Theorizing Ethnicity and Nationality in the Chick Lit Genre

by Erin Hurt (Editor)

Overview

Scholars and readers alike need little help identifying the infamous Bridget Jones or Carrie Bradshaw. While it is no stretch to say that these fictional characters are the most recognizable within the chic lit genre, there are certainly many others that have helped define this body of work. While previous research has focused primarily on white American chick lit, Theorizing Ethnicity and Nationality in the Chick Lit Genre, takes a wider look at the genre, by exploring chick lit novels featuring protagonists from a variety of ethnic backgrounds set both within and outside of the US.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367664756
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/30/2020
Series:	Routledge Studies in Contemporary Literature
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Erin Hurt is an Associate Professor of English at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. She has published articles on the work of Alisa Valdes and Sofia Quintero, and her research areas include chica lit, US Latinx and American literatures, and women’s and gender studies.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Contributors

Introduction

ERIN HURT

Prologue: A Second Read: Further Reflections on Women of Color Chick Lit

PAMELA BUTLER AND JIGNA DESAI

SECTION 1

CATEGORIES OF CHICK LIT

1 More Than Sex, Shopping and Shoes": Cosmopolitan Indigeneity and Cultural Politics in Anita Heiss’s Koori Lit

LAUREN O’MAHONY

2 Against Asianness: On Being Cool, Feminist, and American in Asian/American Chick Lit

JENNY HEIJUN WILLS

SECTION 2

TEXTS AND TROPES

3 Narratives of Latina Girlhood in Malín Alegría’s Estrella’s Quinceañera and Sofi Mendoza’s Guide to Getting Lost in Mexico

FELICIA SALINAS-MONIZ

4 "I live a fabulous Asian-American life—ask me how!": Kim Wong Keltner Unpacks Contemporary Asian American Female Identity In The Dim Sum Of All Things And Buddha Baby

JENNIFER WOOLSTON

5 The "Aha Moment": Representing Transformation and Black Women’s Trauma in the Chick Lit Genre

CHERISE POLLARD

SECTION 3

DECENTERING WHITENESS

6 Neoliberal Fantasies: Erica Kennedy’s Feminista (2009)

HEIKE MIßLER

7 The White Terry McMillan: Centering Black Women Within Chick Lit’s Genealogy

ERIN HURT

SECTION 4

AUTHORIAL VOICES

8 Writing Chica Lit

LINDA CHAVEZ DOYLE

9 Interview with Kavita Daswani

10 Interview with Kim Wong Keltner

11 Interview with Sofia Quintero

Conclusion: Reading Neoliberal Fairy Tales

Bibliography

Index