Abstract:
The purpose of this study is to analyze the image of women within the literary genre of the crónica written in the "Mexico de afuera" (Américo Paredes) ideology in the United States. The material used in this study was found in newspapers published in the southwest, specifically in Texas. Most of the crónicas were signed with a pseudonym that gave the author the freedom and responsibility to criticize, mock and scold the readers. These crónicas demonstrated that in the immigrant culture, cronistas (chroniclers), whether men or women, intensified their criticism or censorship of Mexican women in the United States. This study will lead us to have a better comprehension of the social dynamics and sexual relations in Mexican immigrant literature: Literature written or narrated in Spanish by immigrants to the United States. It will also allow us to better understand the crónica as a literary genre that fosters nationalism and imagined communities (Benedict Anderson). The cronistas that are studied are Julio G. Arce ("Jorge Ulica"), Ignacio G. Vázquez ("Quezigno Gazavic"), Maria Luisa Garza ("Loreley"), Benjamin Padilla ("Kascabel"), Catalina Dulché Escalante ("Catalina D'Erzell"), and Guillermo Castillo (Júbilo"). The first three write from the perspective of the "Mexico de afuera" and the last three from the "México de adentro" perspective.
