Review: Karin Rosa Ikas: Chicana Ways: Conversations with Ten Chicana Writers.

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here is the first paragraph of the review: 

Based on ten in-depth interviews with female Mexican American writers, Karin R. Ikas's Chicana Ways pays tribute to the consolidation and dynamics of Chicana literary discourse over the past thirty years. Focusing on women of Mexican American descent - or Chicanas, to use the politically and culturally more biased self-denomination that also allows for gender inflection -, the book draws innovatory strength from its specific outlook: "It is the first collection of interviews exclusively with female writers of the fastest-growing minority group in the United States," as Ikas points out in her introduction (XVI). There is another peculiar feature of the conversations assembled in this book: With a young German scholar acting as interlocutor and editor, Chicana Ways appears as a particularly interesting instance of inquiry and dialogue in an intercultural context.