ABSTRACT
Spanish interest in Chicana/o Studies is part of an overall dynamic that scholars of US Hispanics have generated in Spain. There was almost no interest in US Hispanics until well into the 20th century. Until the late 1980s, sporadic and individual works on the lives of people of Mexican-and Spanish-origin descent were published often by diplomats on historical or language-related issues focusing on different regions of the United States. The time period wherein Chicano Studies became implemented in Spain is directly related to social-cultural and political developments in the country. In 1988 the Universidad de Alcala created the Center for North American Studies at the Universidad de Alcala, known as the Instituto Franklin-UAH, which focuses on Hispanic Studies in the United States. In addition, the most renowned Chicana/o authors have also appeared in Spain via important publishing venues. Despite this high level of literary productivity, non-university Spanish readers do not yet have a strong perception of what is Chicana/o literature.
