Senior Honors Thesis Project
Prospectus
As a Chicana, I experience the U.S. Mexico border within myself. As I try to hold my Mexican identity and my American identity at the same time, I can feel different parts of myself clashing. How does this interior battle impact the way native and heritage speakers talk in the U.S. within my family?
I will use my Chicana lens to write from a Chicana feminist perspective on the women in my family who have migrated to the states, grown up as heritage speakers, and are third-generation immigrants. Analyzing their language, code-switching, and experiences, I will learn what it means to let the body inform academic writing.
To be Chicana in this space and time means embracing Spanish language at all levels of acquisition and fluency, advocating for Chicana bodies to take up space in academia, and fighting to hold all parts of your identity at once.
Research
Raw Interviews and Transcripts
The initial part of my research was to collect interviews from my family members for two reasons:
- To gather stories and start a discussion about identity
- To gather a corpus that can used to study phonological patterns in my family if any exist
These goals outline the two different aspects of my thesis, identity as place and identity as language.
This research began spring of 2021 when I interviewed my Tía Araceli. You can read the outcomes of that research here.
Podcast
Half of my final thesis product are these three podcast episodes, which explore my feelings post-interviews and how the interview process has impacted my relationship with my Chicana identity.
All Related Posts
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Crocheting un parte de mi corazón
An homage to my Mama Angie My Mama Angie was an excellent crocheter. She passed away recently. I’m sad and grieving in my own way, but this has given me time to reflect on some of my favorite memories of her. The first ones that came to mind were coming to her house and getting…
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La Frontera Within Thesis Presentation
Watch and listen to me present my thesis! Thank you to everyone who made this journey possible!
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Honors Senior Thesis Paper
La Frontera Within Ángela GeorgeTesis de Honors, Departamento de Lenguas y Literatura ModernasDra. Christina Isabelli15 de abril 2022 Introducción Imagina que no podrías hablar con tu familia porque nunca aprendiste tu lengua. Hay una frontera que te separa a ti de las tradiciones de tu familia y de tus raíces. Esta frontera puede ser física…