Chicano Poetics: Heterotexts and Hybridities examines the crossing of literary and social forces – be they linguistic, political, poetic - that forms the context for being Chicano. It reveals how a poetry of the cross can influence identity, in readings ranging from the poetry of gender and race by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz to that of the fragmentary, postmodern subject of Juan Felipe Herrara. How the text of Spanish and Indian miscegenation and the story of Aztlán propagate identity is demonstrated in texts from Bernal Diaz del Castillo to Gloria Anzaldúa. The international space and the interlingual language of the borderlands are read as factors of nationalism and postcoloniality in discussion ranging from cowboy lingo to the essential Mexicanism of Octavio Paz. Heterotextuality is the medium in which xicanismo is articulated and comes to be a hybrid subject of textual difference.

"...heavy emphasis on literary criticism makes this book most appropriate (and recommended) for graduates and above." R. Ocasio, Choice

"In Chicano Poetics Alfred Arteaga combines his poetic and scholarly talents to understand better the personal and social aspects of Chicana/o identity formation." "The dynamic subject formation Arteaga highlights here contributes to the ongoing critical dialogue about Chicana/o identity, while his notion of heterotextual crossings contributes a new dimension to the conversation." Ralph E. Rodriguez, American Literature

"Arteaga's Chicano Poetics, itself, an excellent example of the post postmodern, is...worthy of the effort...." Lis Leal, Revista de Estudios Hispanicos

"Alfredo Arteaga's Chicano Poetics: Heterotexts and Hybridities presents an interesting development of social construction theory...Arteaga's mastery of poetic language and a diversity of Mexican and Chicano texts from various periods makes Chicano Poetics invigorating and challenging reading." Adriana Estill, Latin American Research Review

"Thoughtful, incisive, self-reflective.... Arteaga's work makes clear how the qualities that the term `Chicano' as subjectivity evokes are inflected by the corporeal presence of the Chicano body...." Rafael Pérez-Torres, Contemporary Literature