Document Type
Book
Publication Date
2004
Abstract
It may seem odd to call Ana Castillo a western writer, considering she has lived most of her life in Chicago. Geographically, this city would not generally qualify as “western.” But the images, tensions, and themes that drive Castillo’s work are the same that currently challenge traditional definitions of the “west” as a place bounded strictly by geography. Historically, of course, Chicago at one time imagined itself as the prototypical western city, but the frontier moved on, and with it the American notion of what the west was, where it was located, what it looked like, and who inhabited it. Frontiers, in fact, have traditionally been vital in determining what Americans consider the west. From the perspective of Anglo New England, it was what Daniel Boone was traversing in the wilds of Kentucky. Later it was the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, the deserts of Nevada, the U.S.-Mexican borderlands. California? Maybe yes, maybe no. Some argue it is the least “western” of the western states despite its location; others insist it is the most western because of everything but its longitude.
Recommended Citation
Spurgeon, Sara L. Ana Castillo. Boise, ID: Boise State University, 2004. Digital. Western Writers Series, 163.