Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1996. [Vol. 3.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 23)

STUDIES - András Tarnóc: Ethnic Consciousness in Chicano Literature: The Voice of "La Raza".

he combines the tenets of Chicano consciousness with the emotional toll of prison life: soledad, you lied! no solitude or serenity here, just tormented souls...no, not souls The pinto as a temporary loser in the cultural conflict is also a rebel emphasizing carnalismo (brotherhood)

, an appreciation of family ties and the desire for freedom (Shirley and Shirley 21). The pinto reflects the notion of Chicano consciousness as it represents Chicano culture entrapped by "mainstream" America. The pinto also symbolizes a multi-level rejection of society at large, as the prisoner is estranged psychologically, personally, and sociologically. The commission of a crime, often under the label of social banditry, indicates a protest against economic deterritorialization. Psychologically it is a form of an individual revolt, and a sacrifice of his body or life assigns him the role of the rebel. Just as the Chicano is suspended between two cultures, the prisoner represents both psychological and physical liminality functioning between freedom and captivity, social rejection and acceptance. The pinto experience also acts as a catalyst towards education demonstrated by Jimmy Santiago Baca, who turned to learning to deal with the dehumanizing cruelty of prison life to achieve "a birthing, a way out through poetry." Thus in a way the pinto experience is centripetal, as individuals heretofore on the periphery are prompted by conditions of captivity to acquire an education enabling them to create literary products, leading to a participation in a multicultural literary world. The pinto is a multicultural hero functioning at the faultline between the colonizer and the colonized. 76