Spanish and Portuguese ETDs
Publication Date
Spring 5-16-2026
Abstract
Corazones Urbanos: Literary Cartographies and Southwest Cities in the Mexican American Spatial Imaginary examines how Mexican American writers from Tucson, San Antonio, and Albuquerque narrate, critique, and reimagine urban space across the U.S. Southwest in the twentieth century. Integrating literary studies, cultural geography, urban history, and critical regionalism, the project analyzes responses to racialized development, urban renewal, and gentrification that have displaced Mexican American communities from historic downtowns. Moving beyond borderlands and transnational models, it advances a critically regional approach attentive to local histories, municipal policies, and community pressures shaping urban life. Through close readings of creative and nonfiction texts by acclaimed and recovered authors, the dissertation argues that literature functions as counter-cartography. These works expose forces of marginalization while asserting cultural memory, belonging, and continuity. Therefore, these writers recast urban landscapes as sites of resilience and cultural presence, transforming spaces of loss into landscapes of meaning and envisioning alternative urban futures.
Degree Name
Spanish & Portuguese (PhD)
Level of Degree
Doctoral
Department Name
Spanish and Portuguese
First Committee Member (Chair)
Dr. Anna M. Nogar, Chairperson
Second Committee Member
Dr. Santiago Vaquera-Vásquez
Third Committee Member
Dr. Spencer R. Herrera
Fourth Committee Member
Dr. Anita Huizar-Hernández
Language
English
Keywords
Mexican American literature, Mexican American culture, Urban literature—Southwestern United States, Literary geography, Critical regionalism, Urban renewal—Southwest
Document Type
Dissertation
Recommended Citation
Hernández, Jorge A. Jr.. "Corazones Urbanos: Literary Cartographies and Southwest Cities in the Mexican American Spatial Imaginary." (2026). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/span_etds/170
Included in
Chicana/o Studies Commons, Cultural History Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, Intellectual History Commons, Latina/o Studies Commons, Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority Commons, Modern Languages Commons, Modern Literature Commons, Oral History Commons, Public History Commons, Social History Commons, Spanish Literature Commons, United States History Commons