Love and Violence: El Salvador's Revolution and the Specter of the Vietnam War in Demetria Martinez's Novel "Mother Tongue"

Framing the emergence of the United States as a global hegemon, the Cold War is perhaps the definitive story of the 20th century United States. The set of policies, programs, rhetorics, and ideologies it promoted, however,... [ view full abstract ]

Framing the emergence of the United States as a global hegemon, the Cold War is perhaps the definitive story of the 20th century United States. The set of policies, programs, rhetorics, and ideologies it promoted, however, did more than shape the lives of people within the nation. Through war and other mechanisms, U.S. activities as part of the Cold War affected people around the world. Indicative of its importance, the forces undergirding the Cold War continue to have lingering effects even a generation beyond its “end.” This panel presents four papers utilizing interdisciplinary methods to situate U.S. Latinas and Latinos as part of the larger narratives of the Cold War.

In his examination of the Central American wars of the 1980s and Demetria Martinez’ novel Mother Tongue (1994), Arce analyzes the overlapping narrative structures between Chicano/a authors and emerging literature produced by Central American-Americans. "Love and Violence: El Salvador’s Revolution and the Specter of the Vietnam War in Demetria Martinez’ novel Mother Tongue" explores how Cold War discourses and histories inform the construction of a narrative solidarity, contributing to the articulation of a shared experience based on violence.