Chicana/o Studies Commons^™

[2026 Honorable Mention] Impact Of Chicana Rewritings Of La Virgen De Guadalupe And La Malinche, Destiny Villarreal Quintero

Ethnic Studies Research Paper Award

This piece elaborates on the cultural significance of La Virgen de Guadalupe and La Malinche in Mexican/ Chicanx communities and how they impact women's gender roles.

Helena María Viramontes’ Under The Feet Of Jesus And Sandra Cisneros’ The House On Mango Street: An Exploratory Analysis Of Female Friendship In The Chicana Feminist Bildungsroman, Patrice Donnelly

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This exploratory analysis examines female friendships presented in two mid-twentieth century Chicana feminist Bildungsroman, each between a Chicana protagonist and a female friend as foil. One friendship in Under the Feet of Jesus, by Helena María Viramontes, is interracial; the other, in The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, is Chicana. Both friendships interrogate the boundaries within mainstream feminism, particularly its monolithic views and complicity with power. Each friendship offers a Chicana feminist perspective centering family and cultural community. The theoretical foundation includes classical and contemporary understandings of Bildungsroman as literary form, Toni Morrison’s American Africanism, …

Stolen, Lost, And Replaced: Testimonios Regarding Chicana Responsibilities To The Spanish Language, Fawn-Amber Montoya, Ashley Martinez

International Journal on Responsibility

Using testimonio, the authors address how the Spanish language represents a component of Chicana identity. They illustrate how geography, history, and colonization impact Chicanas’ relationship with the Spanish language. Using testimonio allows the writers to explore the Spanish language in the United States through their personal experiences.

Resumen

Usando “testimonio”, las autoras abordan cómo el idioma español representa un componente de la identidad chicana. Ilustran cómo la geografía, la historia y la colonización afectan la relación de las chicanas con el idioma español. El uso de “testimonio” permite a las autoras explorar el idioma español en los Estados Unidos a …

Cultivating Chingona Power: A Study On The Chingona Identity, Celia Orosco Haro

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Mujeres across the country are claiming the Chingona identity and using it to cultivate their Chingona strength, feel empowered, and live for their own approval. A Chingona in this newly reclaimed use means a woman who embodies confidence, acceptance of self, reclamation of sexuality, siguiendo le adelante por su propio camino sin importarle lo que digan los demás, rejects social and cultural norms/expectations of women, and uses her strengths to empower and uplift others. Through the reclamation of this identity, these mujeres are moving beyond being hijas de la chingada to being Chingonas. This research highlights the Chingona identity …

“The Only Way Out Is In”: Negotiating Identity Through Narrative In The House On Mango Street And The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao, Brianna E. Taylor

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

While aimed at vastly different audiences, Sandra Cisneros’s beloved coming-of-age story The House on Mango Street and Junot Díaz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning debut novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao both uniquely capture the complexities of navigating the hyphenated territory between their respective Mexican-American and Dominican-American identities. Cisneros engages readers with the simple yet profound narrative voice of Esperanza in a series of vignettes that subtly reveal a growing consciousness of her role as a young Mexican-American woman and her creative consciousness as an artist. Through the multifaceted narrative perspective of Yunior, Díaz skillfully weaves together “ghetto nerd” Oscar de …

47th Chicano Commencement, 2017, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

47th Annual Chicano Commencement

"Con Orgullo, Con Poder, Y Sin Miedo" The 47th Annual Chicano Commencement was held on Sunday, May 28, 2017 at the SJSU Event Center.

46th Chicano Commencement, 2016, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

46th Annual Chicano Commencement

"La educación no cambia al mundo, cambia a las personas que van a cambiar al mundo" The 46th Annual Chicano Commencement was held on Sunday, May 29, 2016 at the SJSU Event Center.

Framing Identity: Repudiating The Ideal In Chicana Literature, Michael A. Flores

All NMU Master's Theses

In the 1960s Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzalez penned his now canonical, epic poem “I Am Joaquin.” The poem chronicles the historic oppression of a transnational, Mexican people as well as revolutionary acts of their forefathers in resisting tyranny. Coinciding with a series of renewed, sociopolitical campaigns, collectively known as the Chicano Movement, Gonzales’ poem uses vivid imagery to present an idealized representation of Chicanos and encouraged his reader to engage in revolutionary action. Though the poem encourages strong leadership, upward mobility, and political engagement the representations of women in his text are misogynistic and limiting.

His presentation of the “black-shawled …

44th Chicano Commencement, 2014, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

44th Annual Chicano Commencement

"Edúcate para vivir. Vive para educar. = Learn to live. Live to learn." The 44th Annual Chicano Commencement was held at the SJSU Event Center on Sunday, May 25, 2014.

Chicana Aesthetics: A View Of Unconcealed Alterities And Affirmations Of Chicana Identity Through Laura Aguilar’S Photographic Images, Daniel Perez

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

In this paper I will argue that Chicana feminist artist Laura Aguilar, Alma Lopez, Laura Molina, and Yreina D. Cervantez established a continuing counter-narrative of cultural hegemony and Western essentialized hegemonic identification. Through artistic expression they have developed an oppositional discourse that challenges racial stereotypes, discrimination, socio-economic inequalities, political representation, sexuality, femininity, and hegemonic discourse. I will present a complex critique of both art and culture through an inquiry of the production and evaluation of the Chicana feminist artist, their role as the artist, and their contributions to unfixing the traditional and marginalized feminine. I argue that third wave Chicana …

My Mother's Daughter, Monica Vanessa Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In order to address the way the Chicano culture attempts to silence its women, My Mother's Daughter is a collection of short stories narrated by Chicanas. The collection uses the complicated relationship between mothers and daughters to highlight the conflicts that lead to the silencing of Chicanas. The collection attempts to challenge this silencing by utilizing the first person perspective to give a voice to these traditionally silenced women. Another literary technique employed is the use of dramatic irony. With multiple first person narrators in the same story the collection uses dramatic irony as a way of playing up the …

41st Chicano Commencement, 2011, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

41st Annual Chicano Commencement

"Aquí no se acabará, seguiremos triunfando con orgullo y dedicación!" The 41st Annual Chicano Commencement was held on May 29, 2011 at the SJSU Event Center.

40th Chicano Commencement, 2010, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

40th Annual Chicano Commencement

"Celebrating Forty Years" The 40th Annual Chicano Commencement was held at the SJSU Event Center on May 30, 2010.

39th Chicano Commencement, 2009, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

39th Annual Chicano Commencement

"La fundación para un gran futuro está en los hechos de hoy = The foundation of a great future lies within the actions of today" The 39th Annual Chicano Commencement took place on May 24, 2009 at the SJSU Event Center.

38th Chicano Commencement, 2008, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

38th Annual Chicano Commencement

"Recognizing those before us, holding the door for those who follow. = Reconociendo nuestros anteriores, y manteniendo la puerta abierta a los que siguen." The 38th Annual Chicano Commencement took place on May 25, 2008 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.

36th Chicano Commencement, 2006, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

36th Annual Chicano Commencement

"Recordando el pasado, fortaleziendo nuestro futuro = Remembering our past, empowering our future" The 36th Annual Chicano Commencement was held at the Mexican Heritage Plaza at San Jose State University on May 28, 2006.

34th Chicano Commencement, 2004, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

34th Annual Chicano Commencement

"El Fruto de Nuestro Esfuerzo = The Outcome of Our Struggle" The 34th Annual Chicano Commencement took place on Sunday, May 30, 2004 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.

31st Chicano Commencement, 2001, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

31st Annual Chicano Commencement

"Apreciando el pasado y cambiando el futuro = Appreciating the past and changing the future" The 31st Annual Chicano Commencement was held on Sunday, May 27, 2001 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.

30th Chicano Commencement, 2000, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

30th Annual Chicano Commencement

"El enlace de nuestra gente hacia un nuevo siglo." The 30th Anniversary Chicano Commencement took place on Sunday, May 28, 2000 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.

28th Chicano Commencement, 1998, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

28th Annual Chicano Commencement

The 28th Annual Chicano Commencement was held at the San Jose Civic Auditorium on Sunday, May 24, 1998.

27th Chicano Commencement, 1997, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

27th Annual Chicano Commencement

The 27th Annual Chicano Commencement was held at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA on Sunday, May 25, 1997.

26th Chicano Commencement, 1996, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

26th Annual Chicano Commencement

The 26th Annual Chicano Commencement was held at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA on Sunday, May 26, 1996.

25th Chicano Commencement, 1995, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

25th Annual Chicano Commencement

The 25th Anniversary Chicano Commencement was held at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA on May 27, 1995.

24th Chicano Commencement, 1994, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

24th Annual Chicano Commencement

The 24th Annual Chicano Commencement took place on May 28, 1994.

23rd Chicano Commencement, 1993, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

23rd Annual Chicano Commencement

"Reflecting on the Past, to Enhance our Future."

22nd Chicano Commencement, 1992, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

22nd Annual Chicano Commencement

The 22nd Annual Chicano Commencement Ceremony was held Saturday, May 23, 1992.

16th Chicano Commencement, 1986, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

16th Annual Chicano Commencement

8th Chicano Commencement, 1978, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

8th Annual Chicano Commencement

The 8th Annual Chicano Commencement was held at 2 p.m. on May 27, 1978 at I.A.M. Hall in Sunnyvale, CA.

7th Chicano Commencement, 1977, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

7th Annual Chicano Commencement

1st Chicano Commencement, 1971, San Jose State University, Associated Students

Chicano Commencement

1st Annual Chicano Commencement

In 1971, Chicano Commencement... held the first celebration at the Guadalupe church in San Jose, California. The organizers did not restrict the event to SJSU students but opened it to "Any Chicano student graduating from a state college, university, or junior college."