Migrant Song: Politics and Process in Contemporary Chicano Literature

by Teresa McKenna

Migration and continuity have shaped both the Chicano people and their oral and written literature. In this pathfinding study of Chicano literature, Teresa McKenna specifically explores how these works arise out of social, political, and psychological conflict and how the development of Chicano literature is inextricably embedded in this fact. McKenna begins by appraising the evolution of Chicano literature from oral forms—including the important role of the corrido in the development of Chicano poetry. In subsequent chapters she examines the works of Richard Rodriguez and Rolando Hinojosa. She also devotes a chapter to the development of the Chicana voice in Chicano literature. Her epilogue considers the parallel development of Chicano literary theory and discusses some possible directions for research. In McKenna's own words, "I believe that the future of this literature, as that of all literatures by people of color in the United States, rests largely on its being effectively introduced into the curricula at all levels, as well as its entrance into the critical consciousness of literary theory." This book will be an important step in that process.

170 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1996

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a frustrating book!

I read the intro, Chapters 2 and 5 (relevant to my project), and I skimmed the conclusion. In her "critical" essays, McKenna quotes, at length, at least 3 other writers per page, sometimes per paragraph, before hazarding an original thought of her own and then smothers that thought with so many qualifiers it becomes nearly meaningless: "...to let words point to the essential issues of communal existence or not[?] When and how, and if, this choice occurs forms the basis for understanding the evolution of Chicano poetry." That's how she *ends* one essay.

I wish McKenna's academic style was more like the personable tone she uses in the intro and conclusion. As it is, I think my time's better spent reading the books McKenna cites. Then there's the added bonus of not having to endure her binary gender assumptions and gender essentialism.

[Miguel Mendoza · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book led me to other authors and reads but I could not connect with it. I stopped midway, shuffled through the pages and decided to let it go.