Welcome to the 805: Michele Serros's Oxnard Writings

Cristina Herrera's book explores Chicana adolescence and young womanhood through the lens of place-making, history, autoethnography, and literary analysis, focusing on the experiences of Mexican American communities in Oxnard. She argues that Serros used her hometown to broaden understandings of Chicanx communities and identities and uncovers moments of adolescent subjectivity that could only be vocalized and constructed within this particular locale.

Format: Hardback
Length: 184 pages
Publication date: 28 May 2024
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

Michele Serros, a renowned Chicana writer, is celebrated for her groundbreaking book Chicana Falsa and Other Stories of Death, Identity, and Oxnard. Despite her significant contributions to Chicanx literature, no scholar has undertaken a comprehensive examination of her body of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction—until now. Cristina Herrera, another Oxnard-based writer, delves into the complexities of Chicana adolescence and young womanhood through a unique lens that incorporates history, autoethnography, and literary analysis. Herrera's work focuses on the significance of place-making in shaping Chicana identities and communities, particularly in settings with a history of colonial violence, segregation, and everyday racism against Mexican American communities. She argues that Serros used her hometown to expand our understanding of what constitutes Chicanx communities and identities. By examining Serros's work alongside her own experiences in the same setting, Herrera uncovers moments of adolescent subjectivity that could only be expressed and constructed within that particular locale. Herrera challenges the notion of separating the author from the text and advocates for a spatial understanding of Chicana adolescence, race, class, and young womanhood.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780822948230