Reviews Rezensionen open-access Frank Obenland, Florian Freitag, Nadja Gernalzick, Jerry Varsava, Verena Keck, Kornelia Freitag, Martin Brückner, Christoph Lanzen, Waldemar Zacharasiewicz, Tim Lanzendörfer, Erik Redling, Carmen Birkle, Michael Basseler Amerikastudien/American Studies, Jahrgang 61 (2016), Ausgabe 1, Seite 105 - 105
“To Meet a Broader and Wiser Revolution” Beitrag open-access Notions of Collectivity in Contemporary Mexican American Drama Frank Obenland Amerikastudien/American Studies, Jahrgang 57 (2013), Ausgabe 2, Seite 271 - 290 This essay discusses the interventions of Cherríe Moraga’s dramatic and essayistic work in Chicano/a discourse on collectivity. In her dramatic and essayistic writings, Moraga moves beyond a feminist and queer critique of the patriarchal and heterosexual premises inherent in traditional Chicano cultural nationalism. In Heroes and Saints and Watsonville, Moraga questions a narrow, individualistic definition of cultural identity and emphasizes the importance of collective action for social change. Read from the viewpoint of a Lacanian notion of the tragic, Heroes and Saints argues in favor of both the need for violent resistance to economic exploitation and for a more inclusive definition of Chicano/a collectivity. Exploring the social and economic conflicts between a local Hispanic community and white factory owners, Moraga’s Watsonville employs Mexican folk religion and indigenous spirituality in order to introduce a revisionist mythology of communal belonging. Against the background of Jean-Luc Nancy’s philosophy of community, Moraga’s dramatic vision can be seen to articulate an idiosyncratic communitarian vision that questions and complicates existing accounts of Mexican American collectivity.
Vol. 68.4 (2023): Rethinking Solidarity 2024-03-20 Nathalie Aghoro, Katharina Gerund, and Sylvia Mayer (Guest Editors)