Becoming “American”: Race, Class, Gender, and Assimilation
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BECOMING “AMERICAN”: RACE, CLASS, GENDER, AND ASSIMILATION IDEOLOGIES IN YOUNG ADULT MEXICAN IMMIGRANT FICTION by JANIE IRENE COWAN (Under the Direction of Joel A. Taxel) This dissertation explores representations of race, class, gender and ideologies of assimilation in thirty-two young adult novels involving the Mexican immigrant experience published from 1953-2009. The study draws upon several theories, but is primarily located within the paradigm of critical Marxist educational, cultural, and literary theories including the sociology of school knowledge and critical multiculturalism based upon the work of Raymond Williams, Michael Apple, Joel Taxel, Stephen May and Christine Sleeter. I also draw upon theories of assimilation throughout U.S. history such as e pluribus unum, the melting pot, multiculturalism, transnationalism, and hybridity, with emphasis upon the work of Homi Bhabha that conceptualizes cultural hybridity as spaces of cultural negotiation and rearticulation. To provide further context for the study, I also review representations of Mexican Americans in larger American culture via historical accounts, school textbooks, and the entertainment media of television and film. I address the following research questions: What ideologies of assimilation are suggested in young adult contemporary fiction involving the Mexican immigrant experience? How do they change (or not change) over time? How do the intersections of assimilation ideologies and representations of ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender in young adult contemporary fiction change (or not change) over time? To analyze the texts, I used a qualitative methodology of literary content analysis. Information from the novels was grouped into the following self-constructed categories: Issues of story (setting, narration, protagonist ethnicity/gender, author ethnicity/gender); representations of ethnicity (physical descriptions, characterizations, relationship to those outside of culture); representations of socioeconomic status (occupations, living conditions); representations of gender (roles, attitudes, descriptions); issues of language (inclusion, accuracy); issues of cultural identity; references to agency and position; references to Mexican American history. It was found that the novels fall into four ideological categories: assimilation as unattainable, as conformity, as adaptation/bicultural practice, and as hybridity. Although earlier publications (1950s-1970s) largely reflected ideologies of unattainability or conformity, some later publications also continued to reflect these ideologies, including the most recent title of the sample (2009). Mexican Americans were often stereotyped within these ideologies, reflecting a selective tradition. Novels suggested multiple ideologies, often reflected through secondary characters. INDEX WORDS: immigration, immigrant, Mexican Americans, assimilation, selective tradition, children‟s literature, ideology, hybridity; transnationalism BECOMING “AMERICAN”: RACE, CLASS, GENDER AND ASSIMILATION IDEOLOGIES IN YOUNG ADULT MEXICAN IMMIGRANT FICTION by JANIE IRENE COWAN B. Mus., The University of Georgia, 1981 M. M. Ed., The University of Georgia, 1983 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2011 © 2011 Janie Irene Cowan All Rights Reserved BECOMING “AMERICAN”: RACE, CLASS, GENDER, AND ASSIMILATION IDEOLOGIES IN YOUNG ADULT MEXICAN IMMIGRANT FICTION by JANIE IRENE COWAN Major Professor: Joel Taxel Committee: JoBeth Allen Jennifer Graff Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia December, 2011 iv DEDICATION This study is dedicated to my parents, Lamar Dudley Cowan and Ruby Thomason Cowan, for their inspiring love of all things UGA and all things literary, respectively. This study is also humbly dedicated to the Mexican American families whose lives, stories, and children I have the privilege of sharing. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The extent to which the professors at this university have influenced and stimulated my thinking is beyond record. I am especially indebted to the keen, discerning, and critical perspective of Dr. Joel Taxel, whose work serves as inspiration and model for my own. I specifically came here in hopes of studying with him, and I could not ask for a better mentor. Joel read my many drafts, combed each word meticulously, and provided specific commentary to put me on the right track every time. He also seemed to have an uncanny ability to care for my mental and emotional wellbeing as well, sensing when to tell me to take a few days off to “rest my brain.” I cannot thank him enough for his quick and patient responses, his nearly constant availability, and his unfaltering support. He is a brilliant scholar, and a wonderful human being. Dr. JoBeth Allen has been invaluable to my development as a writer. She is undoubtedly one of, if not the best writing instructor I will ever encounter. She too is a brilliant scholar with a knack for saying just the right thing in a concise, cogent, and caring manner. JoBeth inspires and challenges me to do and be more than I ever think I can – and for this I am grateful. To Dr. Jennifer Graff I owe the kindle and focus of a dissertation topic that had begun to spark earlier in my doctoral program during courses on English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) with Dr. Pam Shepherd, issues of culture in literacy education with Dr. Bob Fecho, and the Red Clay Writing Project with Drs. Allen and Fecho. Jenn‟s excellent course addressing representations of the immigrant experience in children‟s literature, as well as her own personal interest, extensive knowledge, and passion for the subject, helped me to articulate my own research interests and agenda. vi I am also indebted to all the dear friends in my life who have patiently listened to me talk about my work, asked me how it is going, and understood over and over when I turned down invitations to do anything away from my desk for the past 5 ½ years. I am especially grateful to my precious Rick, whose constant love, understanding, practical wisdom, and sense of humor helped me to put things in perspective when needed. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................x LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………………………….…...xi CHAPTER 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................1 The Latino Threat Narrative ....................................................................................3 Undocumented Immigrants and American-Born Children ......................................8 The Question of Assimilation .................................................................................10 Mexican Immigrants and the Selective Tradition ..................................................13 Statement of the Problem .......................................................................................17 Research Questions ................................................................................................19 Chapters to Follow..……………………………………………………………………..20 2 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................23 Critical Theory and the Sociology of School Knowledge ......................................23 The Selective Tradition and Children’s Literature ................................................26 Ideology and Literature .........................................................................................33 Critical Literacy .....................................................................................................42 Conceptions & Definitions of Assimilation in U.S. History...................................44 Early American Conceptions of Assimilation .......................................................46 viii The Melting Pot…………………………………………………………………………..50 Americanization Theory.………………………………………………………………..52 Multiculturalism: Toward a Negotiated and Reformed Unum ..............................57 Contemporary Assimilation Debates .....................................................................62 Transnationalism and Hybridity: Rethinking Traditional Narratives ...................63 Implications for the Present Study .........................................................................68 3 The Mexican American Experience in U.S. History ...................................................71 Aztec Civilization and Spanish Occupation ...........................................................72 Manifest Destiny: American Expansionism and the Mexican Nation ...................73 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ........................................................................78 Mexican Labor in the United States..………………………………………………….84 The Chicano Movement .........................................................................................88 Mexican American History in U.S. Textbooks and Informational Books ..............93 4 Mexican Americans in Television and Film ..............................................................104 Mexican Americans in Television ........................................................................108