There is a Rebel in Me': The Shadow-Beast and Diverse Feminine Subjectivities in Chicana Young Adult Literature

dc.contributorCatherine Quick
dc.creatorRhodes, Cristina Susana
dc.date2016-06-02T16:39:41Z
dc.date2016-06-02T16:39:41Z
dc.date2016-05
dc.descriptionA Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in ENGLISH from Texas A&M University-Corpus in Corpus Christi, Texas.
dc.descriptionAs diverse young adult literature (YA) garners more interest, the necessity to study and promote it becomes urgent. While the sample size of diverse children’s and YA literature is still small, the growing significance of diversity in children’s literature scholarship indicates the need for a lens with which to examine the nuances and particulars of these books. To this end, I have positioned Chicana theorist Gloria Anzaldúa’s identity-theory surrounding the image Shadow-Beast as a central figure in informing the self-affirmed identity of diverse female protagonists in YA literature. The Shadow-Beast is representative of counterhegemonic subjectivities posed against the normative patriarchy. The Shadow-Beast is a reactionary figure whose agency is derived from directly opposing the normative philosophies that surround her. Whereas other powerful feminine figures that occur throughout literary history demonstrate subversive tendencies, the Shadow-Beast’s entire existence is predicated upon her ability to exist counter to the dominant ideal. While the subversive figure of the Shadow-Beast works within the ulterior spaces of the world, she also learns to refigure herself within social spheres by acting as a savior to her chosen community. To demonstrate the ways the Shadow-Beast identity is actualized, I have focused on studying her emergence in Chicana YA literature. Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street, published in the 1980’s, triggered a shift in the critical attention paid to adolescent Chicanas in YA literature through the advent of a subversive, Shadow-Beast-like identity in Cisneros’s adolescent narrator, Esperanza. In recognizing the significance of the figure of the Shadow-Beast identity in Chicana YA literature, this thesis proposes the continued and invested study of this identity in both Chicana and diverse YA literature. By developing a critical lens with which to view diverse YA books, the theory of the Shadow-Beast exposes the power potential of diverse, female, adolescent protagonists.
dc.descriptionEnglish
dc.descriptionCollege of Liberal Arts
dc.identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/1969.6/676
dc.languageen_US
dc.rightsThis material is made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with its source. All rights are reserved and retained regardless of current or future development or laws that may apply to fair use standards. Permission for publication of this material, in part or in full, must be secured with the author and/or publisher.
dc.subjectChicana literature
dc.subjectyoung adult literature
dc.subjectGloria Anzaldúa
dc.titleThere is a Rebel in Me': The Shadow-Beast and Diverse Feminine Subjectivities in Chicana Young Adult Literature
dc.typeText
dc.typeThesis

Files