(Re)Imagining Home Across Borders: The Construction of Selfhood in Sandra Cisneros’s “Women Hollering Creek”
İrfan Cenk YaySince the 1980s, the literary and theoretical output of American women writers of Latin-American heritage has offered an alternative reading of feminist literary tradition. Sandra Cisneros is probably one of the foremost figures within the American context of “Border Literature” and “Borders Studies” proper. This article firstly outlines the parameters, theorems and prominent figures of Border Studies, and then examines Cisneros’ short story “Woman Hollering Creek” which deconstructs the dualistic mode of thinking in terms of first world vs. third world dichotomy, and defies various thematic and structural borders. The story is also a parody of the Mexican popular genres of telenovella (soap opera) and fotonovella (photo novel), and offers a new form of identity formation through the female protagonist’s quest for finding her own voice and subjectivity outside the prescribed gender roles attuned to the patriarchal discourse proposed in the aforementioned popular genres. Hence, this article offers a close reading of the story’s narrative strategies on a linguistic and semantic level as they inform its thematic concerns.
Sınırlar Ötesinde Yuva Düşlemek: Sandra Cisneros’un “Çığırtkan Kadınlar” Öyküsündeki Bireyselleşme Yolculuğu
İrfan Cenk Yay1980’lerden itibaren Latin Amerika kökenli Amerikalı kadın yazarların ortaya koyduğu kuramsal ve yazınsal metinler geleneksel feminist okumalara alternatif bir bakış açısı sağlamıştır. Bu bağlamda Sandra Cisneros, “Sınır Edebiyatı” ve “Sınır Çalışmaları” alanlarında belki de en önemli ve öncül isimlerden birisi olarak kabul görür. Bu makale, ilk olarak “Sınır Çalışmaları” alanında öne çıkan isimleri ve alanın kuramsal çerçevesini ana hatlarıyla ortaya koyduktan sonra Cisneros’un “Woman Hollering Creek” başlıklı kısa öyküsünün yakın bir okumasını yapar. Öykü, alışılagelmiş “Birinci Dünya ve Üçüncü Dünya” çerçevesinde, ikili karşıtlığı üzerinden yapılan okumalara yapıbozucu bir yöntem ile yaklaşarak, alışılagelmiş tematik ve biçemsel birçok sınıra da meydan okur. Ayrıca bu öykü, Meksika popüler kültüründe yaygın olan fotoroman ve pembe-dizi türlerinin başarılı bir parodisini yaparak, öykünün başkarakteri olan Cleafílas isimli Meksikalı göçmen bir kadının Amerika’daki kimlik ve ses arayışını ataerkil düzenin dayattığı kısıtlı bir cinsiyetçi söylemden kurtararak yeni bir bireysellik formülünü okuyucuya sunmaktadır. Bu doğrultuda, makale, öyküde kullanılan anlatı stratejilerinin analizini yaparken, öykünün birbirleriyle etkileşim halinde olan tematik içeriği ve biçemsel özelliklerini ayrıntılarıyla inceler.
Since the 1980s, the literary and theoretical output of American women writers with Latin-American roots offered an alternative reading of feminist literary tradition. Sandra Cisneros is probably one of the foremost figures within the American context of “Border Literature” and “Borders Studies”. This article first outlines the parameters, theorems and prominent figures of Border Studies, and then examines Cisneros’ titular short story of her Women Hollering Creek and Other Stories collection, which deconstructs the dualistic mode of thinking in terms of “first world vs. third world” dichotomy, and defies various thematic and structural borders. Hence, Cisneros’s range of ideological commitment extends—or better yet deconstructs spatial, temporal and national borders. This creates a form of transfronteriza feminism, to use Sonia Saldívar-Hull’s term, which merges Chicana feminist theories with social and cultural praxes in multiple Chicana and Mexicana locations. In that sense, Cisneros’ “Women Hollering Creek” employs the tale of a young Mexican woman, Cleófilas, who initially experiences her home in a small town in Mexico through a rather tedious patriarchal context profoundly shaped by the normative gender roles attuned to Mexican culture proper. In that sense, the story is also a parody of the Mexican popular genres of telenovella (soap opera) and fotonovella (photo novel) as it offers a new form of identity formation through the female protagonist’s quest for finding her own voice and subjectivity outside the prescribed gender roles dictated in the aforementioned popular genres. However, the ensuing quest by newlywed Cleófilas on the American side of the border in Texas traces how she gradually acquires the consciousness that will mark her in the end as a speaking subject. With her countermigration from the U.S. to Mexico, she finally leaves behind the institution of a corrupt marriage and false American dreams. Hence, the article offers a close reading of the story’s narrative strategies on a linguistic and semantic level as they inform its thematic concerns.
