Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1998. [Vol. 5.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 25)

Studies - András Tarnóc: Voices From the Wild Zone: Three Versions of the Feminist Aesthetic in American Culture

In comparison to white feminism, black feminism (black womanism) is not characterized by conativity or versus patterns and does not suffer from the domino principle either as it does not distort the meaning of black or white feminism. However, Alice Walker's belief in the life-saving power of writing reveals a touch of conativity: 'it is, in the end, the saving of lives that we writers are about. Whether we are 'minority' writers or 'majority.' It is simply in our power to do this" (33). Chlean a Fen i in ism Chicana feminism is also the product of the 1960's. Just like black women, Chicanas face triple jeopardy, as sex and class discrimination are coupled with social and economic disadvantages suffered due to ethnic origin. Marcela Lucero reaffirms the notion of triple jeopardy in her theory of a "tri-cultural person in a triple bind oppression." The Latina self is caught between the Anglo woman, Mexican-American culture and the Chicano man (Ortega and Saporta Sternbach 13). Chicanas have also been relegated to the private sphere, and had to fight against two damaging, extremist images of Mexican-American womanhood, Malinche, La llorona, or the traitor woman and Virgen of Gudalupe, the pure, angelic female. According to Ortega and Sternbach, the term "Latina writing" refers not only to literary products of Chicana authors, but to women writers representing other groups sharing Latina concerns (11). The Latina aesthetics has one so far unuttered or emphasized criterion, attachment or ties to the working class. A working class origin is needed to function and interpret cultural contexts which include: race, economy, ethnicity, the political, social, ideological, and artistic spheres (Ortega and Saporta Sternbach 12). Latina writing, seeking the woman's space in these cultural contexts, emphasizes a matriarchal heritage, based on a long line of female forebears. Chicana writers restructure the patriarchal family by presenting an expanded family of women, and a central, patriarchal figure is replaced by a matriarchal character (Ortega and Saporta Sternbach 12). Latina writing follows Bloom's thesis of male writing as the author struggling with the "anxiety of influence" in this case contends with the frustration of the "mother's" impact. The central role of the mother presents a female version of Bloom's theory. While