The new Americans: the public voice and hybridization of cultures

This study examines the idea of cultural hybridity in the United States by using Brando
 Skyhorse’s The Madonnas of Echo Park (2010) and Richard Rodriguez’s autobiographical
 novel Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez (1982). First, this thesis
 explores the effects of cultural dislocation of Mexican immigrants and the hybridity of
 language in the U.S. as it relates to identity. By studying Skyhorse and Rodriguez’s texts
 we are presented with an examination of Spanglish in the U.S. and how it contributes to a
 hybrid identity. Also, this thesis examines two films, Spanglish (2004) by James L. Brooks
 and A Better Life (2011) by Chris Weitz, which contribute to the study of linguistic identity
 and give us a better understanding of contemporary immigrant experience in America.

This study examines the idea of cultural hybridity in the United States by using Brando Skyhorse’s The Madonnas of Echo Park (2010) and Richard Rodriguez’s autobiographical novel Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez (1982). First, this thesis explores the effects of cultural dislocation of Mexican immigrants and the hybridity of language in the U.S. as it relates to identity. By studying Skyhorse and Rodriguez’s texts we are presented with an examination of Spanglish in the U.S. and how it contributes to a hybrid identity. Also, this thesis examines two films, Spanglish (2004) by James L. Brooks and A Better Life (2011) by Chris Weitz, which contribute to the study of linguistic identity and give us a better understanding of contemporary immigrant experience in America.