Learning from Experience: Minority Identities, Multicultural Struggles. By PAULA M. L. MOYA.

Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2002. Rosaura Snchez Over the last t o de!ades, "identity #oliti!s" has $een %&!h de$ated and atta!ked ithin U.'. a!ade%i! and #oliti!al do%ains. (hile neo)!onservatives deny the need for ethni!*ra!ial identifi!ation and o&ld eli%inate it as an offi!ial !ategory +this, on the false #re%ise of a !olor)$lind so!iety,, others, #ri%arily #ost%odernists, dis%iss "identity" as essentialist, naive and retrograde. At iss&e in these de$ates is hether "identity"))vie ed as histori!ally !ontingent and so!ially*dis!&rsively !onstr&!ted))!an $e a "%eaningf&l- or even #oliti!ally via$le !ategory. Can an e%#hasis on #arti!&larity $e anything $&t divisive and a negation of any notion of &niversality. Any dis!&ssion of "identity" today has to !onfront the #ervasive relativis% and !yni!is% in this so!iety. /he dis%issive attit&de of !onte%#orary theorists, often antifo&ndationalist in orientation and ever ready to #oint to the dis!&rsive nat&re of all kno ledge, is not, ho ever, an o#tion for those of &s s&$0e!t to s&$ordinating ty#es of identifi!ation1 for &s 2identity-))$e it !lass, ethni!, ra!ial, gender or se3&al identity))is not so %&!h a !hoi!e as an o##ositional res#onse. Clearly 2identity- is al ays !ontestatory in nat&re, e%erging ithin so!ial and #oliti!al !onditions that re4&ire its !onstit&tion. 5ts histori!al !ontingen!y i%#lies that identity is transient, $&t its transitoriness does not negate its histori!al validity and signifi!an!e. Conse4&ently, identities are telling histori!al indi!ators that allo for an analysis of the relation $et een so!ial*#oliti!al reality and the dis!&rsive real%. (hat6s i%#ortant is that one not red&!e 2reality- to one6s kno ledge of it. 5t is this !riti!ally gro&nded re!lai%ing of 2reality- and 2identity- fro% hat is ter%ed a 2#ost#ositivist realist- #ers#e!tive that is !entral to Moya6s Learning from Experience and that %akes its !hallenge of trendy #ost%odernist notions a$o&t identity es#e!ially #rovo!ative. Moya6s 2#ost#ositivist- realist a##roa!h engages !onstr&!tivist theory in that it a!kno ledges that kno ledge is theory)%ediated, that is, dis!&rsively !onstr&!ted and histori!ally !ontingent. B&t this a##roa!h %oves $eyond a relativist #osition $y #ositing a rethinking of the idea of o$0e!tivity. 7or Moya, o$0e!tivity is 2an ideal of in4&iry ne!essarily involving theoreti!al $ias and interest- +89,1 it is this 2theory)%ediated o$0e!tive kno ledge- #rod&!ed #re!isely $y #arti!&lar ty#es of e3#erien!e that she #ro#oses to !onsider. 'he sets o&t, then, not to find a 2tr&th- $ehind !ertain e3#erien!es and identities, $&t to test, ith all the &n!ertainty that this ty#e of analysis i%#lies, a n&%$er of hy#otheses and tr&th !lai%s in #arti!&lar a!!o&nts of reality. /he reality that !on!erns her is that of Chi!anas*os and other %arginali:ed #eo#le, hose ork and lived e3#erien!es are !onfig&red as e#iste%i!ally #rod&!tive. Moya6s theoreti!ally gro&nded and innovative ork e3a%ines a variety of !&lt&ral and theoreti!al te3ts that either engage ith or fail to !onsider the e#iste%i! link $et een identity and so!ial lo!ation as %ediated $y e3#erien!e. Learning From Experience is divided into five !ha#ters and an 5ntrod&!tion that esta$lishes her theoreti!al a##roa!h

and !onte3t&ali:es the a!ade%i! de$ate ithin hi!h the ork has $een generated. (hile the theoreti!al !o%#onent is !entral to her ork, Moya also e3#lores at length the #ra!ti!al or #oliti!al as#e!ts of identity and e3#erien!e, es#e!ially in her in!isive dis!&ssion of !onte%#orary neo!onservative #ers#e!tives on assi%ilation and in her #ro#osal for a #arti!&lar ty#e of %&lti!&lt&ral ed&!ation. Moya, an Asso!iate Professor in ;nglish at 'tanford University, enters the de$ate on identity $y s#e!ifi!ally 4&estioning the analyti!al &nder#innings of #ost%odernist assess%ents of identity as stri!tly #erfor%ative, varia$le, and differential. /his theoreti!al dis!&ssion is key to Cha#ter One, "Post%odernis%, <ealis%, and the Politi!s of 5dentity: Cherr=e Moraga and Chi!ana 7e%inis%.- >ere she dis!&sses the ork of ?&dith B&tler and @onna >ara ay, !riti!s hose #oststr&!t&ralist*#ost%odernist ork skirts the !onne!tion $et een so!ial lo!ation and identity or kno ledge. /his fail&re to link dis!&rsive s&$version of differen!e to %aterial transfor%ations leads Moya to arg&e that AaB #oliti!s of dis!o&rse that does not #rovide for so%e sort of $odily or !on!rete a!tion o&tside the real% of the a!ade%i! te3t ill forever $e inade4&ate to !hange the diffi!&lt reality of o&r lives. +CD, Moya also !ontrasts these t o !riti!s6s %isreading of Moraga6s ork ith her o n #ost#ositivist realist assess%ent of Moraga6s third orld fe%inist #oliti!al #ro0e!t1 here she stresses that an analysis of Moraga6s "theory in the flesh" re4&ires that one take into a!!o&nt her ra!ial*!&lt&ral $a!kgro&nd and e3#erien!e. Moya s&ggests that hile in and of itself e3#erien!e %ay not $e e#iste%i!ally s&ffi!ient, it is e#iste%i!ally indis#ensa$le for e3#laining #arti!&lar so!ial relations. (hat %atters, in the final analysis, is the e3#lanatory ade4&a!y of the theoreti!al fra%e ork that one &ses to inter#ret one6s e3#erien!e1 this interrogation of one6s analyti!al fra%e ork e%erges hen it is o&t of syn! ith one6s !on!rete so!ial lo!ation. 5n Cha#ter / o, "Chi!ana 7e%inis% and Post%odernist /heory," Moya #rovides a !riti!al and !ogent e3a%ination of t o key Chi!ana fe%inist !riti!s +Chela 'andoval and Eor%a Alar!Fn,. >er riting style here as else here is !lear and s&!!in!t and is a #leas&re to read1 her dis!&ssions are not eighed do n ith &nne!essary 0argon, as is so often the !ase in %&!h of re!ent s!holarshi#. 5n this !ha#ter, Moya $&ilds on hat she #osits in the #revio&s !ha#ter, that is, that a #ost#ositivist realist theoreti!al a##roa!h o&ld $etter serve to analy:e and theori:e the sit&ation of !onte%#orary Chi!anas. After revie ing re!ent fe%inist !on!erns ith res#e!t to #ost%odernist analyses of gender and 4&estioning the ade4&a!y of a stri!tly #rag%atist fe%inist theory, Moya arg&es for esta$lishing ethi!al and #oliti!al goals "$ased on relia$le, o$0e!tive kno ledge of o&rselves and o&r orld" +D0,. 5n her !riti4&e of Alar!Fn and 'andoval she s&ggests that $oth !riti!s6s #ost%odernist fra%e ork fails f&lly to e3#lain the ties $et een so!ial lo!ation, e3#erien!e and identity. Moya6s alternative theoreti!al fra%e ork is dis!&ssed in ter%s of its e3#lanatory !a#a!ity to a!!o&nt for both dis!&rsive and nondis!&rsive do%ains. (hile stressing the need to link !on!rete so!ial !onstr&!tions to s#e!ifi! str&!t&ral lo!ations, she does not re%ain ithin the real% of #arti!&larity. >er ork advo!ates a ne notion of the &niversal that is e%an!i#atory for all h&%anity, a

for%&lation that does not re0e!t !&lt&ral #arti!&larity. /his re!onstr&!ted notion of the h&%an &niversal is also taken &# in Cha#ter /hree, "C&lt&ral Parti!&larity vs. Universal >&%anity: /he Gal&e of Being Asi%ilao," in hi!h she offers an analysis of the identity #oliti!s of neo!onservative %inorities that she attri$&tes to their self)refle!tion on their so!ial lo!ation. 7ro% an analysis of #arti!&lar theorists and riters, Moya %oves on to the #edagogi!al i%#li!ations in her theoreti!al #ro#osal. Cha#ter 7o&r, "Learning >o to Learn 7ro% Others: <ealist Pro#osals for M&lti!&lt&ral ;d&!ation," e3a%ines ongoing de$ates over %&lti!&lt&ralis% and %&lti!&lt&ral ed&!ation. >ere she #ro#oses eight #ost#ositivist realist #rin!i#les that 2sho&ld $e !entral to the #edagogi!al #ra!ti!e of ed&!ators and resear!hers ho are interested in #ro%oting a tr&ly de%o!rati! and !&lt&rally diverse so!iety- +8HI,. 5n for%&lations that link !&lt&re to e3#erien!e, kno ledge, and identity for%ation and that a!kno ledge the !reative and destr&!tive #otential attendant to differen!e and !onfli!t, Moya offers insights for ne #edagogi!al strategies and %ethodologies. 5t is the last !ha#ter of Learning from Experience dealing ith Gira%ontes6s novel that %ost strikingly reveals Moya6s de3terity in #rod&!tively $ringing together her theoreti!al fra%e ork ith a !riti!al realist reading of literat&re. 5n 2<eading as a <ealist: ;3#anded Litera!y in >elena Mar=a Gira%ontes6s Under the Feet of Jesus,- Moya #rovides a n&an!ed analysis of the novel that %akes a !o%#elling !ase for the need to foregro&nd "the %aterial as#e!ts of the inter#retive #ro!ess," as she #ro!eeds to e3#lore the ork6s !on!e#t&ali:ation of litera!y as "a %aterialist engage%ent ith the orld.Using the narrative devi!e of fo!ali:ation to disarti!&late the vario&s narrative #ers#e!tives in the novel, Moya deftly sho s ho so!ial lo!ation and so!ial ideologies are ine3tri!a$ly related to the !hara!ters6 identities and to their kno ledge of the orld. More s#e!ifi!ally, in tra!ing the %ain !hara!ter6s !o%ing to !ons!io&sness and her a!4&isition of ver$al strategies to read her so!ial orld, Moya s&ggests that litera!y f&n!tions in the novel not only as a "skill involving a h&%an agent6s total engage%ent ith the orld," $&t also as a he&risti! #ro!ed&re that ena$les the !hara!ter to ga&ge the ade4&a!y of her readings and #ers#e!tives. /his final !ha#ter in effe!t si%&ltaneo&sly #&ts into #ra!ti!e and #rovides a syno#sis of the #ost#ositivist realist fra%e ork laid o&t in the #revio&s !ha#ters. Moya6s ork #rovides a theoreti!ally so#histi!ated and analyti!ally dis!erning assess%ent of the signifi!an!e of "identity" in !onte%#orary U.'. so!iety. 5t is a ork that does not see e%an!i#ation as a dis!redited notion nor does it lose its !riti!al $earings a%idst the #lethora of !ir!&lating notions of hy$ridity or differen!e. Eor are the lo!al and #arti!&lar seen to $e antagonisti! to the &niversal. And last $&t not least, Moya6s ork !onvin!ingly re!lai%s reality and #osits identity as e#iste%i!ally #rod&!tive and, %ost i%#ortantly, #otentially li$erating.

Rosaura Snchez teaches in the Department of Literature at the Universit of !a"ifornia, San Diego# She is the author of Chi!ano @is!o&rse and /elling 5dentities, and $ith %eatrice &ita recent" pub"ished Confli!ts of 5nterest: /he letters of Mar=a A%#aro <&i: de B&rton as $e"" as co'edited the re'pub"ication of Ruiz de %urton(s nove"s /he '4&atter and the @on and (ho (o&ld >ave /ho&ght 5t. )er fiction has a"so been pub"ished in a bi"ingua" co""ection, >e (alked in and 'at @o n#

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