Redefining Hybridity of Chicano Literature in Jimenez’s Fictions

In the spirit of transnationalism and globalization in American Studies, this paper explores the theme of hybridity in three short autobiographical novels by Francisco Jimenez. The study centers on the life of Chicanos in America. Chicanos are Mexican-Americans who usually live close to the border between US and Mexico. This society faces certain conflicts and dilemma inherent to border society and forces them to resist dominant social norms, value systems, and stereotypes. This motivates them to live as a hybrid people marked by a sense of dual consciousness and in-betweenness in migrant society. Hybrid people experience the process of mixture, and transgression; of boundaries, construction and contestation; of exclusive and inclusive cultural practices and ways of thinking. The implementation of postcolonial theories of Said, Babha and Spivak reveals the identity formation from being ‘Self.’ Jimenez, the writer, reveals his own struggle as a Chicano in his three short autobiographical fictions. Francisco, the main character, experiences the changes of language, social environment, work environment, and school environment. He also encounters barriers from minority status, discrimination, economic hardship, difficulty in understanding English, and parents who are unfamiliar with the educational system in the United States. In the hybridity and ambiguity of living in the two cultures, Francisco beats the odds and becomes a successful academic in the United States.