Domestic Disturbances : Re-Imagining Narratives of Gender, Labor, and Immigration / by Irene Mata.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mata, Irene, 1972-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hispanic American women in mass media.

Hispanic American women in literature.

Women foreign workers--United States--Social conditions.

Women foreign workers.

Women household employees--United States--Social conditions.

Women household employees.

Women immigrants--United States--Social conditions.

Women immigrants.

Hispanic American women--Social conditions.

Hispanic American women.

United States--Emigration and immigration--Social aspects.

United States.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (219 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Austin, Texas : University of Texas Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The issue of immigration is one of the most hotly debated topics in the national arena, with everyone from right-wing pundits like Sarah Palin to alternative rockers like Zack de la Rocha offering their opinion. The traditional immigrant narrative that gained popularity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries continues to be used today in describing the process of the “Americanization” of immigrants. Yet rather than acting as an accurate representation of immigrant experiences, this common narrative of the “American Dream” attempts to ideologically contain those experiences within a story line that promotes the idea of achieving success through hard work and perseverance. In Domestic Disturbances, Irene Mata dispels the myth of the “shining city on the hill” and reveals the central truth of hidden exploitation that underlies the great majority of Chicana/Latina immigrant stories. Influenced by the works of Latina cultural producers and the growing interdisciplinary field of scholarship on gender, immigration, and labor, Domestic Disturbances suggests a new framework for looking at these immigrant and migrant stories, not as a continuation of a literary tradition, but instead as a specific Latina genealogy of immigrant narratives that more closely engage with the contemporary conditions of immigration. Through examination of multiple genres including film, theatre, and art, as well as current civil rights movements such as the mobilization around the DREAM Act, Mata illustrates the prevalence of the immigrant narrative in popular culture and the oppositional possibilities of alternative stories.

Contents:

""Acknowledgments""; ""Introduction""; ""1. Dream a Little American Dream: A Traditional Story-Book Romance""; ""2. Cleaning Up After the National Family, and What a Mess They Make""; ""3. Laboring Bodies, Laboring Spaces in the Hospitality Industry""; ""4. Calling All Superheroes: Recasting the Immigrant Subject""; ""Conclusion. Resistance: A Growing Movement""; ""Notes""; ""Bibliography""; ""Index""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-292-77132-0

OCLC:

891081319