Chapter 27 - Across Neighborhood and National Boundaries: Ana Castillo, Sandra Cisneros, and Mexican Chicago

Summary

In the field of Latinx literature, Ana Castillo and Sandra Cisneros are two of the most recognized and influential contemporary authors. While they are often identified as Latina or Chicana writers, rarely are they thought of as Chicago authors, even though they both grew up in the city and have written work in which Chicago figures prominently. This chhapter locates Castillo and Cisneros within the field of Chicago literature and examines the significance of Chicago neighborhood place and transnational influence in their fiction, poetry, and autobiographical writing. In their texts, the Near West Side of Chicago emerges as a pluri-ethnic community in which poetic speakers and protagonists come to understand their own ethnic identities in relation to those of other immigrant communities. Their work demonstrates an intersecting Mexican Chicago literary identity that draws our attention to the history of Mexican migration to the Midwest, and expands our concept of what constitutes Chicago literature.