“You can be both the apple and the hand who holds it”: Aztlán and the Politics of Storytelling in Anaya’s Heart of Aztlán and Arias’s The Road to Tamazunchale

Abstract

This article analyzes the evolution of Chicano nationalist politics and literature, focusing on the shift from the concept of Aztlán as a mythical homeland to a borderlands approach that emphasizes storytelling and ethical praxis. The paper explores how Rudolfo Anaya's Heart of Aztlán (1976) and Ron Arias's Road to Tamazunchale (1975) revised nationalist narratives to critique marginalization and foster communal relationships. The article argues that these novels embrace storytelling as a means of forging new political alliances across cultural, sexual, and racial lines, thereby challenging the essentialist boundaries of Chicano nationalism. This study examines the ethical consequences of narrating stories that blur distinctions between self and other, reality and myth, and modernity and folk traditions. The author contends that this narrative ethics offers a corrective to nationalist politics by promoting inclusivity and solidarity with Mexican immigrants.

(The abstract and keywords were prepared retrospectively for indexing purposes using AI-assisted tools and editorial review, based on the original article. They did not appear in the original publication.)