Criticism > Poetry > Cisneros, Sandra - Susan Smith Nash (essay date winter 1995)

1. Printable Version
2. Download PDF
3. Cite this Page
4. Tweet This

Susan Smith Nash (essay date winter 1995)

SOURCE: Smith Nash, Susan. “Sandra Cisneros: Loose Women.” World Literature Today 69, no. 1 (winter 1995): 145-46.

[In the following essay, Nash lauds Cisneros's deceptively complex poetic explorations of eros and consciousness.]

What distinguishes Sandra Cisneros's poetry is also what makes categorizing it problematic. The sometimes rather flat, unadorned diction and the earthy explorations into the nature of desire seem, at first glance, to position the work squarely within the realm of American feminist poets and artists who privilege the role of experience in recentering and validating women's perspectives and ways of knowing. The first impression that one has of this work is that it is highly realistic, and that it applies techniques of naturalism and verisimilitude.

However, in Loose Woman realism is simply a reference point. What is occurring within the poems is...

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass

1. Introduction
2. Principal Works
3. Criticism
   1. Sandra Cisneros with Feroza Jussawalla and Reed Way Dasenbrock (interview date 1992)
   2. Susan Smith Nash (essay date winter 1995)
   3. Carol Muske (essay date fall 1995)
   4. Viviana Rangil (essay date September 2000)
   5. Adriana Estill (essay date fall 2002)
4. Further Reading
5. Copyright

1. Sandra Cisneros
2. How to Analyze a Poem
3. Poetry