From Booklist
Castillo, who has earned respect for her novels--most recently, So Far from God --and poetry, here reflects on the place of Mexic Amerindian women and on the need for Xicanisma, a politically active and socially committed Chicana feminism, in national and global policy debates. In ten probing, passionate essays, Castillo explores the roles that women played in the Chicano/Latino Movimiento of the 1960s and 1970s; examines Mexicana activism in the 1986 Watsonville, California, canning strike; posits ancient Mediterranean roots for machismo; analyzes the consequences for women of the moral dualism, repression of sexuality, and fear of death that Catholicism and Communism share; assesses the "poetics of conscientizaci{¢}on"; and argues that eroticism, traditional healing and other forms of "lived spirituality," and "the mother-bond principle" represent essential elements in a Xicanisma that can speak to women and men of many cultures and need to be reintegrated into the lives of Mexic Amerindian women. The sometimes bristly, provocative essays in Massacre of the Dreamers will be a stimulating addition to ethnic and women's studies collections. Mary Carroll
Massacre of the Dreamers: Essays on Xicanisma ANNOTATION
Blending history, sociology, and political commentary, Massacre of the Dreamers points out the omissions and challenges the misconceptions of a society that recognizes race relations as primarily a black-and-white issue. Castillo's essays analyze the 500-year-old history of Mexican and Amerindian women in this country and document the ongoing political and emotional struggles of their descendants.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
The "I" in these critical essays by novelist, poet, scholar, and activist/curandera Ana Castillo is that of the Mexic-Amerindian woman living in the United States. The essays are addressed to everyone interested in the roots of the colonized woman's reality. Castillo introduces the term Xicanisma in a passionate call for a politically active, socially committed Chicana feminism. In "A Countryless Woman," Castillo outlines the experience of the brown woman in a racist society that recognizes race relations mostly as a black and white dilemma. Essays on the Watsonville strike, the early Chicano movement, and the roots of machismo illustrate the extent to which women still struggle against male dominance. Other essays suggest strategies for opposing the suppression of women's spirituality and sexuality by institutionalized religion and the state. These challenging essays will be a provocative guide for those who envision a new future for women as we face a new century.
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