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We live in an Anglo-male-dominated society. The marginalization of women of color has resulted in a skewed understanding of history, as seen specifically in the Chicano Movement. El Movimiento was a realization and reclamation of culture, but it catered to what it meant to be Chicano, not Chicana. All Chicanas have been largely underrepresented and are only recently being examined in literary discourse. The recent surge of Chicana literature has begun to piece together an entire viewpoint of what it means to be Chicana/o. However, ‘recent’ does not imply that Chicanas have only recently begun to write, rather, it means that the publication of this literature is a newfound occurrence. With this literature, marginalized darkness comes into the light: the lives of Chicana women. Not surprisingly, this female experience differed from the male experience. A feminine voice has been added to the discourse. As women, Chicana writers specifically emphasize the duality of identity, of living on the outskirts of two societies. Though this is also discussed within Chicano literature, Chicana literature includes what it means to be a woman, and a woman of color, a double threat. In this essay, I argue that the Chicano/Movement is a rebirth of a stolen identity, as seen in Sandra Cisneros’ vignette “My Name”, which has resulted in a contradictory identity and a muddled sense of self.
Sandra Cisneros, in the vignette “My Name” from her book The House on Mango Street, illustrates the battling identities raging within Chicana women. She opens this chapter with dual languages standing in opposition to one another in the pronunciation of Esperanza’s name, the protagonist. Cisneros writes “In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting.” The presence of ‘otherness’ is apparent within this entire piece. In this instance, Esperanza is struggling with her representation as both a Mexican girl and a newfound American, she is not fully within either world. Esperanza is dissatisfied with her given name, it presents challenges within both languages. In English, the translation Esperanza gives is not real, in Spanish the name has a negative connotation. In either case, she seems to dance on the edge of ‘otherness’ for both cultures. There is no definition of the word ‘esperanza’ in English, it is a Spanish word that means hope. Why then does she change the translation? In doing so, Cisneros employs a form of silent narrative resistance. Non-Spanish speakers may be unaware of the wordplay within the word ‘esperanza.’ ‘Esperanza’ can be derived from the word ‘esperar’ which means ‘to wait.’ Later when Cisneros writes that the name in Spanish “...means waiting” she is alluding to this translation of the word. In doing so, Cisneros is using Esperanza as a master of wordplay. There is a story within a story, with Esperanza as the storyteller. This is a reclamation of the language that was once stolen from the mouths of Chicanos/as. Though Esperanza is seemingly on the outskirts of both cultures, she has found a way to quietly fight back.
There are many forms of resistance within this one piece, but two forms stick out: translation and the feminine voice. As stated, the translation of Esperanza’s name is a facet of preservation. The authors of the anthology Infinite Divisions write that the translation aspect of Chicana writing is a critique of Anglo culture and their understanding of what it means to be Hispanic (Rebolledo & Rivero). The authors point out that “...cultural misunderstanding is amusing to Hispanos and is certainly part of a cultural ‘translation’.” (Rebolledo & Rivero 19). Cisneros utilizes this humor to depict an underlying theme specifically designated for the Chicana readers. When I first read “My Name” I related to it immediately, but had never considered that the Anglo reader might not have the same bilingual knowledge. The second form of narrative resistance is the feminine voice, specifically in the form of the story writer. The anthology authors point out the stigma around ‘women’s work’ by illustrating that “...it was acceptable for women to be the storytellers, although not the story writers…” (Rebolledo & Rivero 18). As Esperanza tells her story and as she utilizes wordplay, she is participating in this resistance. In a male-dominated field, Cisneros and Esperanza are among the few women's voices in the publishing sphere.
Furthermore, the actual phonetics of English and Spanish contrast one another. Cisneros writes “At school, they say my name funny as if the syllables were made out of the tin and hurt the roof of your mouth. But in Spanish, my name is made out of a softer something, like silver…” (79). The inability of her classmates to pronounce her name creates a sense of embarrassment and frustration for Esperanza. She realizes that the name prescribed to her is not fitting, and that she cannot identify with it. On one hand, she wishes to change her name to better fit her concept of self. On the other hand, she may wish to change her name to ease the pronunciation of Anglos. In this case, the process of changing one’s name to fit into an Anglo mouth results in the loss of self, a disassociation from the world. Esperanza struggles to find her voice, between what the Anglo culture expects of her and what Mexican culture expects of her, she is at a loss. The Infinite Divisions anthology asserts that “If Chicanas do not conform to the...roles prescribed for them by their own culture and by society at large, they run the risk of not being real,” (Rebolledo & Rivero 78). If Esperanza is unable to ‘conform’ to what she believes she should be, then she is real in neither her thoughts nor in the societies she attempts to enter.
In conclusion, Chicana writers are still fighting for recognition, be it within the literary world or their concepts of self. As storywriters, these women are leading the resistance and sparking awareness. The literature that arises from this group of strong women is a glimpse into a reality that was once hidden. By adding the feminine voice to the Chicano movement, an all-encompassing understanding of the Chicano/experience is supplied to the discourse. There still is a connection to the homeland, to the roots, and the family. What is added, however, is a different take on what it meant to be a woman and a woman of color. These writers explore the journey of what identity is defined as and what it means to be ‘oneself.’ Sandra Cisneros illustrates these dualities perfectly within her work “My Name” from The House on Mango Street. Her character Esperanza embodies the sense of isolation and ‘otherness’ that many Chicanas feel. Be it language, gender, sexuality, or culture, Chicanas dance on the edge of both worlds. Neither one nor the other, Chicanas strain to define themselves against a world that attempts to force the definition.
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