Infinite Divisions: An Anthology of Chicana Literature

Rebolledo and Rivera, who teach Spanish at the University of New Mexico, offer an intriguing but ultimately unsatisfying collection of poetry and prose by Mexican-American women. An excellent introduction provides a critical overview and helps put the pieces in their historical and literary context. The works reflect the development of a Chicana consciousness from its first seeds until the present. A section on ``foremothers'' collects oral and written pieces dating back to the 19th century. In one, from 1877, an aged widow recalls the deviously charitable way some priests got her a job. Sandra Cisneros, Alma Villanueva and Gloria Anzaldua provide numerous selections each, as do up-and-coming writers, such as Ines Hernandez or Marina Rivera, who offers a meditation on what it means to be of mixed blood. The title comes from Bernice Zamora's fine Whitmanesque poem about the infinitely divisible nature of identity. The pieces, however, are far too brief; most are mere snippets. Thus the editors merely whet the appetite but fail in their intention to make available hard-to-find Chicana literature. (June)