Latina Filmmakers and Writers : The Notion of Chicanisma Through Films

Finding both contradiction and dialectical opposition in the Chicano Movement and the Women_s Liberation Movement, Chicanas began the Chicana Movement which addressed the specific needs of Chicanas as women of color in the United States. The sense of sisterhood and feminist discourse that emerged within the Chicana Movement and thereafter came to be known as Chicanisma, which addressed the issues of race, class and gender and gave Chicanas a rightful name, voice and image. As a way to express Chicanisma, Chicanas began to write literature and produce and direct films. Six artists, Sylvia Morales, Margarita Cota-Cardenas, Lourdes Portillo and Susana Blaustein Mu'oz, Erlinda Gonzales-Berry, Frances Salome Espa'a and Denise Chavez, through their films and books, respectively, Chicana, Puppet: A Chicano Novella, La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead, Paletitas de guayaba, El Espejo/The Mirror and Loving Pedro Infante, (re)discover and (re)present Chicana history through their works. Through oral history research, Jennifer Watson Dean uncovers the philosophical and political underpinnings that have informed much Chicana cultural production. Latina Filmmakers and Writers cleverly situates Chicana literature and film at the perilous yet unique intersection of class, gender and race that critically defines the woman of color experience. She provides a thoughtful and honest account of Chicana creative expressions. Through her concept of Chicanisma, the author successfully outlines the contours of Chicana creative expressions. Through personal interviews and conversations with important Chicana writers and filmmakers, Jennifer Watson Dean identifies Chicana creative expressions as acts of social, cultural and political emancipation and protest. Jennifer Watson Dean provides a historically and culturally grounded account of Chicana film and literary production. Through oral history research, Jennifer Watson Dean uncovers the philosophical and political underpinnings that have informed much Chicana cultural production. Latina Filmmakers and Writers cleverly situates Chicana literature and film at the perilous yet unique intersection of class, gender and race that critically defines the woman of color experience. Jennifer Watson Dean effectively weaves Chicana feminist theory and original oral history research to give us a focused and vivid picture of Chicana creative activities. Jennifer Watson Dean astutely describes Chicana cultural expression as an explosion of creative output unbound by social, cultural and historical constraints and conventions. Jennifer Watson Dean in Latina Filmmakers and Writers embarks on a critical recovery project thus rescuing from patriarchal history the hidden, fragmented and undermined narratives of the Chicana experience.Watson Dean, Jennifer is the author of 'Latina Filmmakers and Writers : The Notion of Chicanisma Through Films', published 2006 under ISBN 9780915745739 and ISBN 0915745739.