Hostile Anxieties: In-House Prejudices in Latino Literature

• Published in: The Bilingual review 2012-09, Vol.31 (3), p.227-241
• Main Author: Murillo, Edwin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 21st century; African American Community; Community Relations; Criticism and interpretation; Cultural Differences; Family (Sociological Unit); Hispanic American literature; Hispanic Americans; Immigrants; Linguistics; Literary criticism; Mexican Americans; Minority & ethnic groups; Minority Groups; Morality; Prejudice; Racism; Research and Criticism / Investigaciones y Crítica; Self Actualization; Social aspects; Society; Spanish American literature; Theme; Writers
• ISSN: 0094-5366; 2327-624X

Latino literature, in its immigrant and exile variation, can be characterized in general terms as focusing on the cultural clash between the autochthonous American and the heterochthonous Latino. Predictably, this twofold opposition immediately casts the Latino as the other within the US landscape. And although these narratives register the tribulations of the protagonists and their exploitation at the hands of American society, a self-perpetuated prejudice is palpable in Latino literatures that treat the theme of immigration and exile. As examples of this in-house problematic, the author focus on writers who represent the three major Latino communities in the US and whose writings cover the majority of the twentieth century, evidencing the longevity of this inner nemesis. A similar inner tension is discernible in Latino cultural studies, in particular with the rubric Latino, a polemic richly documented by critics such as Marta Caminero-Santangelo, whose terminological unease centers on the intrinsic characterization of Latinoness, which for Caminero-Santangelo borders on typecasting.