Social and Environmental Justice: Land and Housing in Chicana Literature

Abstract

This article analyzes the novels The House on Mango Street (Cisneros, 1984), So Far from God (Castillo, 1993) and Under the Feet of Jesus (Viramontes, 1995) and the drama Heroes and Saints (Moraga, 1994) from the perspective of social and environmental justice, taking
into account Cherríe Moraga’s concept of Land, in which home plays a primary role. The sense of justice in these works emerges from an oppressed landscape in which the environment, the homes and the bodies of the protagonists reflect the damage done to the environment and to human beings. The analysis of the above-mentioned literary works shows how different Chicana authors advocate the achievement of concepts such as social and environmental justice, while at the same time denouncing the impossibility of Chicanos achieving the desired American Dream.