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one is required to go to mosque and no mosque is the same as another mosque. But the authorsmaintain that most American Muslims have done well in their new homeland in contrast to theimpoverished and under-represented Muslim population of Great Britain. Muslim Americansand Arab Americans are becoming part of society, as so many other immigrants before them.In the process, they are becoming contributors to the continuing strength and diversity of thecountry. “Misguided efforts to stamp out Islam will come to naught, given the resilience of allreligions” (341) the authors state. This chapter invokes thought about Islam as “the enemy,”for when one looks around, indeed one sees that the Muslim population in the U.S. has becomequite affluent, successful and high-achieving.

In the conclusion of the work, the authors return to the old fears that natives in Americahave concerning immigrants—fear of a loss of culture, language and economic power. Theypoint out the weaknesses in the American system, the lack of foreign language training and thedangers of a monolingual society. For example, the need for Arabic speakers is addressed in thepost-9/11 World, a shortage that still aggravates the current administration. In an increasinglydependent global system, there is no excuse for this to occur. In addition, the policies currentlybeing introduced against immigrants are also chided, for policies should maximize immigrants’contributions, not minimize them. A well-defined list of suggestions is provided on how toregulate unauthorized labor and it certainly provides food for thought in this era of rapidglobalization and interdependent economies.

The work itself is a very well researched volume that would be useful in any coursesin sociology or upper-level humanities courses that deal with the development of westerncivilization and the immigrant contribution, perhaps paired with Thomas Friedman’s The Worldis Flat. The re-appearance of this book in a third edition is no mistake. The authors havedispelled the myths and opened up the doors for discussion on the positive impact immigrationcould make on the United States, if only the politicians will listen.

Cynthia A. KlimaSUNY: College at Geneseo,

Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures,1 College Circle, Geneseo, NY 14454, United States

E-mail address: Klima@geneseo.edu

doi: 10.1016/j.soscij.2006.12.021

Chicano and Chicana Literature: Otra voz del puebloEdited by Charles M. Tatum; Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2006, 222 pp.

The Chicana/o community has endured injustices, oppression and discrimination sincebecoming part of our diverse nation. This adversity gave rise to Chicana/o literature as avoice of discontent. As such, the literary works are tied to historical periods as well as thesocial and cultural context in which they are written. A purely historical study of the Chicana/oexperience in the United States can provide a list of dates and important events, but cannotexpress the suffering caused by oppression and injustice, nor does it give an in-depth view of

206 Book reviews

the people and their culture. However, presenting Chicana/o literature in a historical contextachieves an overall understanding of the evolution of the Chicana/o culture in the United States.Charles M. Tatum’s book, “Chicano and Chicana Literature: Otra voz del pueblo”, provides thelink between these historical and literary aspects. If someone were interested in learning moreabout the evolution of the Chicana/o community in the United States, Tatum’s book would bean introduction.

The book is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter is an overview of the literaryapproaches that have been used to analyze Chicana/o literature. The following two chapterspresent historical, social and cultural information in conjunction with the development ofChicana/o oral and written expression. The remaining chapters focus on the major trends andthemes in Chicana/o literature.

The introduction explains the use of terms used in the book that may be new to read-ers unfamiliar with literary criticism and Chicana/o literature. One such term, also beingused in this review, is “Chicana/o”. This breaks with the traditional patriarchal expressionwhere either the masculine form is used to refer to both male and female together, or themale form is used first as in Chicano/a. This revised term alludes to an evolution towardsa more balanced gender relationship. The chapter also defines the word “canon”, explainshow literary works become part of a “canon” as well as how it applies to this particulartext.

The first chapter provides a basic understanding of the theoretical and critical approachesthat scholars have used to analyze Chicana/o literature from the 1960s to the present. Theauthor briefly explains the history of each approach and how it is applied to achieve aninterpretation of the Chicana/o literature. The evolving nature of these critical trends is alsopresented.

The second chapter begins with a brief historical overview of the United States territory thatwas once part of Mexico and then goes on to discuss the beginnings and the evolution of Chi-cana/o literature from the 16th century to 1965. Here the reader learns about the oral tradition(folktales, riddles, proverbs, songs, and poetry) that persisted well into the 20th century, and theearly writings that depicted the exploration and colonization of Mexico’s northern regions. Thechapter concludes with a synopsis of the written resistance to the injustices endured by the Mex-icans living in territories that were ceded to the United States following the Mexican–AmericanWar.

Chapter 3 goes on to describe the different manifestations of the Chicano Movement inthe 1960s and 1970s and the work of the activists that led the Chicana/o community to voicetheir discontent. It then presents the development of Chicana/o literature in theater, poetry, andnarrative fiction. A sampling of artists and writers of each genre are included with an overviewof their work.

Chapters 4–7 focus on different literary genres of contemporary Chicana/o literature.Autobiographical writings are discussed in Chapter 4, narrative fiction in Chapter 5, the-ater in Chapter 6, and poetry in Chapter 7. Each chapter presents the major themes andtrends of each genre and a brief description of the work of several representative Chicana/owriters.

The target audience for this book is a reader looking for an introduction to Chicana/oliterature. With that in mind, the author describes the different literary manifestations in the

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context of the historical period, as well as the social and cultural environment of that time.Thus, the reader gets an excellent overview of the development and diversity of Chicana/oliterature from the Spanish colonial times to the present. Furthermore, with each trend ortheme discussed the book also introduces the reader to representative Chicana/o writers andtheir work, providing an opportunity for further exploration of the genre.

This book would also be a good addition to an introductory undergraduate course thatincludes Chicana/o writings. Its synopsis of the theoretical and critical approaches to Chi-cana/o literature is an introduction and is by no means an exhaustive study of literarycriticism. To that end the book includes a list of suggested readings at the end of thechapter that an instructor could assign as additional reading for a more in depth study ofthese approaches. Whether the reader is a student or simply an individual who wishes toexplore Chicana/o literature, s/he will find that the suggested readings sections are a goodresource for further investigation of the material covered. Finally, an instructor also has theoption of using the discussion questions at the end of each chapter to reinforce the materialpresented.

The book is well organized and presents the material in a clear and concise manner, making itaccessible to a reader not familiar with the subject. Tatum successfully integrates the historical,social, and cultural background necessary to understand the evolution of Chicana/o literatureand the context in which it was written. The author also provides information about the literaryworks of several writers as they relate to the themes and trends discussed guiding the readersmoothly from section to section.

This book is not intended for a reader already knowledgeable with this topic. It does notprovide new scholarly research and does not promote a new critical approach to Chicana/oliterature. What Tatum does is to provide a comprehensive overview of Chicana/o literaturethat I highly recommend as an introduction to the subject. It is an excellent starting pointto further reading of and about Chicana/o literature in an education setting, or for anyoneinterested in the subject.

Cristina Rowley ∗

Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures,State University of New York at Geneseo,

Geneseo, NY 14454, United States∗ Tel.: +1 585 245 5247; fax: +1 585 245 5399.

E-mail address: rowley@geneseo.edu

doi: 10.1016/j.soscij.2006.12.022

Writing Southern Politics: Contemporary Interpretations and Future DirectionsEdited by Robert Steed and Laurence W. Moreland; Lexington, Kentucky: University Press ofKentucky, 2006, 314 pages.

Comprising an introductory essay, 11 chapters, and a conclusion, Steed and Moreland’sWriting Southern Politics is an edited collection of literature reviews written by leading scholars