One of the most prominent characteristics of the literature by United States citizens of Mexican descent is that it is frequently written in a combination of English and Spanish. By not limiting itself to one language, such writing resonates with its authors' bicultural experiences. Their work is largely Mexican in its sensibility, its traditions, and its myths, but its immediate geographical setting is the United States. And though Mexican American literature is solidly grounded in Mexican culture, it distinguishes itself from Mexican literature in its content and concerns.

Many Mexican Americans are only a generation away from the mostly agrarian culture of their ancestors, and the work of most Mexican American writers shows evidence of heavy influence from this culture. Their novels are often simple in structure, and some of the common themes in these novels include the struggle to overcome the agricultural adversity that caused their families to emigrate, and a feeling of being distanced from the traditions of rural Mexico and yet striving to hold on to them. These themes coexist with ever-present images of the land, which symbolizes the values of the characters' culture, such as the spiritual and religious benefits of working the land.

Much of Mexican writing, on the other hand, has been criticized for being dominated by the prominent literary establishment concentrated in Mexico City. Literary reputation and success in Mexico—including the attainment of publicly sponsored positions in the arts—are often bestowed or denied by this literary establishment. Moreover, the work of Mexican writers is often longer in form and marked by greater cosmopolitanism and interest in theoretical ideas and arguments than is Mexican American writing. Not surprisingly, the Mexican literary community views Mexican American literature as a variety of "regional" writing. But the apparent simplicity of what this community sees as parochial concerns belies the thematic richness of Mexican American writing.

The work of Mexican American writers can be richly textured in its complex mixture of concerns; among other things, their work is distinguished by an overarching concern with the complexities of cultural transition. Many Mexican American writers assert that rather than working to be absorbed into U.S. society, they are engaged in the process of creating a new identity. Physically distanced from Mexico and yet convinced of its importance, these writers depict a new reality by creating "in-between" characters. These characters inhabit a social and cultural milieu which is neither that of Mexico nor that of the U.S. And while this new setting reflects the contemporary social realities of both Mexico and the U.S., it also derives a great deal of emotional power from an evocation of a romanticized memory of Mexico. What results is an intermediate cultural borderland in which nostalgia and reality are combined in the service of forging a new identity.