Chicana/o Subjectivity and the Politics of Identity : Between Recognition and Revolution

This book traces the influence of Hegel's theory of recognition on different literary representations of Chicano/a subjectivity, with the aim of demonstrating how the identity thinking characteristic of Hegel's theory is unwillingly reinforced even in subjects that are represented as rebelling against liberal-humanist ideologies. This book traces the influence of Hegel's theory of recognition on different literary representations of Chicano/a subjectivity, with the aim of demonstrating how the identity thinking characteristic of Hegel's theory is unwillingly reinforced even in subjects that are represented as rebelling against liberal-humanist ideologies. Conversely, the author also analyzes alternative representations that circumvent the shortcomings of Hegelian recognition by redefining universality as founded on the non-identity of the void, thereby foregrounding a more radically inclusive democratic project. Methodologically, the author utilize the anti-humanism of a psychoanalytic-Marxist approach as a means of showing how identity functions as the most fundamental of ideological principles. This re-thinking of subjectivity poses a challenge to identity politics that either advocate the false universality of ideological sameness or promote the celebration of difference as unique and privileged "This book traces the influence of Hegel's theory of recognition on different literary representations of Chicano/a subjectivity, with the aim of demonstrating how the identity thinking characteristic of Hegel's theory is unwillingly reinforced even in subjects that are represented as rebelling against liberal-humanist ideologies. Conversely, the author also analyzes alternative representations that circumvent the shortcomings of Hegelian recognition by redefining universality as founded on the non-identity of the void, thereby foregrounding a more radically inclusive democratic project. Methodologically, the author utilize the anti-humanism of a psychoanalytic-Marxist approach as a means of showing how identity functions as the most fundamental of ideological principles. This re-thinking of subjectivity poses a challenge to identity politics that either advocate the false universality of ideological sameness or promote the celebration of difference as unique and privileged."-- Provided by publisher.4 Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction: Between Recognition and Revolution....Pages 1-38 Front Matter....Pages 39-40 Epic Aspirations: I Am Joaquín and the Creation of Chicano Subjectivity....Pages 41-68 The Multicultural Turn: New Mestiza Subjectivity in Late Capitalist Society....Pages 69-99 The Structuralist (Re)Turn: Embodied Agency in Chicano/a Poetics....Pages 101-139 Front Matter....Pages 141-142 Universalism and the Identity Politics of American Democracy: Oscar “Zeta” Acosta and the Dialectics of (Mis)Recognition....Pages 143-175 Universality at the Margins: Cecile Pineda’s Face and the Horrific Truth of Non-Identity....Pages 177-204 Conclusion: “Beckett is a Chicano!”: Antihumanist Universality in Chicano/a Literary Studies....Pages 205-217 Back Matter....Pages 219-250