The Decolonial Imaginary: Writing Chicanas into History

The Decolonial Imaginary: Writing Chicanos into History. By Emma Perez. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999. xx, 181 pp. Cloth, $35.00, ISBN 0-253-33504-3. Paper, $16.95, ISBN 0-253-21283-9.)

The Decolonial Imaginary by Emma Perez is an ambitious work that challenges the marginalization of Chicanos in American history. Part 1 of the book criticizes the "colonial imaginary" of traditional historiography for relegating Chicanos to passive supporting roles in conventional masculinist historical narratives that obscure Chicana agency. Drawing on postcolonial and poststructuralist theory, Perez rejects those "colonized" historical narratives and advocates the use of a "decolonial imaginary" as a tool for locating the hidden words and deeds of Chicanos. Those unexamined deeds are to be found in the interstitial spaces within dominant discourse and practice where Chicanos have long...