리처드 로드리게스의 『브라운』에 나타난 ‘미국의 갈색화’와 혼종성

초록

Richard Rodriguez is a Mexican-American writer who refuses to be classified as a Chicano writer. Instead, he prefers to be called a Hispanic author because, in his opinion, the absurdity that the label entails captures his place in American literature. In his autobiographical trilogy, Rodriguez reveals a conversion from being assimilated into mainstream American society to exploring his Mexican roots and embracing so-called mestizo Mexicanness. Rodriguez's Brown visualizes the growing Hispanic/Latino population in the United States through the metaphor of brown, which means impurity, resists a fixed categorization and asserts a flexible identity to imagine oneself free. This paper historically examines the origin of Hispanic and Latino terms in American society and critically analyzes Rodriguez's contradictory attitude towards minority issues such as affirmative action and bilingual education. Additionally, it explores the meaning of “America is Browning” in the context of racial, linguistic, and cultural hybridity rather than in terms of a demographic statistic. It ultimately attempts to present new ideas of harmony and coexistence through brown discourse.

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