Hermeneutic Distanciations in Postmodern Chicanx Literature: Utopian and Dystopian Horizons in Ana Castillo’s So Far from God (1993) & Salvador Plascencia’s The People of Paper (2005)

Abstract

This essay focuses on the concept of distanciation in hermeneutic phenomenology and its relevance to an understanding of the utopian and dystopian dimensions in Ana Castillo’s So Far From God (1993) and Salvador Plascencia’s The People of Paper (2005), two postmodern novels that perceive Chicanx history aslant. I analyze how distanciations in these novels open possible cultural worlds that aid readers in interpreting new and/or estranging historical traditions. Ultimately, the distanciations in Ana Castillo’s So Far From God pattern the hope for an emergent queer Chicanx spiritual-activist identity, while the distanciations in Salvador Plascencia’s The People of Paper pattern a dystopic neoliberal worldview hidden behind decontextualzed kitchy representations of Chicanx identity. Although seemingly opposed, both cultural worldviews emerge through ruptures that occur between actual and possible worlds afforded by the novels’ distanciations of Chicanx identities and histories.