Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa (1942-2004) is probably the most influential Chicana cultural theorist, poet-philosopher, editor, and creative writer. A prolific author, she is best known for her book

(1987), which has been named as one of the 100 Best Books of the Century (Keating, “Introduction” 3). A number of scholars regard

as an autobiography, but Anzaldúa herself called her work an “autohistoria-teoría”, a term she created to describe the autobiographical writing of women of color that challenges western autobiographical notions which presuppose an autonomous, objective, detached (white, too often male) writing self. In her view, autohistoria-teoría is embodied writing that includes “life-story and self-reflection on this…

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Citation: Kirschner, Luz Angélica . "Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 October 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=32843, accessed 24 November 2024.]