The New Mestiza Consciousness in Chicana Life Writing: Cherríe Moraga’s Loving in the War Years: Lo que nunca pasó por sus labios

Year 2018, Issue: 49, 5 - 36, 01.10.2018

Gizem Akçil

Abstract

Chicana feminist author Cherríe Moraga’s life writing Loving in the War Years 1983 draws on the author’s memories, personal and collective experiences, and identity struggles as a Chicana lesbian of mixed ancestry. As the daughter of an Anglo-American father and a Chicana mother, Moraga depicts her adoption of her Chicana lesbian identity and her rejection of oppression based on racism, sexism, heterosexism and classism through a combination of the English and Spanish languages and a variety of literary genres which includes selfreferential stories, journal entries, poetry and essays. The narratives in Moraga’s work represent what the Chicana feminist author Gloria Anzaldşa terms “the new mestiza consciousness” in her life writing Borderlands/La Frontera: the New Mestiza 1987 . Anzaldşa’s concept of the new mestiza consciousness offers a re-interpretation of the racial term “mestizo/a” and articulates a state of existence beyond exclusive identity categories. The new mestiza consciousness is a survival strategy that is the outcome of the identity conflict of those living in the borderlands, in the places where diverse cultures and societies merge. The inhabitants of borderlands overcome the dilemma/the state of being in-between by rejecting the dualism in Western philosophy and adopting the new mestiza/border consciousness, which emphasizes the interweaving rather than separation of the multiple aspects of Chicana identity and the need to transcend socially constructed, rigid borders. This article will analyze Moraga’s overcoming of silence and identity fragmentation that is the result of the multiplicity of oppressions she has encountered at socio-cultural fronts in her struggle to embrace her Chicana lesbian identity in the light of a new mestiza perspective

Keywords

Life writing, Chicana feminism, the new mestiza consciousness, Cherríe Moraga, Loving in the War Years

Meksikalı Amerikalı Yazarların Yaşam Yazınlarında “Yeni Mestiza Bilinci:” Cherríe Moraga ve Loving in the War Years: Lo que nunca pasó por sus labios

Abstract

Meksikalı-Amerikalı feminist yazar Cherríe Moraga’nın Loving in the War Years 1983 adlı eseri yazarın anılarını, bireysel ve toplumsal tecrübelerini ve Meksikalı-Amerikalı karmaşık kökenli lezbiyen kimliğinin oluşturduğu kimlik çatışmalarını dile getirdiğinden yaşam yazını edebi türü altında incelenebilir. Anglosakson-Amerikalı bir baba ve Meksikalı-Amerikalı bir annenin kızı olan Moraga, özyaşam öyküleri, günlük, şiir ve denemelerden oluşan farklı edebi türleri İngilizce ve İspanyolca olarak bir araya getirerek ırkçılığa, cinsiyet ayrımcılığına, eşcinsel ayrımcılığına ve sınıfçılığa dayanan baskıları reddeder ve Meksikalı-Amerikalı lezbiyen kimliğini benimseyişini anlatır. Moraga’nın eserindeki anlatılar Meksikalı-Amerikalı feminist yazar Gloria Anzaldşa’nın Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza 1987 adlı yaşam yazınında açıkladığı “yeni mestiza bilinci” kavramını temsil eder. Anzaldşa’nın “yeni mestiza bilinci” kavramı “mestizo/a” terimini yeniden yorumlar ve dışlayıcı kimlik sınıflamalarının ötesinde bir varoluş halini dile getirir. “Yeni mestiza bilinci” farklı kültürlerin ve toplumların birleştiği sınırlarda yaşayanların kimlik karmaşasından doğan bir hayatta kalma stratejisidir. Sınırlardaki bireyler yaşadıkları ikilemi/arada olma durumunu Batı felsefesindeki düalizmi ikiciliği reddederek Meksikalı-Amerikalı kimliğinin farklı yönlerinin ayrımına değil kesiştiği noktaya ve toplum tarafından belirlenmiş katı sınırların aşılması gerektiğine vurgu yapan yeni mestiza/sınır bilincini benimseyerek aşarlar. Bu makale Moraga’nın Meksikalı-Amerikalı lezbiyen kimliğini korumak için sessizliği ve sosyo-kültürel cephelerde karşılaştığı toplumsal baskıların oluşturduğu kimlik bölünmesinin üstesinden gelişini yeni mestiza bakış açısıyla inceleyecektir

Keywords

Yaşam yazını, Meksikalı-Amerikalı feminizmi, yeni mestiza bilinci, Cherríe Moraga, Loving in the War Years

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