I've seen reviews for MEXICAN GOTHIC where the reviewers, who are white, lament it's not Mexican enough. Today I read one from a Latina who said it was full of Mexican cultural elements. This is what we mean with insider vs outsider views. And expectations of exoticism that are
attached to that. Because when something is deemed not "Latino enough," in the sense that it doesn't pander to the white gaze, it can be ignored.
For example, they expect Latinos to only write suffering immigrant stories or magic realism. That means you get two lanes, maybe.
It's fine to read as an outsider, btw. We all do it. But it's easy to also create these strange ghettos of the imagination where a while, huge segment of the population must only write in two categories.
MEXICAN GOTHIC is a horror novel, btw.
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