often expressed through jobs, wealth, and (lack of) means.
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Communication, or the lack of communication, is central to familial connections shown in Latinx literature. Intergenerational communication is often distanced. Communication engages with gender expression and violence to show the disparities between healthy and unhealthy commucation.
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Physical boundaries or borders are often used to express mental, psychological, or spiritual borders between people and/or ideas. The border of U.S. and Mexico is often cited as an important border in Latinx lit because of the U.S.'s forced division of Mexicans between the countries.
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The theme of belonging reoccurs often in Latinx literature, as characters come to find their place in the world, and reexamine their ties to the U.S. and Latin America. Belonging often comes out of coming of age stories, as young characters must find where they belong as they reach maturity.
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The interior/exterior conflict uses symbolism to portray the barriers between a character's inner life and their outer life. An interior conflict symbolizes the vulnerability of a character, while the exterior often involves the violence of society or miscommunication with friends or family. This often pairs with communication or borders/barriers because it is in itself a form of communication through separation.
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- Short story "The Summer of Nene" follows narrator Jimmy as he grapples with his sexuality during a secret relationship with his friend Nene
- Jimmy "Will never have the words" to discuss his relationship with Nene
- Obsessed with appearances and pretends to like Jessica around friends
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- Essay "The X in Latinx is a Wound, Not a Trend" emphasizes the importance of recognition in Latinx community
- Four main points on settlement, anti-Blackness, femicide, and inarticulation of Latinx community that needs to be recognized
- Asks the reader "What have I doe to show up for Black, Indigenous, women, and femmes of the Latin American diaspora today?"
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- "Loving in the War Years" is essentially a journal proclaiming her Chicano/a lesbian identity. There is a struggle to find her identity as a Chicana with a white complexion and also struggles with how to express her sexuality
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- Short story "Madre Patria" follows young female narrator visiting family in Colombia
- Narrator listens to her parents "whispers" through the bedroom wall, most knowledge comes through overhearing
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- Essay "Hispanic" discusses the history and controversy of the terms 'Hispanic" and "Latino" - author eventually comes to support 'Hispanic' its homogeonizing of Latin American countries and identities
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- Essay "Crossed Out by LatinX" examines the differences between "LatinX" (collective) and "Latinx" (individual)
- Argues that "LatinX" homogeonizes experiences and silences Latina & Latino experiences
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- "Citizen Illegal" documents Oliveres' life in America. Speaks on the transition to United States culture, his parent's undocumented immigration status through his childhood, and his struggle with belonging into adulthood.
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- "Mexican Heaven" creates a utopian vision of heaven. It is one that is accepting of Mexican culture and values. The piece has a playful nature that draws attention to discrimination in America.
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- "Autobiography of A Nuyorican" is a poem that speaks and analyzes real-life problems for women in a way that transforms and empowers them
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- In his poem "In Colorado My Father Scoured and Stacked Dishes" his father's immigration plays a big role, as does his job with a "Tex-Mex" restaurant. There is a power struggle between his father and the other workers, which causes the narrator to question himself
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- Plan for equal representation of the Lantinx community and make sure that their culture was being accounted for
- Relates to nationality because even though there was a lot of discrimination against people of color, the LatinX community wanted to be included given the fact that they made up a lot of the population
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- "Alan, American Dreamer" highlights the need to be "Americanized" so that they can fit in society
- how some people decide to forget about where they come from and becomes someone they aren't
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- "Latinidad is Cancelled" delves into exploring the concept of Latinidad, presenting an argument on how the term and concept has failed to embrace a platform of antiracism and decolonialize itself.
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- Essay "Extremely Latin, XOXO" uses scholarly and literary writings to debate the merits of the term "Latinx"
- Ultimately argues that "Latinx" is an ever-changing word that requires constant re-analyzation of its meaning and significance
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- "Burning X's" presents an argument that the term Latinx as a way to directly infuse queerness and transness into the concept of "Latinidad", and examiens the term in context of how it grapples with race.
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Femininity is often explored as a way of reframing the machismo and male-centered views in traditional Latinx culture. Authors fixate on the particular hardships of being Latina in a male-dominated society, and how their femininity manifests through (lack of) agency and trauma.
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- In his poem "I am Joaquin", Gonzales reflects on the struggles and contradictions present as part of the Mexican-American identity. It examines the violence conducted toward his own identity and how his lineage carries that violence. Showcases unique insight as a result of his upbringing in the Chicano Civil Rights Movement.
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- The Young Lords Party 13 Point Platform outlines the central points pushed by the party searching for self-determination for Latinos and other minority groups in the US. It is a representation of Puerto Rican nationalism as well as general revolutionary sentiments expressed at the time.
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- "si el tiempo es cuir" examines queerness and violence, using poetry to reflect on pain felt by queer people.
- "buenos días ay bendito" uses poetic devices to empower women, drawing comparisons and connections to nature.
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