Hacettepe University Graduate School of Social Sciences Department of American Culture and Literature A JOURNEY INTO THE DEPTHS: THE NEW MESTIZA CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE LIFE WRITINGS OF CHERRIE MORAGA AND GLORIA ANZALDUA Gizem Akçil Master’s Thesis Ankara, 2013 A JOURNEY INTO THE DEPTHS: THE NEW MESTIZA CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE LIFE WRITINGS OF CHERRIE MORAGA AND GLORIA ANZALDUA Gizem Akçil Hacettepe University Graduate School of Social Sciences Department of American Culture and Literature Master’s Thesis Ankara, 2013 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude for the aid and advice of a number of people who were near me during the process of writing this thesis: First, I am thankful to my family for their profound, unconditional love, lasting patience and encouragement. It would have been impossible for me to complete my thesis without their support. To my thesis advisor Associate Professor Dr. Bilge Mutluay Çetintaş who willingly introduced me to life writing and has been a great source of guidance and expertise since the beginning of this study in 2011. I also want to express my indebtedness to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nur Gökalp Akkerman and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tanfer Emin Tunç for the benevolence and direction they have provided. Finally, I wish to convey my great respect for and earnest thanks to Prof. Dr. Meldan Tanrısal, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ufuk Özdağ and each faculty member of the Department of American Culture and Literature of Hacettepe University for their counsel, support and sharing of invaluable knowledge during my undergraduate and graduate years. iv ÖZET AKÇİL, Gizem. Derinliğe Yolculuk: Cherríe Moraga ve Gloria Anzaldúa’nın Yaşam Yazınlarında Yeni Mestiza Bilinci, Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Ankara, 2013. Meksika kökenli Amerikalı kadın yazarlar Cherríe Moraga ve Gloria Anzaldúa’nın “yaşam yazını” türündeki eserleri, Loving in the War Years ve Borderlands/La Frontera üçüncü dalga feminist akımın ilkelerini kişisel deneyimlerden yola çıkarak dile getirir. Her iki yazar da, İngilizce ve İspanyolcayı birlikte kullanarak; anı, kısa öykü, şiir ve deneme türlerinin derlenmesinden oluşturdukları sentezle iç dünyalarını, belleklerinde iz bırakan deneyimlerini ve politik görüşlerini okuyucuya aktarır. Farklı dillerin, düzyazının ve şiirsel anlatımın iç içe geçmiş bu uyumlu birlikteliği; Anzaldúa’nın “yeni mestiza bilinci” olarak nitelendirdiği, kalıplaşmış düşünceleri, ayrıştırıcı toplumsal sınıflamaları/sınırları reddeden, çok kültürlü, yapıcı ve esnek bir bakış açısının yansımasıdır. Bu bilinç, farklı kültürlerin ve toplumların buluştuğu sınırlarda yaşayanların kimlik karmaşasının sonucudur; çünkü sınır kavramı yalnızca coğrafi bir mekânı—Amerika ile Meksika arasındaki sınırı—değil, aynı zamanda kültürel, dilsel, psikolojik ve ruhsal her türlü değişkeni ve sadece bir yere ait olamamaktan kaynaklanan belirsizlik duygusunu kapsar. Sınırlarda yaşam zor, riskli ve çelişkilerle doludur. Kişi bu kültürel ikilemden çelişkileri ve önyargıları aşan bir düşünüş biçimini, “mestiza bilincini” geliştirerek çıkabilir. Bu düşünce biçimi üçüncü dalga feminist akımın bir parçası olan “Chicana” feminizmi ile yakından ilgilidir. “Chicana” feminizmi toplumsal sınırların kesiştiği noktalarda baskıların çokluğuna vurgu yapar. Birey bu baskıları öncelikle bedeniyle hisseder. Kültürel ve içsel çatışmalar, dışlanmışlık hissi parçalanmış beden ve bölünmüş benlik algısına yol açar. Moraga ve Anzaldúa yaşadıkları kişisel dönüşümü bir bütünlük ve kimlik arayışı, parçalarını yeniden birleştirme süreci olarak dile getirirler. Böylece, katı çizgilerle belirlenmiş sınırların ötesine geçilir. Zıtlıkların ve baskıların bireyin yaşamında oluşturduğu çatlak ya da Anzaldúa’nın deyimiyle sınırda yaşamanın oluşturduğu “yara” iyileşme sürecine girer. Anahtar Sözcükler Yaşam yazını, Mestiza bilinci, Sınır, “Chicana” feminizmi, Parçalanma, Dönüşüm v ABSTRACT AKÇİL, Gizem. A Journey into the Depths: the New Mestiza Consciousness in the Life Writings of Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa, Master’s Thesis, Ankara, 2013. Chicana authors Cherríe Moraga’s and Gloria Anzaldúa’s works entitled Loving in the War Years and Borderlands/La Frontera can be studied under the umbrella term “life writing,” since both works articulate third-wave feminist concerns as they draw on personal experiences. Both writers convey their inner struggles, memories and political views through a combination of English and Spanish, memoir, short story, poetry and essays. The harmonious unity of different languages, prose and poetic narratives is a reflection of a multicultural, flexible and creative perspective Anzaldúa calls a “new mestiza consciousness,” which rejects the conventional discriminatory social classifications. The “new mestiza consciousness” is the outcome of the identity conflict of those living in the borderlands, in the places where diverse cultures and societies merge. “The border” not only refers to a geographical area—the border between the United States and Mexico—but also comprises all kinds of cultural, linguistic, psychological and mental variables as well as a feeling of ambiguity. Life in the borderlands is difficult, risky and full of contradictions. The inhabitants of such spaces overcome the cultural dilemma, the condition of being in-between by developing such a consciousness that transcends the dualistic thought. Related to Chicana feminism, which is a part of the larger movement of third-wave-feminism, the mestiza viewpoint emphasizes the multiplicity of oppressions experienced at the intersections of social borders. The Chicana feels these pressures initially through her body. Cultural and internal conflicts and the feeling of alienation lead to a perception of a fragmented body, a split self. Moraga and Anzaldúa describe their self-transformation as a process of searching for an identity, for wholeness and uniting the fragments. Hence, they transcend designated borders and take the initial step toward healing the crack or what Anzaldúa calls the “wound” caused by the borderland. Key Words Life writing, Mestiza consciousness, the Border, Chicana feminism, Fragmentation, Transformation vi TABLE OF CONTENTS KABUL VE ONAY ……………………………………………………………………..i BİLDİRİM ………………………………………………………………………………ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………………………iii ÖZET …………………………………………………………………………………...iv ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………………….v TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………………………vi INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………1 CHAPTER I: RE-MEMBERING EXPERIENCE VIA “EMBODIED MEMORY” AND THE FRAGMENTATION OF IDENTITY …………………………………………...25 CHAPTER II: TRANSFROMATION THROUGH “PSYCHIC HEALING,” SPIRITUAL VISION AND REVISING CHICANO MYTHS ……………..................75 CONCLUSION ………………………………………………………………………125 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ………………………………………………………...134 WORKS CITED ……………………………………………………………………...135 1 INTRODUCTION The quality of light by which we scrutinize our lives has direct bearing upon the product which we live, and upon the changes which we hope to bring about through those lives. It is within this light that . we pursue our magic and make it realized. Audre Lorde “Poetry Is Not a Luxury” from Feminist Theory: A Reader Chicana feminist authors communicate the complexity of Chicana cultural identity through their self-expressive writings. They articulate the overlapping dimensions of Chicana identity which is characterized by a comingling of cultures and expose the multiplicity of oppressions they encounter at the margins of these cultural fronts. Chicana feminists are concerned with finding a voice of their own and raising the consciousness of ethnic woman on the issues of race, class, gender and sexual oppression. For Chicana feminist writers, identifying the sources of oppression within one’s personal life is the basis of a long-term political struggle. Their works relate the personal to the political, as they aim to create new venues for Chicana cultural expression. Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa disclose their multifarious identity which occupies the space where the Anglo, Mexican and Native worldviews collide. Their sense of self comes from the borderland between the United States and Mexico which appears in their writings both as a geographical locale and a symbol alluding to cultural heterogeneity. Their emphasis on hybrid identities challenges traditional western thinking that relegates those who cross over the dominant paradigms as the “other.” As Wilson Neate explains, An ambiguous, liminal identity at the point of intersection of differences offers a context for renewed articulations of self and community. Consequently, Chicana writing shows how those isolated selves created by the binary narratives of dominant communities with a view to disempowerment may be linked together into an acquiescence of a multiform identity. (Tolerating Ambiguity 170) These authors reject the notion of an essential female self and illustrate how Chicana selfhood/identity is affected by socio-cultural determinants. They display how race, ethnicity, gender and class issues intersect in the formation of their identities and 2 explore the ways in which constrictive social structures can be transcended. As Wilson Neate explains, Chicana/o literature, in general, is “a literature of resistance and oppositionality,” which is “the product of a historically constructed border- consciousness” (i). As Chicana feminists return to their cultural/ethnic roots, they also desire to transgress tradition. Thus, at the heart of Chicana identity lies the contradiction of forming alliances with one’s ethnic community